Donnelly’s Promise
Cheryl St. John

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Copyright

Endpages

Chapter One

Castleville, Ireland, 1850

Atop his scaffolding, Vaughn Donnelly set a brick in place and stood to arch his sore back. He removed his cap and swiped a hand across his perspiring forehead. This spring day he was thankful for the generous warmth of the sun and the scent of heather from the nearby hillside—and even more thankful for the trade his father had taught him. While he had work, most of the prisoners in the yard below were serving time for stealing food.

From his vantage point, he observed the prisoners below, the men and women divided by a rock wall. The numbers were fairly equal, and all were dressed in coarse blue-and-white-striped prison uniforms. Adults weren’t the only residents. Children had been sentenced to hard labor for their supposed crimes, as well. His work provided too many sickening glimpses into their senseless punishment and abuse. He’d once seen a child die at the hands of a heartless guard, and the sad regret that he’d been unable to prevent it remained with him to this day.

Conditions were marginally better in Castleville, and he suspected he knew the person responsible for giving Castle Carraig a heart. Vaughn knelt and buttered a brick with mortar, keeping a watchful eye on the door that led from the kitchens. A young woman appeared, as he’d known she would, not dressed in prison garb, but in a pale blue dress and a white apron. Under her white cap, a long, strawberry-blond braid hung down her back. He smiled to himself. Darcy Keegan. She’d been two years behind him in school, and they’d attended the same church. Her father was the chief warden of Castle Carraig Penitentiary.

Just as she carried a lunch basket toward the tables set end-to-end near the building, he spotted a young boy leading a donkey from the far end of the yard toward the female weavers. Heavily burdened with bundles of brown coir used to make rope and mats, the obstinate animal balked and sat on its hind legs.

Obviously frustrated, the lad grabbed the donkey’s lead and tugged for all he was worth. The donkey shook its head and sent the boy tumbling sideways. He landed in a heap right where Darcy had been about to step. She fell over him, her petticoats flashing white eyelet in the noonday sun. Sandwiches spilled from the basket onto the dirt.

Vaughn stifled a chuckle at the sight of Darcy hurriedly adjusting her skirts and picking herself up. Obviously, the only injury was to her dignity. At that point one of the guards insinuated himself into the situation, and Vaughn went on alert.

“Ye’re a clumsy eejit!” the tall man shouted at the lad, then grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up. “Made a right hames of it, ye ’ave. Thick as a ditch, ye are. Just look how much food ye’ve wasted with yer shenanigans.” He cuffed the lad, and instinctively the boy covered his head, his elbows pointing at the sky.

Vaughn dropped his tools and shot toward the ladder side of the scaffold. Experience had taught him just how harsh the boy’s treatment could get, and he would not stand by if he could spare the lad a beating—or worse.

Darcy reached for the guard’s arm just as the man drew back for another swing. The forward momentum threw her off balance and she stumbled. Vaughn was only halfway down the scaffold, but he jumped the rest of the way and hit the ground running.

Darcy Keegan wasn’t keen on landing in the dirt for the second time this day. She caught her balance and turned back to have a go at the guard who’d lit into the small laddie. Mack Boyle was half again her size, but the boy was pathetically skinny and obviously terrified, and she wasn’t going to stand by and see him abused.

Before she could say anything, footsteps pounded behind her. “Seems there’s a bit of a misunderstandin’,” came a familiar voice.

Vaughn Donnelly cast a foreboding shadow over the red-faced guard. A warm sense of relief flooded Darcy. Vaughn and his father were building yet another wing onto the prison, and his broad-shouldered frame and natural smile had been a regular sight at Castle Carraig for the past several weeks.

Boyle swiveled his attention. “Ain’t none of your doin’, Donnelly. The lad deserves a lesson, ’e does.”

“Saw the whole thing happen, I did,” Vaughn told him. “’Twas an accident, pure and simple. The lad meant Miss Keegan no harm. If anyone deserves a tongue lashin’, it’s this cantankerous beast here.”

“An irritable brute, ’at one is,” Boyle agreed, backing down now that he’d been confronted.

Darcy picked up her lunch basket. “I can feed the dirty sandwiches to the pigs, and the rest are still fine.”

“I be real sorry ’bout those sandwiches,” the lad spoke up. “’Tis a shame to waste, that’s what me mother always said, God rest her. I don’t mind eatin’ a couple with a little dust on ’em.”

“You’ll not be eatin’ dirty food,” she told him. “I’ll make more. What’s your name, laddie?”

“Rory Gilchrist, miss.”

Boyle cut in. “That be enough lollygaggin’, Gilchrist.” Boyle gestured to the coir the donkey had dumped on the ground. “Get to pickin’ this up if you hope t’ eat dinner.”

“Yessir.”

Darcy studied the child. Bits of fiber stuck to the lad’s striped clothing, and he looked scrawny enough to blow over in a hearty gale, but he bent to his task. Darcy glanced at Vaughn, gauging his reaction.

Vaughn set to work, too, scooping an armful of the fibrous material that had burst from the bale. “A cart might serve ye better than the beast, lad. Show me where to stack this.”

Assured that Vaughn would take care of the boy, Darcy returned to her job. She carried the basket inside and made more sandwiches. After placing the food on the long tables, she carried out a bushel basket of apples and fresh water.

She rang the bell outside the kitchen door, and women stopped their tasks to gather for the meal.

These were not dangerous criminals. Most of them had been imprisoned for stealing or sent here from the workhouses for the mere crime of being poor. Or many were like Rory, in prison because he was unfortunate enough to have no one who cared about him…except a kind-hearted mason.

As the women sat to eat, Darcy picked up two wrapped sandwiches and glanced toward the scaffolding, to which Vaughn had returned. Her stomach quivered with nervousness, but she headed toward him.

Chapter Two

“I’ve brought a sandwich for you, Mr. Donnelly.”

With surprising agility, Vaughn climbed down and jumped the last several feet to stand before her. He removed his slouch cap and stuffed it into his back pocket. “’Tis a generous kindness you’ve provided. Thank you.”

She handed him his lunch. On the other side of the wall, the bell rang for the men’s dinner.

He unwrapped the bread and paused. His dark hair had a decidedly reddish cast in the sunlight. “Thank You, Lord, for providing nourishment. Bless the hands that prepared this food. I am Your grateful servant.” He glanced at her. “I’m happy to share.”

“Thank you, but I have a meal waiting for me. I just wanted to thank you for intervening on Rory’s behalf.”

“The real crime is holdin’ children in these places. What could the boy ’ave done to deserve such a harsh punishment?”

“I heard he ran from the Bristol workhouse.” She glanced at the rock walls. “I can understand why he ran. Who wouldn’t want to leave this depressing place and not look back?”

“Many of our countrymen go to the workhouse simply for meals and a bed,” he said. “For them this prison is far better than starvin’ to death.”

“Aye,” she replied. “I am thankful for a home and food.” She studied him a moment. “This is the first you’ve been back to Castleville in several years.”

“I was thankful for the opportunity. This job lets Da enjoy the comfort of our own cottage. The travel and harsh conditions are gettin’ more difficult for him. We go where there’s work, and sadly the only work is adding wings to overcrowded prisons.”

“’Tis not the country of our youth.” She hadn’t meant to sound wistful.

Vaughn’s expression remained stoic, but he swallowed hard and looked at the sandwich he held. “Seems there’s somethin’ we should do.”

“About the plight of our country?”

He fixed his blue gaze on her. “Not the entire country, lass. Not much we can do about that. But we may’t make a difference for one person at a time.”

He meant a small defenseless person like Rory Gilchrist. She gave Vaughn a somber nod. The scrawny lad had touched her heart, too. It was frightening to feel all alone in this world. She had to do something for him.

“I can’t say what good it will do, but I’ll speak with my father.”

“You needn’t concern yourself with prisoners, Darcy. Your attentions should be focused on your job.”

“I never shirk my tasks, Father. Please, I simply want to know more about the Gilchrist lad.”

Ambros Keegan searched a drawer in his tall wooden file cabinet and pulled out a few papers.

“Ran the whole way from the Bristol workhouse naked, he did. He was arrested stealing trousers and a shirt from a wash house in the village.”

Darcy tilted her head in thought. “Seems he’s a clever lad. Prisoners are charged with stealing the clothes they’re wearing if they leave.”

Her father ignored her remark.

She pushed on. “He left the clothing behind so as not to break the law. That’s commendable.”

“Leave it to you to reach that conclusion.”

“But why was he at the workhouse in the first place?”

“That’s not our concern.”

“You treat them all as though they’re hardened criminals. He only needed clothing. There must be something we can do about this one boy.”

Ambros returned the folder and closed the drawer with a loud click before going back to his desk. “It’s not your place to question the laws, Darcy. Rulings are in place for a purpose. We have decent jobs here. We have a home. If you must look the other way, then do so. This is our livelihood.”

His expression told her there would be no further discussion on the subject. Stiffly, she turned and marched from the room, wishing it was this village she was fleeing and not merely her father’s office.

The only difference between herself and the prisoners was that she went somewhere else to sleep at night. But even at home she cooked and cleaned and did her father’s bidding.

But not for much longer. She’d been saving for two years. She almost had enough funds stashed away to leave Castleville and start a new life in a place where hard work earned appreciation—if there was such a place.

She lived for that day.

Thinking of Vaughn’s compassion for Rory in contrast to her father’s, she pulled the office door closed and went in search of the boy. She found him pouring water into a trough. “Hello, Rory.”

He pulled off his blue-and-white cap and straightened.

“Do you think we could speak for a moment?”

“Long as I keep workin’. Mr. Boyle don’t take kindly to jabberin’ on the job.” He jammed his hat on and untethered the donkey.

Darcy followed him as he tied the animal in another spot. “Do you mind telling me how you came to be at the workhouse?”

He shrugged a bony shoulder. “Me da died and the landlord put us out from our cottage. Mother couldn’t find work, so we went to the workhouse for food and beds.” He watched the donkey drink. “Then Mother took sick…and she died, she did. They buried her in a grave with no stone a’tall. I marked it meself when no one was lookin’. A neat piece of cunning, it was.”

Her heart went out to him. “I’m sorry about your mother, Rory. I…I lost my mother, too.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “I heard landlords was hirin’ footmen, so I stole clothes. I got caught, though, so here I be.”

Darcy glanced up and found Vaughn atop the scaffolding in the sun. Their brief encounter had prompted her to act on Rory’s situation, but to no avail. Oddly, she felt as though her failure so far was letting down both the boy and the kind-hearted man.

She wouldn’t rest until she’d done all she could.

Chapter Three

Darcy waited until her father fell soundly asleep, then set down her mending and crept from the cottage, pulling a shawl around her shoulders. She prayed as she made her way along the dark path beside low stone walls and across a moss-covered footbridge. She hadn’t been able to rest easy since she’d met the Gilchrist boy at Castle Carraig. “You’ve placed this lad on my heart, Lord, so show me what I must do.”

An inviting light shone from the cottage where the Donnellys had lived for many years, and smoke curled from the chimney. Her heart beat rapidly, but she approached the door and knocked. It opened almost immediately.

“Miss Keegan?” Wearing a deep blue sweater, Vaughn collected his manners and took a step back. “Welcome.”

“I don’t wish to disturb your father.”

“He’s sleepin’. I’ll join you outside.” He stepped out. “The bonny Darcy Keegan arriving on my doorstep…’tis a thought that never entered my head.”

Heat rose in her cheeks. They stood near a low fence bordering a pasture. The sound of a lamb bleating reached her. “I spoke to my father about Rory. He won’t hear of leniency.” She added what she’d learned from Rory about his circumstances. “I plan to seek out the Lord Lieutenant and ask what more can be done. I have little opportunity to leave my work during the day, but my father will be traveling to County Galway on Monday. He’ll stay two days.”

“So you’ll go then?”

“Aye.”

He reached for her hand, surprising her. “You’re a kind lass, Darcy Keegan. I’ve always known it. How has it happened no man has asked you to marry him?”

Darcy’s cheeks warmed again. “My father has discouraged offers.” She wanted to tell Vaughn she believed Ambros sent away all suitors because he didn’t want to lose his cook and housekeeper, but she held her tongue. She didn’t want pity.

“Perhaps…you’ll join us for supper while he’s gone.”

Surprised and gladdened by his offer, she nodded. “Aye. I’ll come.”

He released her hand and she missed its warmth. “How long has it been since you stood on the cliffs at night?”

“Not since I was a girl.”

“Well, then, we should change that.” He led her through tall grass and fragrant heather up the steep hillside to a spot where the sound of the ocean crashed below. “Careful now. Watch your step.”

She tasted salt air and lifted her face to the breeze. “I had big dreams when I stood here as a lass.”

“What did you dream of, Darcy?”

“Not the life I have, to be sure.” Embarrassed now at her admission, she turned aside. “I have to go before my father misses me.”

He extended a palm. “Take my hand, lass. Tell me.”

The invitation was one she couldn’t resist. Being with Vaughn was like finding a place to belong. He spoke to her and listened to her replies as though she was someone special—someone important. His attention gave her a heady new feeling. Even if their friendship caused trouble, time with him was worth it.

Chapter Four

Friendly neighbors greeted one another in the tiny stone church, but Darcy’s father ignored them and doggedly led her forward. Darcy nodded to Mrs. Mulcreath, who lived nearby and sold her cream and butter, then followed Ambros to a bench.

Finding a spot behind them, two of the three Murphy sisters greeted her. “Pleased to see you this mornin’,” Maeve, the youngest, said.

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