Across a Summer Sea (42 page)
Eventually, when she was almost dropping with fatigue, she was taken and locked in a cell, empty but for a narrow wooden bunk covered with one dirty, greasy grey blanket. She sank down onto it, buried her head in her hands and broke down. Oh, Richard! Richard! she sobbed. What would they do to both of them and poor Sonny? She feared their treatment of him would be far harsher than that meted out to herself - and what if he talked? Did he know anything? She didn’t know. She just didn’t
know
. She prayed that Peter Casey had escaped, but had the Dublin City Police been informed? Were they even now searching for Richard? And what would happen to him if they did find him? Oh, there was no end to her terrors and worries!
know
. She prayed that Peter Casey had escaped, but had the Dublin City Police been informed? Were they even now searching for Richard? And what would happen to him if they did find him? Oh, there was no end to her terrors and worries!
Utterly exhausted, she at last lay down on the bunk and tried to ignore the scurrying sounds all around her and the terrible smell. The place was alive with vermin and reeked of sweat, of terror and despair.
At last - she had no idea how long she had been lying there - the streaks of a golden dawn crept through the barred window and fell on the dirty flagged floor.
She got up and tried to tidy her hair. Her dress was grubby and creased and it was sticking to her with the sweat that had seemed to ooze from every pore in her body during that terrible night. She still didn’t know what time it really was and as the hours crept by the warmth of the sun only increased her thirst. She was too afraid to feel hungry. She wondered about the children. What had Julia told them? Oh, they would be so frightened. Tommy would try not to show it but he’d been as terrified as the two girls. She’d seen it in his face.
Hours dragged by and eventually a constable brought her a mug of water and a slice of thick bread spread with mutton fat. She had gulped the water greedily but the smell of the fat turned her stomach. Surely they had to let her go soon? They couldn’t keep her here for ever. She’d done nothing wrong. She’d broken no law. There was nothing for them to prove. She knew they would have to take her before a magistrate or a judge at some time; surely then someone would believe her? She knew that even if they arrested Richard he would tell them that she knew nothing. He didn’t know she’d seen him. There had been no time to tell him. She was thankful now that she’d heeded Julia’s warning. But what would happen to him?
By what she judged must be late afternoon they came and brought her out and as she stumbled along the dank passageway her hand went to her throat and her eyes widened then filled with tears of pure relief. She could hear his voice! He was
here
!
here
!
‘My God, Mary!’ he cried as she was ushered none too gently into the room. She’d never seen him so furious as he turned on the inspector. ‘By God, you’ll answer for this, Mulrooney! Not only do you invade my house and property and vandalise it, terrorise my servants and accuse me of treason, you drag an innocent, defenceless woman to this hell-hole and keep her here for nearly twenty-four hours! You’ve come perilously close to breaking the law of habeas corpus and I could have
you
in one of your own bloody cells!’ he shouted, almost beside himself with anger.
you
in one of your own bloody cells!’ he shouted, almost beside himself with anger.
The man’s face turned blood-red. ‘Don’t you threaten me, O’Neill!’ he blustered, furious that O’Neill had an alibi as strong as the Rock of Cashel for when he was supposed to be moving arms around the countryside. He had been up in Dublin having dinner with a prominent Dublin magistrate
and
the District Inspector for South Dublin City. There would be hell to pay and he knew it. He was still stinging from O’Neill’s tirade complaining about his temerity in accusing a loyal subject of the Crown and the Agent of the greatly respected Augustus Coates of being involved in some nonsensical plot against that very Crown.
and
the District Inspector for South Dublin City. There would be hell to pay and he knew it. He was still stinging from O’Neill’s tirade complaining about his temerity in accusing a loyal subject of the Crown and the Agent of the greatly respected Augustus Coates of being involved in some nonsensical plot against that very Crown.
‘Do you think I’m a fool?’ O’Neill had bawled for the whole barracks to hear. ‘Do you think a man of my standing would get involved in the petty machinations of a collection of half-educated peasants?’ he’d gone on. ‘You’ll be lucky to come out of this a sergeant! Now where is she?’ had been the final furious demand.
Richard O’Neill had never been angrier in his life. The whole trip had been bad enough. Almost too late he’d learned there was an informer. He thanked God he had had the sense not to hide the stuff on his own property but in a much safer location, known only to half a dozen men, but he was worried sick about them all. So much depended on their silence and their alibis. Thank God his own had been not only fortuitous but cast iron. But Mary! His poor, innocent, gentle Mary to be treated like this. My God, what must she have gone through? And he’d rushed back so happy, so overjoyed at the news he had to tell her. He’d been horrified by the state he’d found both the house and Julia, Bridie and the children in. He’d half killed his poor horse the way he’d ridden it here to the barracks and, now, to see Mary like this!
‘Mary, I’m taking you home now! This will never happen again, I promise! Heads will roll, believe me, and the first will be that of District Inspector James Mulrooney!’
Ignoring all the policemen he put his arm around her waist and helped her out into the evening sunlight.
She was so filled with relief that she felt faint and dizzy and she clung to him, repeating his name over and over.
He lifted her into the saddle of the still sweating and heaving hunter, whose mouth and nostrils were flecked with foam, and swung himself up behind her. With his features carved as though from granite he ignored the small and curious group of people who had crowded together outside. News travelled fast, he thought bitterly as he pushed Juno forward, scattering the gawpers.
All the way home the only thing that filled her mind was that he was safe. They were
both
safe. Shock set in and she sobbed quietly for the rest of the journey.
both
safe. Shock set in and she sobbed quietly for the rest of the journey.
Julia and Bridie, followed by three white-faced, anxious children, came rushing down the steps as they rode into the yard.
‘Mam! Oh, Mam! Are you all right?’ Katie cried.
Tommy took the horse’s bridle as Richard lifted her down. Despite all the traumas Mary managed a smile and gathered her children to her. They too must have been out of their minds with fear and anxiety. ‘Yes, yes. I’m fine now that I’m home. You’ve nothing more to worry about. No one will hurt you or me. Now, go inside with Bridie. I’m very . . . tired.’ She swayed and Julia rushed forward to steady her.
‘Mary! Oh, Mary, what have those devils done to you?’
‘Let’s get her inside, Julia, she’s half hysterical. I’ll have Mulrooney’s hide for this, by God I will!’
Julia took her into the small drawing room - which had been only half tidied after the police raid - and eased her down in a fireside chair. ‘I’ll make some tea and I think there’s something to calm you, if I can find it.’
‘She’s going to be fine. There’s nothing more to worry about. No one is ever going to hurt or frighten any of you ever again, I promise!’ Richard said gently to the three silent and shocked children. They’d never seen their mother in such a state before, nor had they gone through anything as petrifying as the last twenty-four hours. ‘Go along now with Julia, your mother needs rest,’ he urged.
Julia turned at the door. ‘What about Sonny?’
‘They’ll release him. I’ve demanded that someone see him home and it had better be done. I don’t think he’ll be long now.’
‘Thanks be to God! Poor Bridie is destroyed altogether.’ Julia closed the door behind her, and Richard bent down and took Mary’s hands.
‘Oh, Mary, I’m so sorry!’
She managed a smile. ‘It’s all over now and you’re safe. Oh, I prayed you would be!’
‘I should never have put you in this position. Any of you.’
‘I knew, Richard. I knew about it all. I saw you and Julia told me. You and Peter Casey, with the cart on the towpath the other night. And Peter came here, to warn you I think. He’s gone to America.’
‘Oh, Christ! Mary, if I’d known that I would never have left you! And you said nothing?’
‘No. They questioned me and questioned me but I never told them and I wouldn’t have told them even if they’d sent me to jail. It doesn’t matter what you did or what you do, I love you and I always will!’
He took her in his arms. ‘Oh, Mary! My darling, sweet, brave and loyal Mary! I’ve been such a fool!’
‘No! You did what you believed was right. You
believed
you were doing the right thing.’
believed
you were doing the right thing.’
‘Thank you for understanding, Mary! I love you and I want to make you mine - for ever. I didn’t want to tell you like this, but I want to marry you.’
She looked up at him in disbelief. ‘But you can’t? You said you—’
‘I can now, Mary. I couldn’t before because I wasn’t free to do so. I did have a wife. A very beautiful wife, called Isabelle. I met her when I was a student at Trinity. I was captivated by her. I was too young to know that it was only infatuation and to my father’s outrage - and against all his demands - I held out and I married her. I was twenty-one; he couldn’t stop me. It wasn’t long before I found out that she was mentally unstable. She got worse until in the end I had no choice but to have her committed to an asylum, a good one, in Dublin. She was demented, Mary. Mad. She had become unmanageable. She had to be restrained to stop her from hurting herself. I kept on trying to help her. That’s why I was in Liverpool, seeing yet another specialist who couldn’t help.’
Her eyes were fixed on his face and the terrible pain that was so evident on it. ‘So . . . so Dinny Casey was half right.’
‘Yes. I don’t know how news of it got out here. Oh, Julia knew, and Sonny, but they would never have breathed a word. I’ve known them both from childhood and they’re devoted to me. But I never kept her in this house. She never came here. Father wouldn’t allow it. He’d heard rumours about there being mental instability in her family, that’s why he was so against it. Oh, there have been so many times when I wished to God I’d listened to him - for once!’
She reached up and stroked his cheek. ‘And now?’
‘She . . . she died, Mary. That’s why I had to go to Dublin. They sent for me. She was dead by the time I got there. It was a release for her and a blessed one for me. I had dinner with two of her uncles. That was my alibi. That’s why they could pin nothing on me; they had no proof.’ He drew her to him. ‘Will you marry me, Mary?’
Her heart felt as though it was going to burst with happiness. ‘Oh, you know I will, Richard! You
know
I will!’ she cried, tears falling down her cheeks. Tears of pure joy.
know
I will!’ she cried, tears falling down her cheeks. Tears of pure joy.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
T
HEY WERE MARRIED FIVE days later by special licence. It wasn’t a decision that pleased the parish priest one bit but Mary told him firmly that she had had enough of abiding by the rules, and she had more than done her duty. That she loved Richard O’Neill and after what they had both been through she was certain God would want them to be happy and to provide a secure and loving home for the children, and if that meant she was to be excommunicated then so be it. She would become a member of the Church of Ireland, as Richard was.
HEY WERE MARRIED FIVE days later by special licence. It wasn’t a decision that pleased the parish priest one bit but Mary told him firmly that she had had enough of abiding by the rules, and she had more than done her duty. That she loved Richard O’Neill and after what they had both been through she was certain God would want them to be happy and to provide a secure and loving home for the children, and if that meant she was to be excommunicated then so be it. She would become a member of the Church of Ireland, as Richard was.
This had been met with outright horror and angry condemnation. ‘Think of your immortal soul, woman! You will be destined to burn in the fires of hell for eternity!’
‘Father, I’ve had my hell here on earth and I can’t believe that God is so unforgiving, so narrow-minded, so vengeful that He excludes everyone who is not of the Catholic faith from entering heaven. Nor do I care what people will think of me. I never mix, as well you know.’
‘You will never cross the threshold of this church again, Mary McGann, and neither will your children. Nor will they be educated in the local school.’
‘I can’t believe you would be so bitter as to do that! But no matter, they will be educated in a far better school. Possibly in Dublin or England.’
‘I am not bitter! I am deeply saddened and I am obeying the teachings of the Church.’
‘Then it is a Church I have no wish to belong to. God knows the state of my soul and my heart, I will always love Him and His Christian religion, and I will try to live my life by His commandments, but not by those of a Church so restrictive in its laws. Good day to you!’
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