Oscar was quiet, staring at the closed door. All eyes swung to him. Everyone was waiting for his final say about the kiss with Zaira. As if that mattered.
Bellamy started toward the bar counter, suddenly needing to get away from the scrutiny and the gossip and the pressure. As he moved past Georgie and rounded the counter, he could see in the large mirror behind the bar that Oscar was watching him now.
“Fine.” Oscar’s voice boomed through the pub. “If not her, then you’ll have to choose someone.”
“We’ll see about that, won’t we now?” Bellamy halted beside Jenny, avoiding her gaze, which was full of a hundred questions. Oscar had already told him the Shanahans would be looking for a match for Zaira soon and that James Shanahan would want his youngest daughter to have a profitable match with someone in her social class, especially since her brother Kiernan had recently married a poor housemaid.
It didn’t matter to Bellamy. He wasn’t considering Zaira or anyone. And Oscar would learn that soon enough, because no matter how stubborn Oscar was, Bellamy was more stubborn. No matter how savvy Oscar still was in finding matches, Bellamy was equally as savvy and would find a way to outwit him.
He held Oscar’s gaze in the mirror for another moment. The glint in Oscar’s dark eyes said that he intended to win the coming battle.
Bellamy forced a grin in return, one he hoped conveyedthat he also planned to win. In fact, he had no intention of losing. He’d rather stay single than doom himself—and more importantly doom his future wife—to a lifetime with an unhappy marriage.
The door of the pub swung back open, and Bellamy couldn’t stop himself from anticipating Zaira’s return to sling another comment at him.
The breathless, sweating person that stumbled through the door wasn’t Zaira. He was Mr. Boland, the watchmaker from the corner shop down the street. Had he run all the way to the pub?
“Oscar!” the spindly man called as he bent over and gasped for air. “I’m here to be the first to offer my daughter in marriage to Bellamy.”
Before Mr. Boland could catch his breath, a second man bumped into him from behind, Mr. Flemming, who owned two boardinghouses in the Kerry Patch as well as several rental homes. A burly fellow with a severe expression, he lifted his flatcap from his head and scowled at Mr. Boland. “I would have been the first if you hadn’t pushed that cart in my way.”
Folding his hands on his protruding belly, Oscar reclined in his chair, a grin settling over his countenance. “Come on in. I’m ready to start the meetings.” As Oscar spoke the words, he looked directly at Bellamy. “Let’s find my son a match.”
7
She’d been foolish to kiss Bellamy in the pub two days ago.
Zaira sat primly on the wicker chair on the veranda in the shade, her mind unable to focus on the Sunday afternoon visit with Kiernan and Alannah at Oakland. Instead, her thoughts circled around to Bellamy and the realization that she’d been rash in kissing him so publicly.
Her parents hadn’t heard about the kiss yet. If they had, they would have been irate and spoken to her about her indecency.
Seated on a chair beside her, Mam held herself with the usual poise, her petite frame perfectly positioned, her elegant summer gown perfectly fitted, and her brown hair perfectly parted down the center and looped over each ear. Aye, Lucinda Shanahan, with her dainty features and porcelain skin, was always a picture of perfection.
Da reclined in the wicker chair beside Mam with Kiernan and Alannah sharing the porch swing across from them. Kiernan and Da were built alike with wide shoulders andmuscular frames. Both were dressed in low-cut vests and tailored frock coats with silk cravats and high starched collars that framed their smoothly shaven chins and cheeks. Both were also talkative and had carried most of the conversation so far since they’d gathered on the wide wraparound porch of the country home to avoid the stifling heat inside.
Her two younger brothers, Madigan and Quinlan, sat at the opposite end of the veranda, playing chess. At sixteen and fourteen, the two were rarely so quiet and still—only on the day of rest when they were required to cease from their usual activities. After returning from mass at the nearby parish church, they’d shed their cravats and vests and had unbuttoned the top two buttons of their shirts, which was as far down as Mam would allow them.
Without a breeze, the humidity was heavy, and Zaira wished she had the same freedom to undo her buttons, or at least to shed the frilled manchette cuffs at her wrists. Better yet, she would have taken off her petticoats or gone without her corset. But she held herself as gracefully as possible, even though she was sweltering under the layers of her heavy Sunday gown. She’d also done her best earlier to remove the ink stains from her fingers.
She was taking extra precautions today to be as ladylike as possible, hoping no one would think her capable of the kiss in the pub—if the topic came up.
If only she’d been more rational and had thought through the ramifications of her actions. But she’d allowed her anger at Bellamy to push aside all reason, wisdom, and logic. Now, if word spread about her kissing Bellamy, she’d cause another scandal for her family, which was exactly what she’d hoped to avoid with her venture into becoming a published author.
Why had she let Bellamy antagonize her? Had she really needed the research? Or had she just been looking for an excuse to see what kissing Bellamy would be like?
She stifled a sigh, then pumped her paper fan near her face, barely moving the muggy afternoon air but rustling the big leaves of the potted plant, one of the many that decorated the veranda.
From the swing, Kiernan pinned her with another disappointed look similar to the one he’d given her when he’d first arrived. That had to mean he’d heard rumors about her, didn’t it?
If he knew about the kiss with Bellamy, how long before he told Da? How long before someone else shared it with Da while he was in town? How long before the neighbors learned the gossip and then brought it to Da’s attention?
Zaira spread her hand over her churning stomach. She didn’t want to cause her parents any grief. They’d considered her their easiest child since she was quick to comply, was always helpful and cheerful, and was also usually even-tempered.
But once they learned of her mistake, they would surely be mortified. She would lose her place as their sweet daughter, and she would be nothing more than an utter embarrassment to them.
Alannah reached for Kiernan’s hand and squeezed it. He wrapped his fingers around hers in return. His features softened as he took in his wife’s beautiful face framed by her pale blond hair. As her blue eyes connected with his, she seemed to be imploring him about something.
He released a tight breath and gave her an imperceptible nod before returning his attention to Da and the ongoingconversation about the Committee of Public Health that Riley, their brother-in-law, was helping to lead and the much-needed changes the committee was quickly trying to implement to curb the spread of the cholera.
