The governor of the prison nodded. “I give you my word. As soon as you give me the money, we will buy the selected property in question, a bankrupt estate a few miles outside of town, and hire workmen to get started on the whole scheme.”
“I don’t suppose there's any chance of letting Emer out for even a little while? She looks so pale and tired, and she’s painfully thin.”
He shook his head and sighed. “I’m sorry, that’s impossible at the minute. I share your concerns, I’m not ashamed to admit it. Emer works too hard, that’s her trouble. I've never seen a better doctor, not even the ones with fancy certificates and letters after their names.
"But you can visit her as much as you like while she's with us, you and your friends, and I shall see about having Terence moved out of the cell so she can have some time on her own. Maybe she’ll get a bit more rest then instead of trying to save the world with her friend.”
“Thank you, Governor, for all your help. I’ll go to the bank right now, and then come back with the money to get everything underway.”
The governor sat in this study long after Dalton had left, and then pulled out a piece of clean paper. Perhaps miracles did happen after all. He would file the appeal himself, and see how far it got him.
Essentially a kind-hearted man, he could see Emer and Dalton had a rare love between them, and had waited for each other long enough.
It would be a grand surprise for both of them if he met with any success. And if he didn’t, well, they need never know he had tried and failed.
Dalton was surprised and upset at Emer’s attitude over him trying to better her conditions in the jail. She gave away all of the food and all but one each of the shirts and trousers he had brought her, as well as all the blankets.
“But Emer, those things were for you!” Dalton protested.
“What do I need with more than two pairs of clothes? And I already have a blanket.”
When Emer found out that Terence was to be moved in with O’Brien, she said, “But that’s ridiculous. We’re fine as we are, aren’t we, Terence? You’re both too big to share the bed, and neither of you are any good at staying up nights the way I am. Thank you, Governor, but Terence and I are quite happy with the existing arrangements, and I need no special favours.”
Dalton was furious when he discovered that they were still sharing a room and the same bed, and glowered at her from under his black brows.
“Honestly, sometimes I think you're a stranger, Emer, even though I’ve known you so long.”
“People change, Dalton. I’ve changed. And just because you love a person, doesn’t mean you own them, or can run their life as you see fit,” Emer said a trifle sharply.
“Are you saying you don’t love me any more? That you’ve fallen in love with Terence?”
She shook her head and sat down on the low bunk of her cell with a sigh. “No, just that my life is here now. I can’t allow myself to be distracted by false hopes, which will only end up leaving me bitter and disappointed if I cling to them and they don’t come true. Please, Dalton, Terence and O’Brien have opened up a whole new world for me, and have supported me throughout my whole prison reform idea.
“They went over the sums, help me worked out the flaws, they were my sounding boards, and O’Brien was the one who got the plans approved by the reformers in England, and published in the papers. I never could have done it without them. I'm not going to turn my back on them now just because you're here and want all my attention."
"That's not true—"
“I can also see why you’ve given the governor the money to go ahead and buy the old Fitzgerald place. You’re banking on my getting a reprieve based upon this work, aren’t you?
"Well, why shouldn’t we include Terence and O’Brien, and try to get their death sentences commuted as well? Seven years in Tasmania is nothing compared to being hung, drawn and quartered!” Emer argued forcefully.
“All right, Emer, I do take your point. I just feel so helpless, so left out of it all,” Dalton sighed, wearily sitting next to her on the bed in the tiny cell.
“You wouldn’t feel that way if you tried to become more involved. Give of yourself, not just you money, but your enthusiasm, and dedication. And it would also help, Dalton, if you didn’t fly off the handle every time you laid eyes on Terence, or O’Brien for that matter, though he’s old enough to be my father,” Emer reprimanded.
“He’s only a few years older than me,” Dalton grunted.
“I've always loved you, Dalton, always. Please, trust me?” Emer requested as she kissed Dalton on the brow.
“I will try. And I tell you what, how would you like me to do the day shifts in the infirmary while I'm here? I am a doctor, after all.”
Emer frowned. “I sleep during the day. I would hardly get to see you.”
“I can keep you company at night, and so can the others. You’re working far too hard, but I’m here to share the burden now,” Dalton said reassuringly, stroking some damp tendrils of hair back from her pale cheek with gentle fingers.
“You’re so good to me, Dalton. I don’t deserve you.”
He gave a short bark of laughter at that. “I'm the one who doesn't deserve you, darling. My life was a wasteland before I met you, Emer. You’ve given me so much. It’s the least I can do.”
Dalton pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately, and Emer’s whole heart reached out to him then as she returned the kiss. Her heart ached with love for him, and she longed to be his once again in every respect.
The kiss seemed to go on for an eternity, with Dalton pulling her into the hard heat of his body to show how much he longed for her, needed her.
But they sprang apart guiltily when O’Brien entered the cell, clearing his throat too late to give them fair warning.
“Sorry to interrupt, but Tommy Davis is calling for you, Emer," O’Brien said flatly, avoiding looking Emer in the eye.
“I have to go now, but I'll see you later, if I may?” Emer asked softly, her head lingering on her beloved's shoulder.
“Just try getting rid of me, my love.” Dalton grinned. Stooping for a last quick kiss, he went off to town to get Emer some more medicines, and a few new dresses. At least she couldn’t give those away to her fellow inmates.
O’Brien was noticeably sullen and withdrawn that evening in the infirmary.
The silent state of affairs lasted for several hours, until Emer couldn't stand the distance between them any longer, and finally said to him, “All right, out with it. Tell me what’s got you so annoyed. I can see it in your face, so don’t lie to me, O’Brien.”
“I’m sorry. I have no right to be angry. I want you to do what's best for you. God knows you’ve suffered enough, and deserved to be happy. You’re going to leave us, and I don’t blame you. If I were you, I would file an appeal right now, and go.”
“But you’re not me, O’Brien,” she replied quietly.
He stared at her. “Then you aren’t going back to Canada?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m not. At least not until I’ve finished what I started here, and see you and Terence through to the end. I haven’t filed an appeal yet, and I refuse to do so until you and Terence and Meagher do the same.”
“But, Emer....”
“No, you have a very good case now, after all you've done here in prison. I’ve told you before, you can carry on in Tasmania. Who knows, if my eventual appeal fails, we’ll probably all be sent down there together. I’m not leaving, O’Brien, I promise.”
“You would if you knew what was good for you, Emer,” he warned.
Emer grinned. “Isn’t it a lucky thing, then, that I lack common sense.”
“I am glad though. And I, well, we would have missed you. I think you know that.”
“You two have been the greatest friends a person could ever have, O’Brien, I want you to know that now. I would never have stayed sane in this prison if it hadn’t been for you and Terence.” Emer patted him on the sho
ulder.
“If we're friends then, Emer, can I ask you something? Why do you always call me by my last name only?” O’Brien queried quietly.
Emer sighed. “My father and son were William also. It is still too painful to remember them, that’s all. There’s no offence meant.”
“None taken, Emer. I understand now.”
Just then Terence popped in the door. “Come on, I’ve haven’t seen such sour faces since my Auntie May and her sister Edna sucked a lemon half apiece for a dare.”
“Why are you so cheerful, Terence?” Emer asked, smiling up at his handsome face.
“Because we’ve just been told that for Christmas Eve we are to have a special treat.”
“What’s that to be then?” O’Brien asked without curiosity.
“We’re all getting a fine meal cooked by the generous ladies of Clonmel, and then we are going to be allowed to have a dance in the exercise yard for a few hours, with live musicians,” Terence informed them.
“It won’t be much of a dance without ladies,” O’Brien remarked dryly.
“Ah well, Emer will just have to serve, and that reminds me, I’m claiming the first dance here and now.”
Emer nodded and giggled at the swaggeringly exaggerated bow Terence made to her.
“Honestly, Terence, what would I ever do without you? You always make me laugh.”
“So long as we don’t have to do without you, Emer, I’m content,” Terence stroked her wayward red hair.
Then he left the infirmary to help make arrangements for the big holiday celebration in a few weeks’ time.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Thus Emer and Dalton settled into a routine at Clonmel prison, spending as much time as they could with each other, but always in the company of the other inmates.
For Emer it was an exquisite torture, never being alone with her beloved, but often being forced to sit side by side pressed up against one another from knee to shoulder on a wooden bench as they poured over the plans for the prison farm.
Emer found unexpected enthusiastic support for her project from the Jenkinses, who also pledged their help, overseeing the building work and provisioning with careful eyes, and who seemed in no hurry to return to Canada.
“We like it here with you, Emer, and can honestly say that this would be a lovely town if only someone were to take it properly in hand, and rebuild here, just as you tried to do at the orphanage,” Captain Jenkins praised.
“Those empty warehouses on the western side of town would be ideal for workshops, and did you know, the Suir River they are built on goes right down to Waterford, and from there out to sea. If Dalton gave his approval, we could do some brisk trade right the way through these ports to England and even the Continent,” he said enthusiastically.
“You’re the ship captain, Sam, so you talk to Dalton about it, then, and Emily and I will do our best to see about the workshops, won’t we? And how is the soup kitchen coming, Emily?” Emer asked her friend.
“We open tomorrow, and have all we need to serve several hundred people a day for the rest of the winter,” Emily Jenkins said. “I have several women hired to oversee the work and do the cooking, and support from the town ladies as well.”
“But I agree with Emer, just feeding them doesn’t always help, does it. For example, I’ve been thinking that there are an awful lot of young men in this prison just rotting away,” the captain remarked. “Instead of just farming, why not hire and train Irish crews for the Randall fleet?”
“Again, I think it’s an excellent idea, Sam, but that's Dalton’s area of expertise, not mine. Talk to him about it.”
Emer smiled at them all, delighted at how much progress they were making to help the Irish still struggling in the grip of the famine.
“And as for the women, teach them sewing and dressmaking skills, weaving, and so on,” Mrs. Jenkins insisted.
“We would need space for all that, and no one is in a position to buy clothes these days anyway.”
“Well, the people in the workhouses and fever hospitals could always use them. The people would be learning a skill, and helping others.”
“Dalton is the one who hold the purse strings, so talk to him.”
Dalton, to his credit, said yes to all their ideas, and so the three weeks until Christmas flew by as they busily carried out all their new plans.
Emer was reassured that the prison overcrowding would come to an end on New Year’s Day, when some of the men would be transported to Botany Bay, and the rest who had been given approval were to be transferred to the new prison farm and taught carpentry and blacksmithing until the weather improved and they could begin planting.
But as wonderful as that news was, Governor Collins was saving his best revelation of all until the night of the Yuletide celebration.
On Christmas Eve, the entire jail was abuzz with excitement over the festivities planned. Dalton had bought Emer an elegant black woollen gown to wear for the occasion. Mrs. Jenkins had protested it should be any colour but black, but Dalton shook his head.
“She wouldn’t wear it, believe me, I know her. Besides, I know it's a bleak colour, but with Emer’s complexion, eyes, and hair, I’ve never seen her look lovelier than in a jet gown.”
“That’s because you’ve never seen her wear anything other than black or blue, or trousers,” Mrs. Jenkins quipped.
“Beauty like Emer’s needs no enhancement,” Captain Jenkins remarked from behind his newspaper. “It glows from within. It doesn’t need any frippery to call attention to what is so obviously already there.”
“Why, Sam Jenkins, if I didn’t know any better, I’d start to grow jealous!” Mrs. Jenkins said playfully.
“If you don’t know you're the love of my life after so many years, Emily Jenkins, then I’d be wasting my breath telling you,” Captain Jenkins replied with a small indulgent smile.
“A lady likes to hear the words sometimes, though,” Emily said prettily.
“In that case, I’ll leave you two lovebirds, and start getting ready for the party.” Dalton rose with a blush, and returned to his own room to change his suit.
Once he was dressed, Dalton opened the small ring box to take a look at his present to Emer, an engagement ring in brilliant aquamarines which reminded him of Emer’s eyes.
Then he picked up the gown box, and headed off to the prison, and looked forward to spending a happy evening with Emer by his side as his intended bride.
But Dalton’s plans were thwarted almost from the first, for Emer had dressed simply in one of her new blouses and skirts, and with an apron tired around her slender waist, she was helping serve up the roast beef and goose dinner the women of the town had made when Dalton arrived with his presents.
Once all the inmates had eaten, the assembled prisoners filed out into the exercise yard, and the music started.
Before Dalton could say a word, Terence whisked Emer off for a very vigorous hornpipe. Dalton stood fuming as he had to admit to himself that they made an extremely handsome couple dancing together.
Then it was O’Brien’s turn to dance with Emer, and Dalton felt all the agonies of hopeless jealousy as the other man waltzed around the floor with his intended bride.
There was a lull in the dancing for a time as the men stopped for a drink of ale they had been permitted for the special occasion.
Then Terence stood Emer on a wooden bench and asked her for a song.
Emer blushed to the roots of her hair, and would have declined, but the men all began banging their wooden mugs.
So she said, “Right, lads, this is a comic song from my part of the country, and we call it simply ‘The Pig Song.’ It goes something like this.
“In the year twenty nine, when the weather was fine,
I straight took myself to the sweet fair at Trim.
For to sell a swine it was my design,
She was plump fat and fair,
And complete in each limb.
The swine was as mild as a
lamb or a child,
You could whip her all over the globe with a twig.
And the truth for to tell, I sold her right well,
Three ten was the price that I got for me pig,
With a torallollora torallollora, torallollora, torall aeeay
Slapped the cash to me thigh, and a glass to me eye,
Through the streets I did fly like a sporting young buck,
When a buxom young dame that belonged to the game
She up to me came to be sure for good luck.
She gave me the wink to go in for a drink
The Hungry Heart Fulfilled (The Hunger of the Heart Series Book 3) Page 24
