A Great Beauty

by A. O'Connor

  “Harry …”

  Michael had rehearsed many things to say but now, face to face with Harry, none of them felt right.

  “Harry, there is no explanation for how things happened between Kitty and … and me.”

  “Yes, it’s all a bit of a mystery to be sure!” Harry’s voice dripped sarcasm.

  “I always liked Kitty, you know that. Sure we started off on an even playing field when we both went in pursuit of her. I was as interested in her as you were.”

  “Yes, but that was a long time ago. Then you were smitten with Helen, don’t deny it – so what’s Kitty – the consolation prize?”

  Michael’s forehead creased with hurt and his eyes filled with tears. “That’s fucking low!”

  “Low? You accuse me of being low?” Harry looked at him with contempt. “I wonder what Helen makes of all this?”

  “Helen’s married. I’d say she doesn’t think anything of it one way or the other.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure of that – I’d say she thinks it’s as bizarre as I do – there’s you jumping from one sister to the other and then there’s Kitty jumping from one friend to the other! Hard to keep up with the antics going on around here – and they think they’re a wild bunch in Manhattan! You lot could teach them a thing or two!”

  “Neither of us ever wanted to hurt you – sure both Kitty and I think the world of you, you know that.”

  “I do surely!”

  Michael’s face crumpled. “The look of hatred on your face … I never thought I’d see you looking like that at me! And I have nobody to blame but myself.”

  He went and sat down at the side of the road on the grass verge, his head lowered.

  Harry sighed loudly and went over to sit beside him. He put his arm around him. “Oh, you big eejit … what a mess you got us all into … I don’t hate you, Mick, sure that would be impossible for me to do.”

  “I’d have never intentionally hurt you, Harry. Kitty and I just fell in love.”

  Harry looked alarmed. “Love? That isn’t love, what you and Kitty have … I have no doubt in my mind that she is in love with me and that she will decide to marry me as was the plan all along before you.”

  Michael looked at him, stunned. “But Kitty and I –”

  “Are over. Sure, how could a lady like Kitty Kiernan ever be happy with you, Mick? Look at yourself, running around cracking jokes one minute, crying your heart out the next. Kissing babies one minute, ordering the killing of British Tans the next. She’d never know where she was with you. She’d never be happy with you.”

  Harry’s words reminded Michael of what Helen had said to him when he had pleaded with her to leave her fiancé for him. And now he was being told the same thing about Kitty.

  “I don’t say these things to be cruel to you, Mick, but for you to understand. There’s somebody out there for you, I’m sure there must be, somebody the same as you who gets overly excited about things – everything – as you do. But that’s not Kitty. For Kitty, you are like one of those characters in those romantic novels she is always reading. But sure that’s not real life, that’s escapism. And Kitty is realising that now before she gets in any deeper with you. As for you, you just want what is unobtainable. You were like that with Helen and you are like that with Kitty. You’ve built her up into something she’s not as well, just because you see me and other men desperate to marry her … but that’s not where love comes from, Mick. Love doesn’t come from envy, it comes from the heart.”

  Harry’s words were like slaps across the face to Michael and, despite feeling crushed by both Harry’s words and his own guilt, something was stirring deep inside of him. A defiance, a will to battle and to fight for what he wanted.

  “Well, Harry, you know me very well,” said Michael. “And you might be describing me very well. But, if you know me, then you know I’m a fighter. I’ll never give in and I’ll never walk away. So we’ll see who Kitty chooses – it’s her choice at the end of the day.” He put his hand out for Harry to shake.

  Harry looked at his hand and then reached forward and shook it. “And let’s make our own truce and our own treaty … whoever Kitty chooses, we will remain the best of friends.”

  “Agreed,” said Michael.

  CHAPTER 31

  After the departure of Michael and Harry, Kitty decided she needed a break away from everything, not least Maud’s constant questioning. She went to Donegal for a few days’ holiday. Her friends there knew nothing about her relationship with either Michael or Harry so she could just relax.

  As August slipped into September, she took long walks along the coast and the cliffs on her own. She could at last allow herself to think as she walked along with just the seagulls crying as they soared in the blue sky above her. She stood looking out at the ocean at the top of a cliff. Across that ocean lay America where Harry had been and where he had invited her to go with him. But she had said no at the time and that she would wait for him. She doubted she would have been able to say no to Michael if he had proposed such a thing. And there laid her answer, she thought. She loved Michael, and she would be just settling for Harry. But unless she could get Michael to commit, and if she lost Harry in the meantime, she could be left with nothing.

  When she arrived back in Longford, there was a stack of letters from Harry waiting for her. As she riffled through them she saw that he was professing undying love for her, planning their life together, assuring her that he would make her the happiest woman in the world. He reminded her that he was going on official business to Scotland to meet the British prime minister and that as soon as he was back in Ireland he would visit her.

  ***

  Once Harry returned from Scotland, he was summoned to meet De Valera. The trip had not gone smoothly. Harry had been given strict instructions to hand the correspondence to Lloyd George and then leave. However, Lloyd George had requested him to stay while he read it. As expected, once Lloyd George had seen De Valera refer to himself as the president of a free and independent Ireland, he had erupted in anger and the mission to secure a new round of treaty talks nearly collapsed before agreement to start it began. Harry, with some frantic diplomatic skills, had managed to finally smooth the matter over and now the new round of talks was due to start the following month, in October, in London.

  As Harry walked into the De Valera ’s study, Éamon did not look to be in a good mood.

  “So – we are all set for the next round of negotiations, Éamon,” said Harry once they had sat down. “Hopefully better luck this time!”

  “Indeed,” said Éamon, frowning. “Harry, when I sent you to Scotland I distinctly told you, without any fear of misunderstanding, to deliver my reply to Lloyd George and to leave immediately – did I not?”

  “Yes,” Harry said with a nod.

  “You deliberately disobeyed my order. When Lloyd George asked you to stay until he had read my correspondence, you stayed – and thus nearly created a diplomatic incident.”

  “With respect, Éamon, I don’t think it was me staying for tea and sandwiches that created the diplomatic incident but what you had written in your letter – declaring yourself president of a free and independent Ireland. We all knew Lloyd George would go mad when he read that – and I thought I’d better stay to try and smooth things over – which I did successfully.”

  “I fully expected Lloyd George’s reaction and you undermined me by disobeying my order.”

  “I apologise if I did. But at least we are on course now for the next round of negotiations. I would like to request to travel to London to be part of our delegation.”

  Éamon waved his hand dismissively in the air. “That won’t be happening.”

  “Why not?” said Harry.

  “I have other plans for you.”

  “Which are?”

  “You are to return to America to continue the excellent work you have been doing there.”

  “America!” Harry nearly jumped out of his seat in shock.

&
nbsp; “Yes, you are to return by the end of this month, early next month at the latest.”

  “But – but I can’t!”

  “You can and you will,” said Éamon.

  “But you don’t understand – I’m finished with America! I’ve spent the last three years there and I don’t want to go back! I want to be home here in Ireland building our new country.”

  “You can best build our new country in America. It is a great privilege I am offering you – you will effectively be our first ambassador to America, with a very substantial salary.”

  “Fuck that! So I am to be the first ambassador and you the first president of a country that doesn’t exist yet and may never do if these next set of negotiations fall through like the last!”

  “Careful, Harry,” warned Éamon.

  Harry shook his head. “This is all because I disobeyed you in Scotland, isn’t it?”

  “The matter is no longer up for discussion,” said Éamon.

  “Dev – Éamon – please, you don’t understand. I just can’t go back – I have to be home – there’s a woman, you see – Kitty, I told you about her – I just can’t leave her again!”

  “Take her with you then,” said Éamon. “As your wife, of course.”

  “It’s not that simple –”

  “If she loves you, she’ll go with you, Harry … it is simple … we all have to make personal sacrifices. I had to leave my wife and children as you know for my time in America. We just have to get on with it.”

  “Éamon – please!”

  “Harry, please don’t embarrass either of us by continuing with this display – it’s hardly fitting for our first ambassador to America.”

  Harry turned and stared out the window in despair.

  Michael made his way up the garden path to the De Valera home in Greystones and was surprised to see Harry coming out the front door. Harry looked angry and depressed as if there was a heavy cloud hanging over him.

  “Harry! How was Scotland?”

  “Fine,” Harry said, avoiding eye contact.

  “Is everything alright?”

  “I’ll talk to you later,” said Harry, brushing past him.

  Michael watched him leave, wondering was it Kitty or Dev who had put him in such a foul mood. He continued through the open door into the house and on to Éamon’s study.

  “What’s the problem with Harry today?” he asked when they had settled down to talk.

  “He didn’t take the news he is being sent back to Washington very well.”

  “He’s going back to America?” asked Michael, shocked.

  “Mmmm …”

  “For how long?”

  “For good.”

  Michael stared past Éamon almost in a trance, as a million thoughts went through his head. He had heard there had been some problem over in Scotland with the delivery of the letter to Lloyd George and that De Valera was not impressed. Obviously Éamon was taking his revenge by sending Harry into exile. Not just a lesson to Harry but a warning to the others not to contradict his orders.

  As Éamon talked on, Michael was not listening as his thoughts were consumed by how this left the situation with Kitty. This now put a short timeframe on everything, and he feared he could lose Kitty for good if she was suddenly pushed into a situation. On the other hand, if Harry had to leave without anything being resolved, that would leave the field open for himself again.

  “So – you will be travelling to London with the delegation,” Éamon was saying

  Michael was jolted out of his trance. “What are you talking about?”

  “Were you not listening to a word I was saying? For the next treaty negotiation, I will not be going to London. You will be going in my place.”

  “Me!” shouted Michael at the top of his voice. “Forget it! I’m not going to London – no fucking way!”

  “You have no choice, Michael. I need somebody of your calibre there.”

  “But, sure, why aren’t you going yourself? Nobody is of your calibre – and certainly not me!”

  “You flatter me and undermine yourself, Michael. I have every confidence in you that you can handle the negotiation with aplomb.”

  “Aplomb! But sure, I’m a soldier not a politician. I wouldn’t know how to handle it – how to handle Lloyd George or Winston Churchill or any of them!” Michael was horrified by the prospect.

  “You will have the others there supporting you – Arthur Griffith, Erskine Childers – all experienced men to assist and guide you.”

  “But – I can’t do it, Éamon. I just can’t. Apart from anything else, I’d be out in public view after all these years of hiding.”

  “The war is hopefully over for good and there will never be a need for you to hide again. I’ve made up my mind, Michael, and you may as well get used to the fact that you will be going to London. You will be part of the delegation and you will bring home a permanent peace and an independent republic of Ireland with you.”

  CHAPTER 32

  Kitty stared at Harry in disbelief. They were seated in the parlour of the Kiernan house.

  “But he can’t do that – can he? Send you back to America?”

  “He can and he will and I’m to leave very soon,” he said.

  “I – I don’t know what to say. You’ve hardly been home for a month and now you’re being sent off again.” She shook her head in bewilderment and dismay.

  He sat down quickly beside her. “But it doesn’t change anything, Kitty.”

  “But of course it does, it changes everything.”

  “Not at all. I am being given a huge salary and a wonderful job as ambassador and –”

  “In America!” she said.

  “But we could be so happy there.” He reached forward and grabbed her hands. “Oh, Kitty, if you saw it there you would love it – the stores are enormous, the buildings so tall, the automobiles so big and fast. We would be going to receptions all the time and parties and fundraisers – the Yanks would love you and together we could own the world.”

  “I don’t know if I want to own the world.” She pulled her hand back and gestured around the room. “This is my world, Harry, not the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.”

  “I won’t be able to make it without you, Kitty. We can’t let it happen again – being apart. Look what happened last time – we mightn’t survive another parting.”

  “Well, clearly we wouldn’t survive another parting,” she muttered.

  “That’s why you have to come with me. Please, Kitty, I’m begging you – I’m no good without you – you just have to come with me. Do you understand, Kitty? I’m asking you to marry me.”

  As she looked into his face, she didn’t know whether to hug him or run away from him. Her emotions were a mixture of pity and caring for him and being frightened of the intensity of his love.

  “Does Mick know you’re to go?” she asked.

  “I presume he does,” said Harry.

  “Has he no say in this?”

  “No – he has no say in anything anymore, now that Dev is back and running things. In fact, Mick is ordered to go to London in Éamon’s place to lead the delegation for the treaty talks.”

  “Mick is! But sure that would be Mick’s idea of hell – he wouldn’t be able for all that!”

  “Of course he isn’t able for it – he’s not like me, a natural-born politician,” said Harry, seeing the opportunity to come out from under Michael’s shadow. “But Dev is giving him no choice.”

  “But why is Dev doing that? Why isn’t he going himself?”

  “Who knows? No one holds his card closer to his chest than Dev.”

  “And why choose Mick of all people?”

  “I don’t know … when he has experienced men like Childers and Griffith. It’s a puzzle.”

  They fell silent for a while, Harry contemplating De Valera’s machinations, Kitty focusing on her own situation.

  At last Kitty spoke. “Harry?”

  He looked at her intently.
/>   “It’s a huge thing you’re asking of me, Harry. Not just marriage, but to leave my family and my friends and my whole life to start a new life abroad so far away from home … it’s terrifying.”

  “But you aren’t saying no?” Harry’s face ignited in hope.

  “I’m saying I have to think about it, Harry.”

  “Of course!” He nodded, delighted he was not hearing a rejection. “It’s your decision what you want to do. No matter what you decide, I know we’ll always be friends – you, me, Mick – all of us together.” He smiled at her and, taking her hands again, he clasped them in his.

  Maud and Kitty were walking through the countryside as Kitty relayed to her the news about Harry’s proposal, his imminent departure for America and Mick being sent to London in De Valera’s place.

  Maud was astonished. “And what does Mick have to say about it all?” she asked.

  “I haven’t heard from him. I imagine he is beside himself with worry over the talks in London.”

  “But what about you, Kitty – what about you and him?”

  “He hasn’t ever said he wanted to marry me – or anyone for that matter. I could be on a wild goose chase with him and let my real chance of happiness slip by with Harry.”

  “Well, why don’t you confront Mick and then you’ll know where you stand?”

  “That wouldn’t work with Mick. He needs to be in control all the time. Look, he knows where I am if he wants me – he knows Harry wants to marry me – so he had better act quickly if he doesn’t want to lose me.”

  “My God!” Maud halted abruptly and, taking Kitty by the arms, pulled her around to face her. “You’re laying a trap for Mick! You are trying to use Harry to force Mick’s hand!”

  “I’m not being that calculating, Maud. I haven’t created this situation. If Mick wants me, I’m here for the taking … if he does nothing, I’ll know where I stand.”