Page 37 of The Book of Irish Secrets
‘Thank you.’ Claire paused. Then she started to tell him everything: her real name, the family feud, her quest to find out the truth and her wish to bring the two families together.
Pierce was quiet when she had finished, the only sound coming from the talking and laughing in the pub. Claire stood there, waiting for him to speak, expecting the worst. He turned away from her for a moment, clearing his throat. Then he looked at her again and finally made to speak, while Claire held her breath, waiting for his reaction.
EIGHTEEN
‘That’s quite a story,’ Pierce finally said, looking as if he was trying to take it in. ‘I expected something quite different.’
‘Like what?’ Claire asked.
‘That the two of you were still married or something,’ Pierce said quietly. ‘Or that you were still in love with him.’
‘God, no,’ Claire exclaimed. ‘I don’t even like him.’
‘That’s a relief,’ Pierce said. ‘But this… That you are who you are, that’s incredible. I would never in a million years have believed it if it didn’t come from your own lips.’
‘So if Hugh had told you, you would have thought that it was a pack of lies?’
‘Something like that. But it’s true and you’re standing here telling me you’re a real Fleury and that your great-grandfather was Cornelius’s twin brother.’ Pierce shook his head in disbelief. Then he looked at her curiously. ‘So you’ve been hiding the truth all this time? Pretending to be someone quite different?’
‘Yes,’ Claire whispered. ‘I know it seems bad, but…’
‘But you felt it was justified because you needed time to – what?’ Pierce asked, looking at her with slight scorn in his eyes.
‘I need to find out what the feud was about,’ Claire explained. ‘If I told everyone who I am, they might not believe me. Or theymight carry our ancestors’ anger and I’ll be cast out too. I must prove that Louis, Cornelius’s twin, really existed. Only Sylvia knows that Cornelius had a twin. Nobody else has a clue. So I need to be able to prove that he was born here, and find a way to repair whatever happened back then.’
‘I see,’ he said. ‘Well, I’m not sure what I think about all this. It’s quite difficult to get my head around it all.’
‘I’m sure it is,’ Claire said, knowing his feelings for her had somehow changed. She realised that by asking him not to tell anyone, she was making him a kind of ally in her scheme.
He looked thoughtfully at her for a moment, seeming to suddenly notice that she was cold. ‘You’re shivering in that thin shirt. Let’s go inside and get warm. In any case, I think the band is having a break, so we can go in before anyone misses us.’
‘And then there would be another kind of rumour,’ Claire said with a laugh.
‘It’s already all around town,’ Pierce said and ushered her towards the door to the pub. ‘We haven’t exactly been hiding. Not that I care, but maybe you do?’
‘Not at all,’ Claire said as they arrived back in the warm, cosy pub. ‘That takes the spotlight away from who I am and what I’m really doing here.’In any case, she thought,I’m getting so fond of him, but now maybe I’ve blown it…
‘Well, as everyone has accepted your story about coming to Kerry to look for a job and to find yourself, nobody has suspected your motives for a second.’ Pierce led the way through the crowd that had thinned considerably as some people had gone home or returned to their tables to chat with friends.
‘Find myself?’ Claire said with a giggle as she sat down on the chair Pierce pulled out for her. ‘I always thought that sounded so precious. Don’t we find ourselves all through life, anyway?’
Pierce sat down beside her. ‘That’s very true.’ He suppressed a yawn. ‘Right now, I’d like to find myself in my bed. Old age is creeping up on me.’
‘Me too,’ Claire confessed, suddenly tired after the long day with so many ups and downs.
‘How will you get home?’ Pierce asked. ‘I couldn’t drive you, I’ve had a few pints.’
‘I came here with Rose and Noel,’ Claire said. ‘Noel’s driving so he had the zero Guinness.’
‘Oh, great.’ Pierce scanned the crowd for a moment. ‘I see them over there at another table. Will I go over and say you want to go home?’
‘No, please don’t,’ Claire begged. ‘I don’t want to interrupt if they’re with friends. I’ll just wait here until they’re ready. You go on home, Pierce. I don’t mind.’
‘Are you sure?’ he asked.
‘Of course I am,’ Claire assured him. ‘But before you go, I just want to thank you for…’ She stopped, not knowing how to go on. She wanted to say thanks for listening, but also to make him promise not to share her secret with anyone. If she did, she’d look as if she didn’t trust him.
He put his hand on her arm. ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ he said softly into her ear. ‘You don’t need to worry, though. I won’t tell a soul what you just told me. You needed to tell someone and I was happy to listen. Of course I was beyond surprised by what you told me and I’m not sure how I feel about it. But it will stay between us, so don’t lose any sleep over it.’
