“Do you?” He was darkly mocking. “Do you even know of what you speak? Joan was strong and clever, but she created the greatest scandal of her time when she began her affair with your father.”
Katherine was resentful. “She is dead and you slander their love.”
“Love?” He laughed. “Your father was a boy when Joan began to think of marrying him, shortly after my father died. Indeed, to stopthat, she was married off posthaste to Sir Bryan. As soon as Sir Bryan became ill, our mother began to ride about the countryside with your father—who was but eighteen, and younger than I. Joan was twenty years his senior. I could go nowhere without hearing of their affair. She accompanied him openly everywhere—hunting all across Munster, joining him at the Galway fair, even residing for a time as a guest at Askeaton. ’Twas scandalous—the height of disrespect, not just to the dying Sir Bryan, but to herself, the countess of Ormond, and to me and my brothers.”
Katherine had always known of the vast disparity in age between her parents, but had never thought much of it—many widowed women remarried younger men. But now she felt Tom Butler’s pain. “How difficult it must have been for you,” she whispered. And she could not help being somewhat shocked by her mother’s indiscreet behavior—yet proud, too, of her iron will and refusal to bend to the dictates of society.
His glance was sharp. “’Twas more than difficult. The feud between Ormond and Desmond went back generations, and for my mother to behave with the Desmond heir in such a fashion was a direct affront to me and mine—it was—it is—unforgivable.”
Katherine’s chin rose. “She loved Gerald greatly, despite his age. ’Twas a marriage made for love.”
“Aye, she loved him,” Ormond said darkly. “And that, too, is unforgivable.”
Katherine felt for Tom Butler then, seeing into his very soul. “She loved you, too,” Katherine cried. “I remember as a little girl when my father took his army to meet yours. I remember my mother weeping in fear foryoursafety! I remember that she disobeyed my father and rode after him as he rode to make war onyou.”
“Yes.” Ormond’s face softened. “For thirteen days she rode back and forth betwixt husband and son, betwixt our two great armies, which lay crouched like hounds prepared to pounce and fight. The soldiers on both sides began to call her the Angel of Peace. And she begged first him then me, repeatedly—morning, noon, and night—to cease our fight. She was tireless.” He glanced out of the window. “She was an Angel of Peace.”
“And?” Katherine hardly breathed.
Ormond smiled faintly. “I cannot remember which of us heeded her first. But in the end there was no battle; both armies, led by husband and son, turned around and went home.”
Tears glistened in Katherine’s eyes. “Joan was agreatlady.”
“She was formidable, clever, and headstrong. Too headstrong. She did not care about the scandal attached to her and Gerald; indeed, she laughed about it.” Ormond eyed her.
Katherine hugged herself, uneasy. She thought of Liam now—and her own passionate nature where he was concerned. Now she knew that her dark side came not just from her father, but from her mother as well.
But surely she was not like Joan in all respects. Katherine could not imagine laughing at any scandal that might arise in regard to her and the pirate, Liam O’Neill. A scandal would horrify her; she would die of the shame.
“Did he abuse you?” Ormond asked abruptly.
Katherine knew he also thought of Liam, but she feigned ignorance. “Who?”
“The pirate, O’Neill. Talk is all over town. A hundred ladies and gentlemen saw him kiss you in the Banquet Hall before he bore you off to Ireland. Now another rumor flies about, that someone saw you alone with him in the queen’s private rooms, in a compromising, nay, scandalous position.”
Katherine flushed scarlet: Oh, God. Someone had seen her on the floor in Liam’s arms? But who?
“Are you more like Joan than I thought?”
“No!” she cried, suddenly furious. “I am not eager to court scandal! I do not laugh at hearing these rumors! I want nothing from the pirate, nothing but for him to leave me alone! I am determined to marry a decent, God-fearing man. ’Tis most important to me!”
Ormond’s gaze was penetrating. “And what does your father wish for you?”
“I do not know,” Katherine replied truthfully. She could not help but be somewhat bitter. “I have not seen him since that night O’Neill took me to him. I doubt he knows that Hugh has betrayed me. I…doubt he cares. He is overwhelmed with his losses and his confinement.”
Ormond said nothing, but his gaze was unblinking.
“My lord,” Katherine said earnestly, “I am past eighteen. Although I am pleased, nay, thrilled, with the queen’s appointment, time hardly favors me. By now, most women have had several babes, and if a few more years go by, I will be past my prime childbearing years.” Suddenly her gaze was beseeching and locked with his. “Could you not help me, sir? You are the queen’s cousin. Could you not sway her to my cause? I do not expect much, just a gentleman who is decent of nature.”
Ormond stared at his sister. She was much like Joan, and it was almost painful. But she was not Joan. His sister had no power. She had been stripped of her name and possessions. She had naught but her beauty—which men like Hugh Barry and Liam O’Neill preyed upon eagerly. Despite his overwhelming interest in protecting Ormond’s power he did not particularly care for the thought of Katherine being used by either man. Although he had no usefor a sister, nor any care for one, they had shared the same mother.
He reminded himself that she could not be as innocent or as sincere as she sounded and appeared. She had every reason to conspire with her father to regain what had been lost, and if she were like Joan, she would use her beauty to ensnare a powerful man like Liam O’Neill as a determined ally.
And as this was the case, her wish to wed must be a clever, treacherous ruse.
Given Liam O’Neill’s interest in her, it was best to remove her completely from his grasp. And what better way to do so than with a husband of her own? “Aye,” he said abruptly. “I will take up your cause, Katherine.”
She gasped, then clapped her hands with girlish glee. “Thank you, my lord brother!”
