“What will I tell them?” quavered Claire.
“That Dom has had an accident. I will handle the rest. Go, now!”
Claire fled, shrieking loudly enough to rouse the entire household, and quickly the room was filled with babbling servants. Skye calmly directed the removal of her injured husband to his own rooms. The family’s surgeon was sent for and arrived as the dawn was breaking.
Dom lived, but it would have been better if he had died. His spine was broken in two places. He was paralyzed from the waist down. He would not walk, or function as a man, ever again.
Skye thanked the surgeon, paid his fee, and sent him away. Then she took on the O’Flahertys. Gilly blustered at her. “Claire says you’re responsible for my son’s condition.”
“Your son is responsible for his own condition,” replied Skye coldly. “Last night after the meal was finished and I had seen to my household duties, I went to your daughter’s rooms to speak to her about arranging a marriage. I found her and your precious son fucking merrily! And it was not the first time they had engaged in this… incest!When I tried to flee from them they ripped my clothes from me, and used me vilely! Both of them! I tried to escape again and Dom lunged at me. When I stepped aside he fell through the open door and down the stairs. I’m only sorry he didn’t breakhis damned neck! It would have saved me the trouble of caring for him. If you still believe that I have wronged your son, Gilly, then we will take our case and place it before the MacWilliam.”
“Yes!” sobbed Claire. “For once in your life, Father, take the initiative! Dom will spend the rest of his life half a man because of her! She deserves to be punished!”
Skye drew herself up proudly and looked down upon the vengeful Claire. “Yes, Claire,” she purred. “Take your case to the MacWilliam. Do! And then be prepared either to prove your virginity before the midwives’ panel or name your lover! Who will you say it is, Claire? One of the serfs? I think not. You’re far too proud a bitch to admit to fucking with a serf. Who then? There is no one else! No one ever comes to visit you. No one! Perhaps you could claim the Devil for your lover. In a sense, you’d be speaking the truth.”
Skye’s father-in-law looked suddenly old, and defeated. Claire wept helplessly. Skye’s next words held a finality. “I am going home to Innisfana,” she announced. “And I am taking my sons with me. I will not be back. Since Claire loves her brother so deeply she will remain here to care for him for the rest of his life. I will see that Da withdraws her dowry. She has no chance of a decent marriage without it, and I would not, knowing what I do now, see her wed with some poor unsuspecting lad. She will be fed and clothed at my expense, or she may go with what she has. The choice is hers.
“Frang the bailiff will run the estate for me, and answer to me alone. This is, after all, to be Ewan’s inheritance someday and I want it turned over to him in good condition.
“Gilly, you will be taken care of, but my father’s lawyers will shortly have a paper for you to sign that will prevent you from gambling away any part of the estate. Mark me well, Gilly. I will not pay for your wines, your women, or your gambling debts!”
“Father! Are you going to let her do this to us!?”
Gilly stared straight ahead and Skye smiled triumphantly. “Yes, Claire, he is! He knows the alternative. I will bringmycase before the MacWilliam—andbefore the Church! If I do I will accuse you not only of incest with your brother, but of witchcraft as well! You deserve to burn for what you’ve been doing!”
“I love him!” Claire screamed.
“You were hissister!”
“I loved him,” Claire repeated, “From the time we first bedded when I was but a maid of eleven. I was the only woman who ever really satisfied Dom.”
Skye looked pityingly at Claire. “In the years that Dom has left we will see how much you really love him.”
In the morning Skye bid her husband an unemotional farewell. “I hope you enjoyed what you and your sister did the other night, for the memory of it will have to last you a lifetime!”
“Bitch!” he snarled at her. “What kind of a woman are you to leave me?”
“A better woman than you ever knew or appreciated, Dom. Your conduct with your sister has wiped free any obligation on my part toward you. Farewell.”
He struggled to rise. “Bitch! Come back! I command you, Skye! Come back!”
She never turned back. His voice, alternating between curses, threats, and pleas, followed her until the sound became quite unintelligible and finally faded altogether.
Skye rode away from the O’Flaherty house, Ewan before her on her saddle. Behind her were the carts carrying her younger son, the two nurses, and her household goods.
But when Skye reached Innisfana several days later there was no peaceful haven there. Dubhdara O’Malley lay dying, having been badly injured by a falling mast in a storm as he was bringing his ship home. A stubborn man, he had refused to die until he reached his home, and until he had seen his youngest daughter. The messenger he sent to Skye had found her as she took ship for Innisfana Island.
She was barely in time to bid her father a final farewell. Tearful, she kissed his cold and sweating brow. “I’m back for good, Da.”
He nodded. Explanations were unimportant now. “Your brothers are too young for the ships yet,” he gasped weakly. “You’ve got to take charge for me.”
It never crossed her mind that he was thrusting a huge responsibility upon her. She answered simply, “I will.”
“You’re the best of them, lassie. Even the boys.”
“Oh, Da,” she whispered. “Oh, Da, I do love you!”
“Skye, lass, this time follow your heart,” were Dubhdara O’Malley’s last words to his favorite child. He died a few minutes later, holding her hand.
