Another Man’s Child. Anne Bennett
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a man he thinks is a good catch that I might not even like. And you said that means I have to meet other men and one of those who’s very pleasant is Andy McCadden and I am going down to Lough Eske and if he is there we will walk together and talk and you can please yourself. And,’ she went on as she saw her sister open her mouth, ‘if you say one more time that he’s a hireling man, like he is some lesser kind of human being, I will be very angry with you.’
‘I wasn’t going to say that,’ Norah protested, running to keep up with her sister, who was making her way in the direction of Lough Eske at a tidy pace. ‘I was going to say you don’t know him.’
‘I know enough,’ Celia said. ‘I know, as I told you, that his parents own a farm, which his older brother will inherit. Added to that there are two younger than him at home and his two older sisters were married this year, which was very expensive for their family, and so, knowing he would have to leave the farm anyway, eventually he decided to go sooner and not be a further burden for his family. I think that’s quite enough to be going on with and anything else I wish to know I can ask him when and if we meet.’
‘When did you find all that out?’
‘Mainly when we were walking the bull up the lane,’ Celia said.
‘Well he’s a quick worker I must say.’
‘Norah, it wasn’t like that,’ Celia protested. ‘Honestly, we were just making conversation. Why don’t you take off your stuffy, disgruntled face and come and meet him? I’m sure if you judge him fairly you’ll find him as pleasant as I do.’
Norah knew that she shouldn’t agree to this. Not only should she refuse to see him, she should tell Celia not to be so foolish and either drag her away or, failing that, go home now and tell her parents of Celia’s intentions. But she did none of these things and found herself nodding as she said, ‘All right, I’ll meet him, but I will make up my own mind about him and will be honest with you.’
That seemed to satisfy Celia but Norah went forward with some trepidation because, however nice this man might be, she knew it would all end in tears when it was discovered that Celia had met and walked and talked with a totally unsuitable man and one she had no sort of understanding with. And they were bound to be spotted – you couldn’t sneeze in this place without everyone being aware of it – and she knew without doubt that that discovery would happen before either of them was very much older.
However, she was pleasantly surprised by Andy McCadden. It was easy to see why her sister had been so taken with him for not only was he incredibly handsome, he also had a pleasant disposition and was quite likeable in fact. His face took on a beam of happiness when he saw Celia, but he looked at Norah ruefully as he said, ‘I am surprised to see you, Miss Mulligan, for I know you don’t really approve of me.’
Norah didn’t deny it but she qualified it by saying, ‘It’s nothing personal, Mr McCadden. It’s just that we are farmer’s daughters while you …’
‘While I am just the hired help,’ Andy said.
‘Basically yes, that’s it.’
Andy didn’t speak for a moment, but looked across the lough before saying, ‘Dinny and his wife were right about this place, it is very beautiful. Shall we take a turn around it?’
Both girls would rather that than stand in an uncomfortable silence but when Andy offered his arm to both women Norah hesitated, but eventually, seeing Celia had no qualms, she put a tentative arm through his. To cover her slight embarrassment she returned to the subject of the lough. ‘In the spring it’s beautiful right enough with the sun shining on the water and the reeds and rushes sighing in the breeze,’ she said.
‘I bet it’s a different place in the winter though,’ Celia said. ‘All desolate and bleak.’
‘Have you seen it that way yourself?’
Celia shook her head. ‘I told you I have never been here, winter or summer, we hardly ever come here and I don’t know why as it’s on our doorstep.’
‘Oh that’s often the way things are,’ Andy said.
‘Celia says you came to Donegal from Killybegs looking for work?’ Norah said. ‘You didn’t want to go further afield? England perhaps?’
‘No,’ Andy said. ‘I mean, I might change my mind later, but at the moment Ireland serves me well enough and I do think it’s incredibly beautiful.’
‘So do I,’ Celia said.
‘But so dreadfully boring,’ added Norah.
‘Only in your opinion,’ Celia retorted.
‘Your sister tells me you want to go to America,’ Andy said.
‘Yes, that’s true.’
‘I’m told the situation is very different there,’ Andy said. ‘There is none of the outdated class system we have here and a man is judged for who he is rather than what he does and that goes for employment too.’
Norah knew that was true for Jim had said as much in one of his letters:
It’s having a job that’s praised here and a man who works is respected, whether he waits on tables, or empties bins, or is a shopkeeper or banker. No worker is looked down on.
‘That is mainly true,’ Norah said to Andy. ‘My brother who is over there says a similar thing.’
‘So then how can you feel the way you do about Andy just because he’s a hired man and has no farm of his own?’ Celia demanded.
‘I feel that way because I don’t live in America yet,’ Norah retorted. ‘And neither do you and like it or not you have to go with the culture of the place.’
‘Even if you don’t agree with it?’
‘Even then.’
‘Then how are things ever to change? How are we ever to be free?’
Norah sighed, ‘All changes to life here come very slowly.’
‘Like the mills of God,’ Andy said. ‘But eventually all people will see how constrained their lives are and change will begin to seep in.’
‘D’you really think so?’
‘I more than think,’ Andy said. ‘I know so. People’s dissatisfaction will challenge the old order. In semi-remote areas like this it might take longer but it will happen regardless.’
‘It won’t change quickly enough for my parents to sanction you and Celia having any sort of friendship, never mind anything more.’
Andy nodded. ‘I agree.’
‘Well I don’t,’ burst out Celia. ‘And stop talking about me as if I’m not here.’
‘I was going to go on to say that I know if your parents were aware that we were meeting and talking this way then they would be upset,’ Andy said. ‘They might be very angry and it may be that you have no wish to annoy your parents in that way. And if you really feel that, I will not press you and this will be the first and last time we’ll meet this way.’
Celia chewed on her bottom lip. Once she had wondered if she could do something that her parents so strongly disapproved of, but that was before she had met Andy. If she told him to go now she would be behaving like a coward, letting someone else choose her future for her, and she thought of all the single farmers round and about and there was not one that had the slightest appeal for her. The thought of being married off to one of those without the least regard for how she felt about it did not fill her with joy. She intended to marry only for love, as she had already said to Norah, and in the meantime be friends with whoever she liked.
The silence had stretched out between them without her being aware of it as she walked along the side of the lake with thoughts tumbling about in her head and when she glanced at Andy she saw his face creased with concern