“I’m not stealing the virtue of any maid,” Kiernan ground out the words. He’d behaved perfectly last night with Alannah when they met in the field after dark.
Liam was watching his face, probably trying to gauge the truth.
Kiernan met his gaze levelly. “I don’t sleep with the maids. I never have, and I never will.”
“Hey, you’ll find no judgment here.” Liam waved a handat himself. “Whatever is going on, I don’t care. But I thought you should know what people are saying.”
Kiernan clamped his jaw and peered toward the river unseeingly. What should he do now? Was there any way to make the rumors go away?
He didn’t want Shaw to hear and then investigate and realize the maid was Alannah.
Of course, his parents would likely learn about both rumors at their mass. As a result, they would be eager to know more about his supposed match. More than that, they would be dismayed to hear about his indiscretion.
Da would confront him. Not only would Da be disappointed, but he would probably launch into a story about how he’d never once looked at another woman after meeting Mam. He’d boast about how he had the perfect marriage and perfect wife and tell Kiernan he needed to strive to do better. He’d turn it into a competition like he did everything else.
And Mam? She would realize right away that Alannah was the suspect maid. Mam would use the rumor as an excuse to send her away. Of course, Kiernan wouldn’t let Mam do that. But it was all the more reason to move Alannah someplace new. ... Today if possible.
He just hoped Bellamy would have some ideas on how to solve the problems and make everything alright again.
Kiernan stepped into the dimly lit interior of Oscar’s Pub, and the waft of beer and tobacco smoke greeted him. The place wasn’t open yet, but the door had been unlocked. Althoughthe tables were empty, a lone figure sat on a stool at the bar counter, slurping from what appeared to be a bowl of soup.
Kiernan didn’t need to see the ginger-colored hair with a cowlick to know it was Georgie McGuire. The older man was almost always at Oscar’s Pub, sitting at the same place in the center of the bar that ran along the far wall. Kiernan wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the fellow slept on a pallet on the floor in the pub at night.
At the sound of the door closing, Georgie shifted around on his stool, the spoon paused halfway between the bowl and his mouth. His purplish nose stood out amidst his pale face, and he flashed a near-toothless grin. “Bellamy said we’d see you today.”
That meant Bellamy had heard the rumors too, which didn’t surprise Kiernan. The young matchmaker probably heard and knew of every rumor ever spoken in St. Louis, especially among the Irish community.
“Where’s Bellamy?” Kiernan wound his way through the maze of tables and chairs, most littered with mugs from the previous night. As always, the paintings on the wall drew Kiernan’s attention, landscapes of Ireland that never failed to remind him of Da and Mam’s homeland and the fact that they’d had to work hard to make a new life for themselves in America, and if they could do it, so could he.
Georgie finished with his spoonful of soup and nodded toward the kitchen at the back of the pub. “Bellamy!” he called. “You were right. Kiernan Shanahan is here for a visit.”
A slight clattering of dishes was the only answer.
Kiernan stopped at the bar even though he was tempted to stalk around to the other side and go directly to Bellamy.That would probably make him appear desperate and therefore guilty. Instead, he gripped the bar counter and took a deep breath. He needed to be patient, just as he’d been since leaving the Cathedral.
He’d ridden to the Shanahan home on Third Street, hoping to speak with Finola and Riley and to discover what they’d heard about the rumors. But the couple had been gone, apparently having left the city a few days ago for Riley’s family farm in the country.
Kiernan hadn’t been surprised. Even though the two had been faithfully helping the immigrants all throughout the spring, Finola had recently discovered she was with child. Kiernan had known it would only be a matter of time before Riley took his wife and unborn child away from the reaches of cholera.
Nevertheless, Kiernan had spoken with Winston, their faithful family butler, and had eaten a meal at Winston’s insistence even though he was eager to return to Oakland and make sure no one was bothering Alannah. The longer he was away from her, the more he worried about her facing the ramifications of the rumors.
That meant he wanted his meeting with Bellamy to be brief.
“So you’re in a bit of a bother, are you now, lad?” Georgie set his spoon down, then picked up the bowl and drank the remainder of the soup.
Kiernan didn’t want to be rude, but he had no intention of discussing his business with anyone but Bellamy.
Georgie set the bowl down and wiped his sleeve against his mouth. “Well, now that you’ve put yourself to sea, Bellamy’s no dozer, and he’ll have you back on land in a wee minute.”
“That he will.” Kiernan tapped his fingers against the counter, trying to curb his impatience.
“Bellamy, he’ll find you a lass who thinks the sun and moon rise and fall with you, so he will.”
Kiernan didn’t need alasslike that. He’d be happy enough to have a woman who was decent and good, two things Shelia clearly lacked.
“As long as the lass is not named Shelia Douglas, I’ll be happy.”
Georgie drummed his fingers against the bar counter in time with Kiernan’s. “Always did think Shelia Douglas was like a prize hound waiting to get her snout scratched.”
