Songs of Love and War (26 page)

‘At her house?’

‘Yes, at her house. Why, am I in trouble?’ She looked at her grandfather, eyes wide and innocent.

‘Not at all, my dear.’ Hubert turned to Lieutenant Driscoll. ‘Will that be all?’

Lieutenant Driscoll nodded. He sighed as if disappointed that
that
particular line of enquiry had led him nowhere. ‘Yes, that will be all. Thank you for your time, Miss
Deverill.’ He replaced his cap.

‘I’m dreadfully sorry about Colonel Manley. He was a charming man,’ said Kitty.

‘Yes he was,’ said Lieutenant Driscoll, standing up. He walked to the door, but as he turned the handle he seemed to remember something. ‘Miss Deverill, one more thing. What
did you have for supper?’

Kitty returned his stare with her own steady gaze. ‘Beef. I hate beef. It was overcooked and chewy.’ This satisfied and disheartened Lieutenant Driscoll in equal measure.

When he had gone Kitty rounded on her grandfather. ‘What was that all about?’

‘I know, preposterous. I told him Grace had nothing to do with it.’

‘What’s she accused of?’

‘Being the bait. They’ve seen her mixing with the enemy in Dublin, so they say. Apparently they’ve been watching her for some time. They believe she arranged to meet Manley for
a romantic liaison at the old farmhouse along the Dunashee road last night, then, when he turned up, she or her accomplices knifed him. I’ve never heard anything more ridiculous in my life.
Grace is a lady, an
English
lady, not a Shinner. Wait till Ronald hears of this.’

An image floated into Kitty’s mind of Colonel Manley thrusting into Grace instead of her father and she promptly sat down again, feeling suddenly light-headed. Then another image replaced
it, that of Grace in the farmhouse on the Dunashee road with a knife hidden in her skirt.

Kitty returned to the Hunting Lodge and hastily changed into her riding habit. ‘Where are you going?’ Elspeth asked, entering her bedroom.

‘I need to get some air.’

Elspeth looked disappointed. She wanted to continue discussing her wedding. ‘What did Grandpa want you for?’

‘He’s worried about the Shrubs,’ Kitty improvised.

‘Why?’

‘They never go out any more because they’re frightened of the Shinners. They think they’re going to get murdered like Colonel Manley.’

‘I don’t think anyone’s going to murder two defenceless old ladies.’

‘Just what I said,’ Kitty lied, pinning her hat onto her head.

‘I suppose we could take them into Ballinakelly one afternoon. They won’t be so frightened if they’re with
us.’

‘Quite.’ Kitty was brisk. She had already grown bored of her lie. ‘I’ll see you later.’

‘You’re not going into Ballinakelly on your own, are you?’ Elspeth looked worried.

‘No. I’m going over the hills.’

‘Are you sure you’re safe on your own? Shouldn’t you take Harry with you?’

‘Perfectly safe. God help the Shinner who takes
me
on.’ She laughed and left the room.

Kitty galloped over the hills to Grace’s house. Sheep and cows grazed peacefully on thick, lush grass, unmoved by the cold. As she rode she felt her anger release on the
wind, as if it had fingers to snatch her resentment and take it away. As she galloped she felt her love for Ireland swell in her heart like an expanding balloon. The more she looked around her, at
the wild and rocky countryside, the bigger the balloon grew until she laughed out loud with unrestrained joy. Spurring her horse on she jumped a stone wall, delighting in the risk, believing
herself too accomplished ever to fall.

When she reached Grace’s large, grey-stone manor, she dismounted at the stable and handed her horse to the groom. Taking off her gloves as she went, she marched into the house through the
front door. ‘I’ve come to see Lady Rowan-Hampton,’ she announced to the butler, who looked surprised and a little uncomfortable as Kitty strode past him without waiting in the
hall as was customary.

‘I will just go and inform her ladyship,’ said the butler, hurrying after her.

‘Grace!’ Kitty shouted. Before the butler could reach the sitting room, Grace appeared in the doorway. She looked pale and tired around the eyes, but her crimson dress and green
cardigan revealed her usual penchant for colour. Kitty couldn’t imagine she’d have the nerve to thrust a knife into a man.

‘It’s all right, Brennan. Would you bring us some tea?’

‘Yes, my lady,’ he replied, pursing his lips and shooting Kitty a disapproving look.

‘Come in, Kitty.’ She smiled as Kitty followed her into the room. ‘So, I’m Grace at last,’ she said with satisfaction.

‘It wouldn’t be right to call you Lady Rowan-Hampton, seeing as we’re such close friends. I gather I had dinner with you last night.’

Grace turned and held Kitty with solemn eyes. ‘For that I thank you, Kitty,’ she said in a quiet voice.

Kitty walked past her and perched on the club fender in front of the fire. ‘So, are you going to tell me what this is all about?’

Grace went and sat beside her. She lowered her voice but her eyes were blazing with zeal. ‘I was there last night,’ she said. ‘With Michael and the boys . . .’

Kitty’s jaw fell open.
‘You
killed him?’

‘No.’ Grace looked at Kitty steadily. ‘Jack did.’

‘Jack . . . ?’

‘Your
Jack.’

Kitty was caught off guard. She didn’t think anyone knew about her and Jack, least of all Grace. ‘I don’t understand. How do you know?’

‘I know lots of things, Kitty. I know you’re one of us, though, which is why I chose to make
you
my alibi.’

‘You had no choice. Mama wouldn’t have lied for you. I doubt any of your other English friends would have lied for you, either.’

‘But I knew
you
would.’

‘Even though you know I dislike you?’

‘I knew you’d do it, not for me, but for Jack.’ Grace lowered her eyes unhappily. ‘I know why you dislike me but I make no apology.’

‘You have some nerve, Grace.’

‘I trust my instincts.’

‘So it was a test?’

‘In a way.’

‘Weren’t you perhaps a little reckless? One word from me and I could have had you hanged.’

Grace’s lips curled into a small smile. ‘But you didn’t, did you? My gamble paid off.’

‘I gave you an alibi and saved your life, which means you owe me.’

‘No, it means you’re one of us now.’

Kitty raised an eyebrow. That
did
please her. ‘I’m involved, whether Jack likes it or not?’

‘You are indeed, which is what you’ve always wanted. Am I right?’

‘So what do I do now?’ Kitty asked.

Grace turned her eyes to the door where Brennan was coming in with the tea, followed by a young maid with a porter cake on a plate. ‘Ah the tea. I think this is going to be the beginning
of a very interesting friendship.’

When Kitty returned to the Hunting Lodge she summoned Harry and Elspeth to her bedroom. When they arrived she closed the door behind them and leant against it as if fearful
they might be overheard or spied on. Too many occasions when she’d peered through keyholes had taught her to be suspicious of others. ‘I need your help,’ she said gravely.

Elspeth glanced at Harry. ‘What’s going on?’ she asked.

‘Are you in trouble?’ Harry enquired.

‘No, but I might be if you both decide not to help me.’

‘We’ll help you, won’t we, Harry?’

‘Of course,’ Harry agreed. ‘What’s the problem?’

Kitty took a deep breath. ‘I can’t explain why, but I need you to pretend that I wasn’t with you last night. That we didn’t have dinner together. I went to have dinner
with Lady Rowan-Hampton.’

Harry frowned. ‘Why?’

‘I told you. I can’t explain. You just have to do this for me. It’s complicated.’

‘Does it have anything to do with Grandpa summoning you this morning?’ Elspeth asked.

‘Yes,’ Kitty conceded. ‘It does.’

Elspeth smiled. ‘You did seem a little upset.’

‘Well, will you do this for me? If anyone asks, anyone at all, I was
not
with you.’

Harry nodded. Considering the secret she was keeping for
him,
this was the least he could do. Elspeth nodded too although she longed to know why. ‘You have my word,’ she
said.

‘Thank you.’ Kitty smiled. ‘There was a time when I thought we’d never be friends,’ she said.

Harry grinned. ‘There’s nothing that bonds people more surely than a secret.’

Elspeth agreed, although she could never imagine the secret Kitty kept for their brother. ‘And there’s nothing that bonds siblings more than a selfish mother.’

Bridie was wrong about the Black and Tans not being able to arrest everybody. They came in their Army vehicles, with their guns and their thirst for revenge, and rounded up all
the young men of Ballinakelly while their women wailed and clung on, fearing they’d never see them again. Michael and Sean were among them, as was Jack. All taken away. God knew where. Bridie
sobbed on Kitty’s bed as Kitty held her tightly, trying not to give her heart away with her own burning tears. Mrs Doyle ruined the lunch and curdled the cream, which was a very bad sign. She
requested the day off, which Adeline readily agreed to, and spent the afternoon in church with her mother and the other Ballinakelly women, lighting candles, saying rosaries and novenas and making
deals with God.

Bertie had heard from his father that Grace was under suspicion and drove over to see her at once. He parked the Daimler outside the house and knocked on the door. The butler led him through the
hall to the sitting room where his mistress was at her desk, writing letters. ‘Bertie,’ she exclaimed happily, noticing that he was sober and concerned. She put down her pen and stood
up. ‘What’s the matter?’ The butler discreetly closed the door, as was his custom, leaving them alone.

‘I heard that they are trying to implicate you in Manley’s murder. Of all the—’

‘Oh that,’ said Grace dismissively, cutting him off mid-sentence. ‘Well, they’re only doing their jobs. I’m not sure why my name came up. But it did.’

Bertie tried to embrace her, but she sidled away and settled into the armchair by the fire. ‘Why? Why you?’ he asked, pacing the room in agitation.

Grace sighed. ‘I imagine it’s got something to do with me teaching the children English. Their elder brothers and fathers come too, and we talk. They’re suspicious of groups of
people, aren’t they? It’s only natural. Apparently, they think I’m meeting Sinn Féiners in Dublin.’ She laughed lightly, as if the mere idea was ludicrous.
‘I’m not Countess Markievicz!’ she added, referring to the infamous rebel imprisoned after the Easter Rising.

‘But why you and Manley?’ Bertie persisted, the fire in his cheeks exposing his jealousy.

‘Because Manley took a shine to me.’

‘Manley?’

She laughed again. ‘He was a terrible flirt. Surely you know that? He was all over me like a rash. Really, he was very tiresome.’

‘But you’re a married woman!’

She arched an eyebrow. ‘That never stopped
you.’

‘I’m different. We’re Ascendancy. He’s just a professional soldier!’

‘Whatever he was he isn’t any more,’ she corrected.

‘Why on earth would they think you had planned a liaison with
him
?’

‘Because they’re clutching at straws, my darling Bertie.’ She narrowed her eyes and smiled indulgently, as if at a petulant boy. ‘You don’t think I was there, do
you?’

‘Of course not! It’s just preposterous that your name ever came up in a conversation about Manley. Preposterous and I’ve told them so.’

‘I was with Kitty,’ she said, watching him carefully for his reaction.

‘So Father told me.’ He looked uncomfortable.

‘We’ve become friends,’ she said quietly.

His eyes darkened with dread as he read the tone of her voice. ‘Which has implications for us,’ he ventured, speaking her mind for her.

‘Yes. I’m afraid our affair has to end.’

Bertie blanched. ‘End? Why? I’ve sobered up for you, haven’t I?’

Grace rose from her chair and took his hands in hers. ‘She knows about us. I don’t know how, but she does and it’s driven a wedge between us for all these years. I’m a
fool for not working it out sooner.’ She gazed into his stricken face. ‘I’m sorry, Bertie, but it’s run its course.’

‘Grace, please! Our affair has nothing to do with Kitty. I love you!’

‘I love you, too, darling Bertie.’

‘You never minded about Maud.’

‘Maud is the reason you came running into
my
arms. She’s the creator of her own fate. Kitty, on the other hand, is only an innocent child.’

‘She’s not a child. She’s a young woman of twenty, for God’s sake.’

‘She’s my friend. She’s loyal to me, therefore I want to be loyal to her,’ she said deliberately.

Bertie frowned. ‘Loyalty? What’s that got to do with it?’

Grace sighed. ‘I can’t explain. It’s a woman’s business. She’s done something for me and I can’t repay her by carrying on as her father’s mistress.
It’s not honourable.’

‘Since when are you so worried about honour? It’s never bothered you before!’

‘It was never called into question.’

Bertie’s face flushed with anger. ‘I don’t understand you, Grace. I thought you loved me.’

‘I did and I still do, but we can’t have everything in life. Sometimes one simply has to do the right thing, even if it breaks our hearts.’

Bertie strode over to the window and gazed out onto the gardens in silence. He remained there for some time, lost in thought. Finally he turned on his heel. ‘I’m not giving up on
you, Grace. I’ll give you time to think this through.’ He made for the door. ‘I don’t believe you can just dismiss me, after all we’ve meant to each other. I will not
accept it.’ With that he opened the door and strode out, slamming it behind him with a loud bang that shook the room. Grace leaned on the back of the armchair to steady herself and heaved a
regretful sigh. When it came to Ireland she’d sacrifice everything and anyone she loved for freedom.

‘They should hang the bally lot of them,’ said Hubert that evening, refilling his glass with whiskey from the drinks tray.