The Faithful Heart (40 page)

 

 

Mary, eavesdropping on the entire conversation from the top of the
stairs, gritted her teeth
. So it had been Aofa all along.

 

 

The older woman steeled her resolve, and though she grudgingly hated
to admit it, she knew she owed Ruairc MacMahon all the support she
could give him.

 

 

Once Finn had gone, she crept down the stairs to the dungeon where
the cousins had insisted on keeping Ruairc if only to ensure that he
didn’t sneak off and attempt a rescue of Morgana single-handedly.

 

 

“I would speak with you, Ruairc MacMahon,” Mary called through the
bars, as Ruairc lay in his cell with his guts twisting into knots of
frustration and despair.

 

 

“What can you possibly have to say to me, Mary?” Ruairc answered
wearily.

 

 

“I heard what was said down here just a few moments ago. I will come
with you to Carrickdoo. They will not suspect me. I was there when
Aofa was captured. They might think you have come to investigate my
claims and help recover her for the family.”

 

 

“You have always blamed me for Conor’s death. You never gave Morgana
my message the other night when Anna came. A message which could
have given us more time to prepare for what my brothers have been
plotting for two years, ever since
they
murdered Conor. Why
should you wish to help me now?” Ruairc demanded mistrustfully.

 

 

Mary sighed, and confessed, “I know you did not kill Morgan, for he
was being poisoned long before you ever came back from Dublin. Plus,
you helped save all those sick villagers by nursing them tirelessly
for days on end.

 

 

“I also know that the dagger that killed Conor was not wielded by
your hand. I helped them in their plan, though God forgive me, I
knew nothing of their full intentions. I was the one who slipped
into your room and stole your dagger to make a copy. Aofa and Dermot
said the replica dagger would be left at the scene of a crime, and
that once you were out of the way, Morgana would be disgraced, and
Conor would be head of the Maguires.

 

 

“I knew of your errand for Morgan, you see. How he was planning to
diivide the estate between his two eldest heirs. I couldn’t bear us
having to share the estate with Morgana, a mere female, and
yourself, a MacMahon,” Mary admitted candidly.

 

 

“So Morgana and I have you to thank for all the suffering we have
had to endure for the past two years, and all because of your petty
jealousies. And now two good men are dead because of your envy!”
Ruairc raged.

 

 

“It serves me right that I have benefited nothing from the
misfortunes both of you have borne. I ask now for your forgiveness,
Ruairc MacMahon, so that I may right the wrongs I have done to you
and Morgana. If you wish to rescue her, I will help you.”

 

 

Ruairc scowled blackly, but in the end he accepted Mary’s offer of
help. “Right, when I go, I shall take you with me. But God help you
if you fail me in any way.”

 

 

“If I fail, death will come for me anyway.”

 

 

With that she turned and marched up the stairs stiffly, leaving
Ruairc alone in the dark, haunted by his terrible fears for
Morgana’s safety.

 

 

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

 

 

Morgana spent over a week in Carrickdoo as a ‘guest’ of Ruairc’s
younger brother Brendan before she had a first glimmer of hope
regarding her sight returning fully, and any chance of escape. She
was sure that Finn and Patrick were using her incarceration at the
MacMahon stronghold to consolidate their position in the Maguire
citadels. All the same, Brendan’s constant romantic attention grew
extremely wearing after the first few days.

 

 

He insisted on helping her dress, wash, and even comb her hair.
Morgana felt like a puppet on a string as she moved along with the
dance he set. Morgana might have almost felt sorry for Brendan were
it not for the fact that every time she looked at him she saw the
murdered body of her brother.

 

 

But Brendan seemed completely smitten by her, and watched her every
move with a mixture of adoration and downright lust. He often
fondled her, and Morgana had to tolerate his caresses, though they
made her feel sick inside.

 

 

Fortunately Morgana’s supposed intentions to become a nun helped her
restrain his ardour to a certain degree, as did her jaw and bruised
head. She could eat little other than broth, and for the first three
days could barely even sit up in the bed. But when she was left
alone in the lofty bedroom on the fourth storey of the castle,
Morgana practised being able to find her way around the room without
a stick to guide her, and gazed out of the windows to see if she
could discover any means of escape.

 

 

Above her room was a rope and pulley system for bringing stores up
to the top level of the residence easily. Morgana had every hope
that if she could just get to a window near the rope, she could
lower herself down to the ground and escape. She could hear the
sound of horses’ hooves clattering in the cobblestoned courtyard day
and night, and knew she would only need a few minute's start to
outrun any pursuers and get back to Lisleavan to tell them all she
knew.

 

 

By the end of the fourth day there, Brendan had become careless
talking in front of her, almost as though Morgana were deaf rather
than blind. She learned that the Spanish were overdue, and that his
brother Dermot was livid at the delay.

 

 

She also discovered that the O’Reillys were in on the plot with the
Spanish as well, and hoped overrun the Pale and get the richest
picking they could manage in the ensuing confusion.

 

 

Morgana sat playing chess and making small talk with Brendan most
days. In the evenings he was kind enough to read to her, and tried
to discuss subjects which he assumed she had an interest in.

 

 

Morgana knew he fully intended to propose marriage to her. It was
difficult not to recoil from his groping hands and beseeching words
as he got down on bended knee and declared his ardent love for her.

 

 

Morgana’s sight was just beginning to get back to normal, and she
took in the small parlour quickly as she searched for a means of
escape. But she knew she could not get out of the high window in the
parlour without a rope. Seeing no chance of escape, she heard
herself asking for time to think over his proposal.

 

 

“I am very flattered, Brendan, but we hardly know each other. I was
destined to have become a nun by now, so this is all very sudden.
Besides, can you seriously tell me you wouldn’t mind a blind wife?”

 

 

“Not with all the other attributes you would bring to the marriage,
your housewifely skills, you riding abilities, which are legendary,
your skill with figures and trade,” Brendan complimented her.

 

 

My land and ships,
Morgana thought to herself as she listened
to the fulsome praise.

 

 

“Won’t your brother object to this?” she asked aloud.

 

 

“But you said you had no wish to see Ruairc ever again!” Brendan
said uneasily.

 

 

“No, I meant Dermot,” Morgana said patiently.

 

 

Brendan’s face fell.

 

 

“Oh, yes, of course, but I can’t see why. He could marry your sister
Aofa, and then the whole family would be one extended clan. It would
be marvellous. Just think how powerful we would be!” Brendan
enthused.

 

 

“Yes, I can just imagine,” Morgana said with a forced smile.

 

 

Just then Morgana heard the door swing open, and Brendan scrambled
to his feet.

 

 

“Who’s there, Brendan?” she asked, as she clung to his arm
convincingly.

 

 

“It’s Dermot, come just in time to stop this young puppy from making
a fool of himself.”

 

 

“A fool is it? Morgana has agreed to marry me, so now who is fooling
himself, Dermot?” Brendan gloated.

 

 

“Now, Brendan, I never said....” Morgana protested.

 

 

But Dermot was already at his younger sibling’s throat.

 

 

“You’ve been taking advantage of her blindness to get into her bed,
you little bastard,” Dermot hissed, grabbing him by the upper arms.

 

 

“Never! She likes me! Is that so surprising?” Brendan shouted, as he
gripped his brother in return and shook him by the edges of his
opened doublet.

 

 

“Well, let her try me for a change. Let her sample all three
brothers, and when choose which of us she likes best,” Dermot
sneered.

 

 

He grabbed Morgana and began to kiss her.

 

 

"Ow!" she exclaimed as he rammed his jaw against hers.

 

 

Morgana’s hands moved up to push against Dermot’s chest, and she
fought back her nausea as the brandy and garlic fumes of his breath
threatened to overpower her.

 

 

She pretended to faint, but it only seemed to increase Dermot’s
ardour.

 

 

He began to shred the front of the simple gown she had been lent by
one of the housemaids.

 

 

Morgana’s emotions took over from her reason as she threw all
caution to the winds. Brendan was trying to force them apart by now,
so she let fly. She punched Dermot in the groin, before bringing up
her knee to connect with his face as he doubled over in agony. She
then swung him into the wall, where she slammed his head against the
stone with a resounding thunk.

 

 

Brendan stood amazed as he stared at the crumpled form of his
brother.

 

 

Morgana went over to him and begged, “Take me out of here, now, and
don’t tell him it was me, will you. He’ll kill me.”

 

 

“Are you hurt?”

 

 

“No, just the gown is torn, but he was disgusting. I feel sick.
Could you take me to the privy?”

 

 

Morgana pretended she was shaking with fear and cold, so that
Brendan offered, “Here, you wait for me outside this door when
you’re finished. I’m going to go find you something else to wear,
and I will get you a cloak as well.”

 

 

Morgana was just about to creep out of the privy and down the stairs
to the courtyard when she heard an all-too-familiar voice insisting
he had ridden all the way from Belleek to see his brothers on urgent
business.

 

 

Good Lord, it’s Ruairc!
Morgana thought to herself, and
wondered what to do.If Ruairc had come to rescue her, there was no
way they would make it out of the castle alive, unless she somehow
managed to outwit Brendan.

 

 

“And I told you, the lady remains outside,” the guard insisted.

 

 

“Mary, you wait outside while I speak to Dermot and Brendan, is that
clear?” Ruairc ordered loudly.

 

 

Morgana listened through the privy door as Ruairc greeted his
brother by saying, “Well, Brendan, and how are you? I’ve just ridden
all they way here from Belleek, because one of the O’Donnells’s
serving women has told me the most alarming tale about Aofa Maguire
being kidnapped. Do you think your men or the O’Reillys might be
willing to track her down? Morgana is meant to be taking her vows at
the convent any day now, so I wouldn’t like to disturb her again,
just after her father’s death, to have to look for her sister.”

 

 

Brendan pulled Ruairc into the small room downstairs he used as a
study and demanded, “Lower your voice! Morgana is here, and she
remembers nothing of what has happened since her brother Conor was
killed.”

 

 

“What do you mean, she can’t remember anything?” Ruairc asked
sharply.

 

 

Brendan smirked. “Well, she does recall that she never wanted to lay
eyes on you again after Conor’s murder, and has agreed to marry me.”

 

 

“I don’t believe you! If you’ve harmed her!” Ruairc threatened,
advancing on him menacingly.

 

 

Brendan shouted hastily for his guards.

 

 

“I swear to you, I’ve done nothing to her. She fell, hit her head,
and she has lost her memory, and well, and her sight.”

 

 

“Are you trying to tell me she is blind?” Ruairc choked. “Where is
she!Let me see her!”

 

 

“She doesn’t want to see you, Ruairc!” Brendan stated flatly.

 

 

“I’ve come here peacefully to search for Morgana’s missing sister,
and find Morgana ill and blind.Now let go of me, and take me to
her!” Ruairc insisted.

 

 

“Calm down!” Brendan urged, hoping Morgana could not hear their
argument. “I will let you see her, but only one one condition. You
will say nothing of Aofa’s disappearance or her father’s death, nor
anything about the convent where she has spent the past two years.
It would only confuse and upset her,” Brendan said sternly.

 

 

“I agree to your terms. Where is she?”

 

 

“She’ll be brought here now, and I hope you understand that I cannot
possibly leave you two alone together.”

 

 

“Just let me see her, damn it!”

 

 

Morgana came out of the privy, and managed a wan smile as she felt
along the wall in a convincing manner.

 

 

Brendan beamed. “There you are, my sweet. All better now?”

 

 

“Yes, thank you, though I’m afraid Dermot has left this gown is in
tatters,” Morgana said ruefully, trying not to look in her beloved's
direction.