Excerpt
“Ay, that was what they were after,” Una agreed. “Praise from Finn MacLir, the man who only laughed at the pretensions of both of them.”
“I think there’s more to it than that, Una,” Maire Kelly said. “The big attraction at the MacLir house for Clifford Hamilton and Liam Dooley was surely Caitlin MacLir herself. She’s the real reason why they started coming here in the first place. It wasn’t praise from Finn they were after, but a smile from his daughter.”
“Oh get away with you, Maire Kelly,” Una protested. “Whatever put that notion into your head? Caitlin was never at the parties except to serve food and drink along with Mother Ross. And besides, she must be five or six years older than either Clifford or Liam.”
Maire spooned more sugar into her tea. Her sharp face took on the complacent look of one who was privy to immense secrets. “There isn’t much goes on in this village that I don’t know about,” she boasted. “I know more than those who claim to be better acquainted than I am with the affairs of this place.”
“You don’t mean to say that Clifford Hamilton and Liam Dooley were rivals for Caitlin?” Maura asked.
“Oh nothing as serious as that,” her sister replied. “But they both fancied her. Of that I’m certain. Maybe they still do, each in his own way. They’re both young and male, after all. Anyway I’m convinced that what actually started the rivalry between them was adolescent calf love for the fair but unattainable Caitlin.”
“Caitlin seems to have turned the heads of half the young men in the village,” said Una Slattery.
“While everyone thought they were all after Nora,” Maura remarked.
“Nora has the sweeter personality,” said Maire, “but Caitlin delivers the goods. If you get my meaning.”
“I can see young Clifford chasing Caitlin for what he could get,” Maura said; “but not Liam Dooley. There’s more to it than just the goods, Maire.”
“Maybe it’s that MacLir wildness in her character,” Una suggested. “Independence is a trait that appeals to young men. Even to the quieter young men like Liam Dooley.”
“But it seems strange to me that Caitlin married a man as staid and ordinary as Michael Carrick,” said Maire.
“The meek shall inherit the earth,” Maggie Potter said so quietly that no one heard her.
“Well I’m going into the sitting room,” Maura announced abruptly. “I’ve had enough of this gossip for one night.”
