The Hungry Heart Fulfilled (The Hunger of the Heart Series Book 3) (4 page)

. He told him all
about Grosse Ile,
the tree house, and the orphanage before she could get a
chance to warn him.

 

 

“Emer and Joe were
both dying of the
fever, but the Bishop came one morning and rescued us. After
staying in the
palace for a few weeks until this house was ready, we came
here,” Cathan
explained dramatically.

 

 

Dalton was moved
nearly to tears by
this information, and to recover his composure, he asked to
see Saoirse, who
was resting in the downstairs infants’ room.

 

 

Cathan took him in
to see her, and
when they returned to the dining room, Cathan reminded his
young nieces and
nephews who the tall silver-haired stranger was.

 

 

Then all four of
them piled onto his
lap, and searched through his pockets for his watch and
various other items to
play with.

 

 

Emer watched in
fascination as he
cuddled and petted the children, who were obviously pleased to
see them.

 

 

Dalton had always
been an enigmatic
man, but this silver-haired stranger was a complete mystery to
her, so kind in
one moment, so ruthless the next. She felt as though her whole
world had been
turned upside down, and she had no idea what to do next.

 

 

Dalton was finally
freed from his
chair by Myrtle, who reminded the frisky children gently that
the afternoon
social couldn’t begin until the room had been cleared.

 

 

Dalton moved over
to speak to Emer
then, but Patrick Bradley, fearing trouble, called out,
“Right, singing and
dancing today. Let’s
move the
tables and get started.
Emer,
you’re first today. Give
us a
song.”

 

 

“No really, I
couldn’t,” Emer
refused, flushing to the roots of her hair.

 

 

“Of course you can.
I won’t take no
for an answer,” Patrick insisted as he took her hand gently
from Dalton’s grasp
and led her to the centre of the room.

 

 

Emer sighed and
agreed, if only make
sure she avoided being to close to Dalton while he was in the
house.

 

 

She stood tall as
everyone gathered
around, and with a wink at Patrick, announced, “This is a song
some of the lads
taught me last week. You’ll
guess
which ones when you hear the title. I dedicate it to Patrick,
who has just
embarrassed me shamelessly, and to an old friend who has
kindly come to visit
our humble abode. 
The song
is called, ‘The blacksmith.’

 

 

There were various
titters and
giggles around the room, and then Emer sang in a clear voice,

 

 

“A Blacksmith courted me

 

 

I loved him dearly,

 

 

He played upon his pipes

 

 

Both neat and trimly

 

 

With his hammer in his hand

 

 

He strikes so steady

 

 

He makes the sparks to fly

 

 

Around the smithy

 

 

I love to watch my
love

 

 

With his hammer swinging

 

 

I love to hear it fall

 

 

And the anvil ringing

 

 

The note is loud and clear,

 

 

The sparks are flying

 

 

My love is handsome then,

 

 

There’s no denying.

 

 

Where is my lover
gone

 

 

With his cheeks like roses

 

 

He’s gone across the seas

 

 

Gathering primroses

 

 

The sun doth shine too bright,

 

 

It will burn his beauty

 

 

I will go seek my love

 

 

To do my duty.

 

 

 

Strange news has come to town,

 

 

Strange news is carried

 

 

Sad news flies up and down

 

 

My love is married

 

 

I wish him well for he

 

 

I love no longer

 

 

And yet I love him still,

 

 

My blacksmith lover.

 

 

What’s the promise
that you made me

 

 

When you lay beside me

 

 

You promised to marry me

 

 

And not deny me

 

 

It’s witness I have none

 

 

But the Almighty

 

 

And he will punish you

 

 

For slighting of me.

 

 

I look-ed in a
glass

 

 

My head I shake it

 

 

To think I loved a lad

 

 

Who was falsehearted

 

 

I wish him well to do

 

 

He does not hear me

 

 

I shall not die for love

 

 

He need not fear me."

 

 

 

There was rapturous applause, and then Emer sat down next to the
Bishop and Adrian.

 

 

Dalton sat
gloomily, feeling the
song had been directed at him. He decided it was time to leave
the jolly family
scene, and be alone with his confused thoughts.

 

 

“Thank you for a
lovely meal, Mrs.
Dillon, and for sharing your family with a lonely traveller
for a short
time. I can see
that whatever
you’ve done with your life, you’ve made the right decision,
and I shall trouble
you no longer.”

 

 

“Thank you for
calling, and I wish
you luck with your new career.
Myrtle here tells me you’ve been away training as a
doctor, and
graduated top of your class.
Congratulations. 
I’m very pleased for you, and
best wishes for your marriage on Thursday.”

 

 

“Oh, yes, er, thank
you,” Dalton
replied, having forgot all about Madeleine despite it being
only four days
until the ceremony.

 

 

“So nice to see you
all again,
especially Myrtle, who’s a veritable font of fascinating
information.” He
smiled grimly.

 

 

Dalton took Emer’s
hand to kiss it
lingeringly, and then vanished.

 

 

Emer sighed as she
watched him
leave, and wondered how she could feel so alone in the midst
of four hundred
people.

 

 

 

CHAPTER FOUR

 

 

Myrtle leaned over
to Emer as they
sat adjacent to one another at the top table in the orphanage
dining room
watching the children take turns to entertain each other after
Sunday dinner.

 

 

“I’m sorry if I
interfered,” she
apologised to Emer once Dalton had gone. “But things looked pretty
bad there between the two of
you in the foyer
when I walked in. Besides, I thought it would serve him right
after the way he
treated you to see that you’ve done well for yourself and can
hold your head up
in this town.”

 

 

“Myrtle, you don’t
understand,
Dalton was beside himself seeing me again like this because he
thought I was
dead. It’s all
been an awful
mistake,” Emer said tremulously.

 

 

Her friend gasped,
then put her arm
around her waist and led Emer from the room. “Come into the
library, and tell
me exactly what he said,” Myrtle urged.

 

 

The Bishop retired
from the dining
hall as well, and followed the two women into the library,
leaving Adrian and
Joe to preside over the children’s festivities.

 

 

Emer collapsed
exhaustedly into a
armchair, and revealed, “Dalton said that he had been told by
his father that I
was dead. When he saw me today, he was convinced I had not
only married my
former fiance Garvan, but was carrying his baby as well. He was very
angry
when Adrian came in
and looked, well, at home.
I think
he believed that I was his mistress, or that this was some
sort of house of
ill-repute."

 

 

"How shocking,"
Myrtle
said with a shake of her head. "What could ever have given him
that
idea?"

 

 

"I don't know. Then
when he saw
the children, well, he completely changed. He was angry, hurt,
withdrawn, and
certainly very
confused. I
can’t believe he's so
altered, Myrtle. You've know him longer than I have. What's
your opinion?"

 

 

"I've never seen a
man so
changed," Myrtle admitted with her usual candor, shaking her
dark
head. "I would
barely
recognise him."

 

 

Emer nodded. "It's
such a
shock. I mean, I would hold him in high esteem no matter what
he looked like,
but I've never seen anything such as this. The grey hair, the black
clothes, it’s
like he’s aged twenty
years. And though it may be my
foolish heart whispering to me of love and hope, I can’t help
thinking, well,
praying really, that it’s because he was so upset at having
lost me.”

 

 

The Bishop sat
silently listening to
Emer’s explanation, and reminded her gently, “Now I know how
hard it must be to
see him again after all this time, but don’t let your heart
rule your head in
this matter. I
absolved you of
your sins when you came to me back in November because I was
convinced you
would not allow yourself to be led into temptation again by
that man.

 

 

"You can’t be
certain whether
he is innocent or not, and you're in an awkward position, my
dear child. He
is set to be married in four days’
time, and you are the head of a respectable children’s home. You
must comport
yourself in an
unimpeachable manner if you wish to avoid damaging the
children in your
care.

 

 

"In addition, there
is the
money you accepted from Frederick Randall, promising never to
see Dalton
again.  Moreover,
if Dalton
is telling the truth, and his father really has deceived him,
then it was
likely that all those other misunderstandings between you
after you separated
on the
Pegasus
can be laid at Frederick’s door as well.
Dalton may indeed be
blameless, but
would you really want to expose his father for a corrupt and
unscrupulous
liar?”

 

 

Emer gazed into the
fire, and then
said quietly, “I don’t think he would ever forgive me, even if
I were willing to tell him the whole truth. I have no real proof
against Frederick Randall. It would be my word against his. There
are the Jenkinses and Patrick as
well, but the rest of the
Pegasus
crew
seem to have disappeared from the face of the earth despite
all we've done to look for them.

 

 

"And you're right,
Dalton is
all set to be married, and I did promise to never see him
again. So we
shall just have to leave things
as they are, and hope I don’t see him too often in the city.”
She sighed
heavily.

 

 

Myrtle saw her
friend’s resigned
face, and declared, “Now think for a moment before you give up
so easily. I do
see the Bishop’s point, but Emer,
you still
love
Dalton.  Isn’t
he worth
fighting for?  Surely
you
won’t let a vain, shallow witch like Madeleine Lyndon get
him!”

 

 

She stared at the other woman in
confusion. “I can’t
see what on earth I could do to change his mind or stop the
wedding that
wouldn’t leave him just as bitter towards me, as well as the
rest of humanity,
as he seems to be, judging from the way he looks at the minute. "And
I don’t know
Madeleine
Lyndon, so I am no judge.
He might
have a very successful marriage to someone of his own class,
with similar
interests,” Emer tried to argue rationally, though inside she
felt as though
she were dying.

 

 

“A marriage made in
hell would be a
more apt description,” Myrtle retorted.

 

 

The Bishop shot her
a startled look,
but said nothing.

 

 

“Myrtle, please,
promise me you
won’t try to interfere again,” Emer begged.

 

 

“But if his father
lied?” Myrtle
persisted.

 

 

“Then Dalton will
find out
eventually, without my having to expose his father’s nefarious
practices
myself.  You’ve
already told
him I married Oran Dillon, not Garvan, so please be careful. Don’t
let anything
else slip out by
accident.”

 

 

“Why, what
difference does that
make?”

 

 

Emer pressed her
palms together to
steady herself. “Dalton is no fool. He’ll eventually figure
out I married Oran
to protect the children, and he might even guess the child I’m
carrying is his
if we’re not careful. I’m
not
strong enough to go up against Dalton and his father. What if
Frederick Randall makes good his
threat to have me
tried for arson and put in prison? Or worse still, tries to take his
grandchild away from
me, claiming I
wouldn’t be a fit mother?
Then I
would not only lose my child, but my nieces and nephews, and
probably the
entire orphanage as well,” Emer predicted fearfully.

 

 

“Frederick won’t
move against you
now, not when there is so much at stake," Myrtle said firmly.
"If he
wants the marriage to take place on Thursday, and thus gain
controlling
interest of the Lyndon ships, then he's going to have to see
that nothing goes
wrong between Dalton and Madeleine. He will have to keep the
peace until after
their honeymoon, until Dalton moves into the Lyndon offices. That
will take
time, especially if
Dalton is as keen as he says he to go straight into his own
medical
practice."