The Irish Bride Read Online Free

were children, had watched
her grow from a pretty young girl into a beautiful young woman. And
he’d looked on with helpless, guilty envy as she’d hung on Liam’s
few words as though they’d been gold coins.
    Aidan’s scorched pride and his loyalty
to his brother had kept him from trying to win Farrell for himself.
But jealousy had gnawed at his insides whenever he’d seen her gaze
upon Liam with almost childlike adoration. What she’d seen in Liam,
though, he couldn’t guess—his brother had a good heart but he was a
creature of habit and as sober-minded as a priest. At age eighteen
he’d seemed like an old man.
    If Aidan couldn’t have Farrell, he’d
thought, there were plenty of other girls in the district who found
him favorable. Maybe then she would notice him.
    But she hadn’t.
    Perhaps he’d forget his desire for
her.
    But he didn’t.
    Despite a lifetime of hardship in poor
Skibbereen, Farrell bloomed like a rose in winter, fragile yet
unbowed in the snow, with rich cinnamon hair and eyes that were as
clear and green as the breakers that flung themselves against
County Cork’s rock-faced shoreline. Only in his most fevered
midsummer dreams had he entertained the hope that she might someday
be his. Now, through an unbelievable twist of fate, they were
married.
    And he knew that she’d rather be any
other man’s wife but his.
    The events of the last fourteen hours
were a jumble in Aidan’s memory, but he had a lifetime to sort them
out and relive them. Michael Kirwan’s death, the urgent family
counsel whispering plans in the dark, Father Joseph summoned in the
deepest hour of the night for the dual purpose of performing a
hasty marriage ceremony and giving last rites to
Michael.
    Afterward Aidan and Tommy had carried
Michael back down to the cottage—no easy task since he’d grown as
stiff as old oak shillelagh—and left him lying where he had died.
They left five pounds in his pocket so it wouldn’t appear that he’d
been robbed. It would be Aidan who would be blamed for the death,
Aidan who would be hunted down. By God’s mercy, perhaps the rest of
the O’Rourkes would be left to live in peace.
    Sean O’Rourke had produced an ancient
pair of boots for his youngest son. Sean had worn them to his own
wedding and he’d planned to be buried in them, but thought that
Aidan would get better use of them. They were too small for Aidan
but at least he wasn’t barefoot. Then with hasty farewells and no
time to look back, Aidan and his new wife had set out. The only
other belongings they had with them were the clothes on their
backs, and the kit that Aidan carried.
    “ Are ye warm enough?” Aidan
asked, mainly to break the silence they’d held for hours. He wasn’t
certain Farrell would answer.
    “ I’ll do.”
    He tried again. “When we get to Cork,
I’ll get us some decent clothes and shoes for the trip. At least
we’ve extra money to do that.”
    She kept her eyes on the road in front
of her. “We should have left a bit with Tommy and Clare to help
them along. Now they have Liam and your da to look after as well as
their own.”
    “ And how would they be
spending it? Everyone knows we’re poor as dirt. If Clare bought
something from the butcher in Skibbereen, or even a dram of tea at
the pub, it would lead the authorities right back to the family and
Michael’s death. They’re no worse off than before, and Liam will
get the crop planted.”
    Farrell trudged along in silence for a
moment. Then she said, “I wish I could have done something for
them. God knows if they’ll be all right.”
    “ Aye, well, getting out of
Ireland is the biggest favor we can do them. He kicked at a rock in
his path, silently adding, and taking you
with me is the biggest favor I can do for you .
    Convincing Farrell of that was going
to be the trick.

    CHAPTER TWO

    By mid-afternoon Farrell was starving
and exhausted. Her feet were stiff with cold, her stockings wet.
Aidan had not said a word for hours,