Besieged

by Bertrice Small

  "Kieran and Fortune will not be remaining in Ulster, Jane. They are not to have Maguire's Ford. You have already been told that. The estate is to be divided between the duke's two youngest sons, Adam and Duncan Leslie, who are already in residence at the castle. The duke, his wife, Fortune, and Kieran will be leaving next spring after the duchess has had her child, and it is safe for them to travel."

  "That is what they tell you," Jane Devers said venomously. "I am not so great a fool that I do not realize what Kieran has done. He quite deliberately set out to entice the Lindley wench so that William could not have her. William suspected it all along. Why else would Kieran have married that girl but for her vast estate? What else could she possibly have to recommend her? Kieran is an Irishman and to him land is important. He planned to gain a larger and richer holding than his younger brother. That is why he was so willing to give up Mallow Court. Ahh, you Irish are a wickedly devious lot, but Kieran will not succeed, I promise you, Shane! The law will not allow a treasonous Catholic to have such a prize."

  "Jane, do not meddle! I forbid you to do so else you bring disaster on my house. Kieran and his wife are not to have Maguire's Ford. The Leslies of Glenkirk are no fools to throw away a rich holding like that on a Catholic son-in-law. They have a friend in King Charles, and a certain small influence at court. The duchess's son is the king's nephew. If they wanted Maguire's Ford and Erne Rock for their daughter and Kieran, they would have the king's protection no matter the law, but they do not. They are wise enough to know the difficulty it would cause, and wish no harm to their people. The two sons who will divide the holding are Protestants. You cannot take Maguire's Ford from the Leslies of Glenkirk, Jane. You have no grounds on which to base any accusations. Let it be, and consider how we are to tell William when he and Emily Anne return from their wedding trip in a few weeks."

  She paled. "Ahh, my son! What will he think of this turn of events? Poor William!"

  "Poor William?" her husband said almost mockingly. "Why would you feel sorry for him, Jane? He is the heir to all I have. He has married a young girl who genuinely loves him, and will one day bring him all her father has, which is considerable. Why would you feel sorry for him, Jane? Because he retains a foolish passion that was never returned for a girl who saw nothing of value, or to love, in him? He had best get over his childish lust, for that is all it ever was. And he had best not covet his brother's wife." Then he looked hard at his own spouse "And you will not spoil William and Emily Anne's wedding trip by sending a message to him in Dublin. Let them have these few weeks together to find some happiness before you begin to infect them with your bitterness, my dear.

  "Kieran has wed Fortune in the rites of the Anglican Church, the king's church. There is nothing you can do about it, Jane. The match is legal, approved of by the Leslies, and the bloody bedsheet flew this morning over Erne Rock Castle in proof of the consummation of the marriage. Kieran has never done you any harm, Jane. Like William, he is entitled to his happiness. You will not interfere." His look was stern.

  "Your Catholic son allowed himself to be wed in the Protestant Church?" she jeered at him. "Then the girl is no more than a whore to him, for his marriage could only be sanctified in the foul rites of the Roman Church." Her eyes narrowed. "Unless, of course, they were first married by that priest the duchess claims as her kin. Were they, Shane? Did your precious son and his whore flout the king's law first, then make a mockery of our true church?" She glared at him.

  "If there was another ceremony, Jane, I was not aware of it, nor was I present at any such ceremony," he told her. No, he hadn't been present. Bride Murphy and Rory Maguire had been the witnesses. He had already been seated in Maguire's Ford's little stone Protestant church with Colleen, Hugh, Molly, and their daughters. God help him when Jane learned of that, and she would eventually. "The Leslies of Glenkirk are Protestant, Jane. It is natural their daughter, brought up in England's faith, would be married by Reverend Steen. And pray, my dear, do not call my daughter-in-law a whore."

  Frustrated, and angered beyond all reason, Jane Devers lost her calm demeanor and vaunted control. Her fingers closed about the wine decanter, and then she flung it at him. "Ihate you!" she screamed.

  Shane Devers ducked the missile and burst out laughing. "Why, my dear Jane, 'tis the most passion I have ever seen you show in all our years of marriage. It quite becomes you."

  Open-mouthed, she stared at him, her pale blue eyes almost bulging from her head. Then with a cry of despair Jane Devers fled her husband's library. She was appalled by the situation; appalled by her inability to manage it; appalled by her loss of control. She began to weep, but after a moment she ceased. She needed to know more about this wedding. Hurrying to her apartments she called to her maid, Susanna.

  "See if one of the household servants has kin in Maguire's Ford," she said "My stepson married Lady Lindley yesterday, and I want to know everything there is to know about the wedding."

  "Yes, m'lady," Susanna said, showing no emotion at all. Her ladyship did not like any show of feelings, but Susanna was very surprised by her mistress's news. "The undercook has family in Maguire's Ford, m'lady. Shall I speak to her?"

  "Yes," Jane Devers replied. "Tell her there is a silver piece in it for her if she is forthcoming."

  "Yes, m'lady." Susanna curtsied, and hurried off.

  ***

  Several days later Jane Devers had learned all she needed to know about her stepson's wedding. It had been a happy occasion, and the duke had invited all in the village to celebrate it with his family. Learning this made her even happier William had not contracted an alliance with Fortune Lindley. That the duke could associate himself and his family with those bog trotters was disgusting. The Leslies might be wealthy, but they were obviously not people of real quality. How could they be when the duchess had no shame in the mongrel she had borne a dead prince?

  More interesting, however, was the knowledge that her husband's mistress had been at the festivities with her two bastards. And that they had all spent the night at Erne Rock. While Shane knew it not, she had seen those two young hussies in Lisnaskea on several occasions. And she had made it quite clear to the Reverend Mr. Dundas that no respectable family should take either of those two woods colts to be a wife for their sons. They were baseborn. They were Catholics. But that Shane should have consorted with them publicly at Kieran's wedding was an insult she would not forget. He would pay for his misbehavior. Kieran would pay for his treachery as well.

  She hardly saw her husband at all now. They had had separate bedchambers for years. They only met over the dinner table, except that Shane was away in the evening more often than not of late. Probably with his blowsy whore and her two brats. Consequently there was little exchange between them anymore. She didn't care. William would be home soon with Emily Anne, and then they would decide what was to be done about Kieran and the estate at Maguire's Ford. No matter that Shane said Kieran was not to have it. She didn't believe him. Why wouldn't the duchess give the lands given her by her late husband to the child born of that marriage? Surely she would. She wouldn't give it to sons born of another husband. Jasmine Leslie would use her influence with King Charles to give Maguire's Ford to her daughter and Kieran. Bringing her two youngest sons from Scotland was but a ruse. Well, it wouldn't work, and Kieran Devers wasn't going to have the chance to lord it over her son!

  Blissfully unaware of Jane Devers, Kieran and Fortune spent the days following their marriage making love and riding out together. Their passion for each other was so great that they could scarcely wait to leave the hall each evening. Finally Jasmine told them to not even bother coming into the hall, but to have food sent to their bedchamber to eat when they realized another hunger other than the one they had for each other's bodies.

  "Mama!" Fortune blushed, embarrassed, but Kieran just laughed.

  "I thank you, madame, for your understanding," he said with a rakish grin, and a wink.

  Both the duke and Rory Maguire chuckl
ed at his reply, and Father Cullen hid a smile.

  "The quiet from Lisnaskea is a wee bit deafening," the duke noted.

  "I heard that Lady Jane and her good husband had quite a row over the marriage here," Rory noted. "The undercook at Mallow Court was given a silver piece to obtain all the information she could from her kin here. Now they say Sir Shane and his wife do not speak to each other except when they cannot avoid it. It should get a bit more interesting when young Willy comes home with his bride."

  "Surely he won't make a scene," Fortune said.

  "You turned him away, and married his brother, lass," was the answer. "Kieran can tell you, young Willy has never been one to easily let go of something he wanted."

  "We'll talk, my brother and I," Kieran said.

  Maguire raised a sandy eyebrow. "If you can get within shouting range of him, Kieran Devers, for he'll be out for blood unless that simple lass he has married has been able to turn his heart."

  "Do you think he's dangerous?" Fortune asked her husband later that evening as they lay abed. They were naked, and seated, he against the pillows, she against his chest. His big hands played with her sweet round breasts, teasing them lightly.

  "I don't know," he answered her, one hand moving to push her hair aside so he might kiss the soft nape of her neck. "I've never seen him driven so far as he was with you." He nipped at her, then soothed away the sting with his wet tongue.

  She took his other hand from her breast, and mouthed the fingers, finally taking one finger into her mouth and sucking on it seductively. Her tongue swirled about the finger in an almost thoughtful motion, and then releasing it she said, "Does his wife have the ability to rule him as his mother did? Perhaps we should try to make our peace through Emily Anne."

  "I am not certain it will be possible for Emily Anne loves Willy with all her heart, and she is yet very young. She will say and do what she believes will please him. Nay, I think there is little chance of a reconciliation between me and my family."

  "Your father will not desert you," Fortune reminded him.

  "Nay, he won't, but neither will he do anything else. He must live with my stepmother and my siblings long after we have gone."

  "Than we shall ignore them all," Fortune said. "I see no other way. In six months' time we shall be gone, and with the winter coming, I see little chance of your stepmother causing difficulty."

  He turned her about so he might kiss her, but did not answer her. His bride did not know Jane Devers as he did. Even now her troublesome mind would be twisting and turning in an effort to find an excuse to make mischief of some sort for the Leslies of Glenkirk, and to justify that wicked behavior as right, based upon her religious beliefs. Not that the Catholics weren't as bad; for they were. How they could all excuse their viciousness toward one another, and still claim God favored them alone defied logic, Kieran thought.

  Toward the end of October Maeve Fitzgerald rode over from Lisnaskea to tell her half-brother that William Devers and his bride were expected home that same day. "Da says to be on your guard as that woman he's wed to is surely plotting some deviltry."

  "I had heard Da wasn't at Mallow Court a great deal now," her brother remarked.

  "He's there enough," Maeve said sharply.

  Kieran put an arm about his half-sister. "What is it, lass?"

  Maeve sighed deeply. "I don't want to leave our mam, and yet she wants us to go with you in the spring, and the truth is that she is right. There is nothing here for us. We're being driven from our home by the likes of Jane Devers, and her Protestant ilk. And what will happen to Mam when we are gone?"

  "Da will protect her," Kieran said in an effort to comfort his half-sister.

  "And when Da is gone? Do you think your younger brother will respect the fact that Da built Mam her house, and gave her an income? He'll drive her from it, and send her from Lisnaskea, the only place she's ever known, and all because she's a Catholic. God help her!"

  "We'll make a plan," Kieran promised her. "If that should ever happen, she will come to us in the New World, Maeve."

  "I hate the Protestants!" Maeve declared. "They may hold sway here in Ulster now, but they'll all burn in the fiery pits of hell one day for their impiety and false religion. I'm glad for it!"

  "My wife is a Protestant," Kieran reminded Maeve.

  "Fortune is different, and at least she was once baptized a Catholic. With your help, Kieran, she'll return to the true church one day, especially when you have children," Maeve reasoned.

  "Don't waste yourself in hating, little sister," he told her. Then he sent her back to Lisnaskea, and went to tell his in-laws that William Devers would shortly be home.

  He came early the next day, riding through Maguire's Ford as if the devil himself was on his heels. He stormed into Erne Rock Castle, pushing past a startled servant. He found the family in the Great Hall, breaking their fast of the previous night. They did not see him until pointing a finger at Fortune he shouted at her, "Whore!"

  Before James Leslie, Kieran, or the two younger Leslies might respond, Fortune was on her feet, coming down from the high board to stand in front of William Devers. She slapped him with all her might. "How dare you insult me?" she demanded of him. "Who do you think you are, William Devers, to come into my mother's house, and slander me? You have no rights over me, and you certainly never did!"

  "You were to marry me!" he cried, taken aback by her fury. His mother and his wife had spent all the previous evening telling him what an affront Fortune Lindley's marriage to Kieran was. He had right on his side, damn it!

  "There was no marriage contract between us, or our families, Master Devers. I came to Ireland to seek a husband, and you were the first candidate for my hand presented me. I refused you."

  "So you might whore with my bastard brother!" he accused her. "All the time I courted you so tenderly, you were thinking of him!"

  Fortune slapped him again to his surprise. "If you keep calling me foul names, and maligning my husband, Master Devers, I shall go to the local magistrate and register a complaint. Do not think that because Kieran is a Catholic I shall be ignored. I shall not. I am a Protestant, and my brother is the king's well-loved nephew. As for the king, his wife is a Catholic. Whose side in such a matter as this one do you think the king will favor, Master Devers? That of a very unimportant Irish landowner's son, or mine?"

  "I loved you, Fortune." His voice was low.

  "You were fascinated by me. What you loved, Will, whether you knew it or not, was Maguire's Ford, and this castle. Even as your mother had taught you," Fortune said with devastating effect.

  "Kieran shall not have it," William Devers said, his voice now hard, his eyes filled with anger and hate. "My bastard half-brother shall not have Maguire's Ford and Erne Rock. I will not allow any Catholic to lord it over me, madame!"

  "You know the disposition of this estate, Will," Fortune said. "It is to be equally divided between my brothers who even now sit at the high board, their daggers at the ready to slit your throat," she mocked. "Now, apologize to me, and to your brother, who is my husband. There is no reason for strife between us."

  "Go to hell, you bitch!" he snarled, and turned to go.

  At that moment Kieran Devers leapt from the high board, and dashed across the floor to beard his younger brother. Grasping him by his doublet he said fiercely, "I'll not kill you lest I have the sin of Cain upon me, Willy, and because I promised my wife I should not; but if you ever insult either of us again, little brother, I will forget my promises, and the consequences be damned. My father's marriage to my mother was a legitimate one even as his marriage to your mother is. If I were the bigot you are I should claim otherwise for is not the Holy Catholic Church the one true church? Some say it is so, Willy, although the Protestants would disagree. Like Fortune and her family I desire no animosity between us, but so help me God I shall beat you senseless if you ever come to Erne Rock again uninvited to cause trouble!" He loosed his hold on the younger man. "Now, get the hell out of
here, Willy!" Spinning William Devers about he applied his boot to the seat of his antagonist's breeches, and pushed.

  Stumbling, William Devers almost ran from the hall, but as he reached its entrance he turned, raising a fist to shake it at them. "You will be sorry for what you have done to me, Kieran! I'll see you dead, and that witch you've married who haunts my dreams with you!" Then he was gone.

  "He's mad," Fortune declared. "There was never anything but a possibility between us. Now he is a married man as I am a married woman, and he can still not let it go."

  "You were his first love, sweetheart," Kieran said. "In a strange way I cannot blame him. How could any man love you, and then be married to another, Fortune?"

  Hearing his words Fortune smiled up at her husband. "I do love you so," she said softly.

  At the high board James and Jasmine Leslie smiled fondly at the pair, but Adam Leslie and his brother, Duncan, rolled their eyes at each other, and snorted their derision.

  Hearing them their sister turned about. "You'll be just as bad one day, my laddies," she told them.

  "Never!" Adam swore. "We dinna like lassies.'"

  "You will," chuckled his father, "and sooner, I fear, than later."

  "And make a fool of myself like that William Devers? I dinna think so," Adam replied scathingly. Then he quickly apologized to his brother-in-law. "Yer pardon, Kieran. I know he's yer brother, but…"

  Kieran smiled at the boy. "I take no offense, Adam Leslie, for I fear you are wiser than Willy."

  "Poor William," Jasmine said sympathetically.

  ***

  But William Devers didn't need the duchess of Glenkirk's sympathy. Filled with righteous anger he returned to Mallow Court quite determined to see that his brother and Fortune were punished for what he had decided were their offenses against him. He was encouraged in this pursuit by his mother and his wife, for like her mother-in-law, Emily Anne Devers had little tolerance for Catholics.