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had meant it. She wished only happiness for this girl who was leaving her mother and father and going off to make a new life for herself with Mr Fletcher Parker. Kitty, who was standing on the stairs, caught Peggy’s eye and winked.
    Mr Fletcher Parker and his family and the other guests were already outdoors in the beautiful summer gardens of Rushton, for that was where the marriage ceremony would take place. A shady spot had been chosen and the Reverend Samuel Brooke stood waiting there.
    A hush fell over the garden as Roxanne, holding her father’s arm, walked out to join her future husband. Back in the kitchen Peggy and Kitty and Mrs O’Connor stood at the open door listening to the simple words of the bible drifting across the hedge as Roxanne Rowan was wed. Then Peggy and Kitty moved outside, offering the guests a glass of cooling summer punch before the meal was served.
    Peggy felt such a stab of loneliness as she watched cousins and aunts, and uncles and grandchildren, all hug and greet each other. She thought of Eily and Michael, and Aunt Nano and all of them – her own family so far away from her.
    Mr Fletcher Parker stood beside the bride. For once he looked actually handsome, as they both welcomed and conversed with their guests. Laughter filled the house, both inside and out, as family and friends joined in celebrating Roxanne’s wedding day.
    The sun was sinking and lamps lit up the dark outside when the first guests began to slip away. Peggy’s back and shoulders ached after the long day and she longed to sit down and rest. Mrs O’Connor flopped in the kitchen chair, and thanked God that everything had gone so well. Many compliments had been paid to the cook, and her choice of menu had been considered very wise.
    Peggy and Kitty and Miss Whitman stared in disbelief at the huge pile of dirty plates and glasses and servers still to be washed. Wearily they re-filled the kitchen sink with water and Peggy washed and scrubbed for what seemed like hours, with Kitty drying and Miss Whitman putting the dishes away.
    Peggy had no idea what hour it was when they eventually climbed the stairs to the attic. Kitty, still wearing her uniform, fell onto her bed, pulled up thelight sheet and was asleep in a second, her unsteady snores annoying Peggy. Peggy was about to jump up and shake her friend when she realised that soon Kitty would be gone and there’d come a time when she would miss even the snores of her fellow-maid.

CHAPTER 7
    The Widow O’Brien

    ‘ MAMMY! COME QUICKLY !’ shouted Mary-Brigid. ‘All the neighbours are walking up the boreen!’ She ran as fast as she could up the stony path to the house, dying to tell the news.
    Her mother put down the greasy pot she was scrubbing, and, dipping her hands in some clean water, came to the door to see what was happening. She could just make out the backs of a group of people disappearing around the gentle curve of the boreen.
    ‘What did they say, pet?’ she asked, anxious.
    ‘They said ‘tis a viction, Mammy. What does that mean?’asked Mary-Brigid, her dark eyes puzzled.
    Her mother put her hand to her face, covering her mouth. Surely the child must have got it wrong.
    ‘What is it, Eily? What’s the child on about?’ enquired Nano, rising awkwardly from the kitchen table where she was kneading dough.
    ‘There’s something going on a bit up the road, Nano. I think I’ll go and see,’ said Eily, pulling off her damp apron, and adjusting the comb in her coiled-up hair.
    ‘Wait a minute, Eily, and I’ll be along with you,’ said Nano. ‘We’ll take the children too. Mary-Brigid, pass me my shawl from behind the door!’
    Mary-Brigid sensed the urgency and foreboding that passed between her mother and Nano as they closed the cottage door behind them and followed in the direction of the others.
    ‘What is it, Mammy, what’s a viction?’
    ‘Just you keep quiet for a few minutes, Mary-Brigid, till we see what all the fuss is about!’ snapped