Lady of Light by Kathleen Morgan

Author:Kathleen Morgan [Morgan, Kathleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2007-03-18T22:00:00+00:00

On September 5, Ian turned sixteen and was feted with a grand birthday party. Two days later Ian and Beth, accompanied by Devlin Jr., started school in Grand View. Though Beth was far more apprehensive than Ian, their other classmates seemed to accept them both without hesitation. The one-room schoolhouse, with grades ranging from first through high school, soon became a place both eagerly anticipated attending each day.

“Of course,” Abby said with a chuckle, almost a month after Claire’s first introduction to the Ladies Quilting Society, “I’d imagine a lot of Ian and Beth’s pleasure in school of late has to do with being together.” She paused to pour out three mugs of tea, then placed a plate of sliced Boston brown bread on the table between her, Claire, and Hannah. “They’ve become all but inseparable.”

“Aye, that they have,” Claire agreed as she served herself a slice of the fragrant, molasses-sweetened bread. “I’m so verra pleased with how well Ian seems to be fitting in, and with all the friends he’s made.”

“He’s a kind, friendly boy,” Hannah added her own assessment. “Devlin Jr. all but worships the ground he walks upon, and Mary, Jackson, and Bonnie like him just fine, too.”

Claire beamed, basking in the praise of her brother. At last. At long last everything seemed to be coming right for them. She laughed. “I think Ian near to sees your children as the younger brothers and sisters he always wished he’d had. You bore your husband some bonny bairns, that you did, Hannah, though I can’t for the life of me understand where Devlin Jr. and Bonnie’s fine red hair came from. I’d wager there’s a proud Scots ancestor back there somewhere.”

Hannah and Abby exchanged a thoughtful glance. Then the blonde-haired woman sighed. “Devlin and I only share one child in common—Jackson. His other three children were born to his first wife who died almost two and a half years ago.” She smiled. “That’s where Bonnie and Devlin Jr.’s red hair came from—their mother, Ella.”

Surprise filled Claire. “Och, and I thought you and Devlin had been married for a long while. I beg your pardon.”

“You don’t need to apologize, Claire.” Hannah paused to sip her tea. “You didn’t know, and perhaps I was remiss in not telling you. Devlin and I married this past Thanksgiving. Before that, Devlin was wed to Ella, who died of the influenza shortly after Bonnie’s birth.”

Gradually, Claire’s surprise transformed to shock. Bonnie was two years old; Jackson was three. Could it be that Hannah had all but admitted she had conceived her son outside the bonds of holy matrimony? Indeed, she realized as she made some swift calculations, Jackson had been conceived while Devlin’s wife Ella still lived. Hot color flooded her face.

Her sudden embarrassment wasn’t lost on either Hannah or Abby. “Hannah first came to Culdee Creek three years ago,” Abby hastened to explain, “after she escaped from Sadie Fleming’s bordello in Grand View. She was pregnant with Jackson and begged me to help her, which, with Conor’s agreement, I did.

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