Chapter 2: Chapter 2

"What?" she stared at him in sheer disbelief. "Why?"

"Is it so strange, Miss Fiona, that I would want to marry you?" He didn't rightly know himself, but somehow, after the evening and seeing her now, he knew he wanted to marry her. Or was it that he wanted to make sure no other man could marry her? It didn't matter, he decided.

"Oh, Kevin." Not "Corky" or "Corcoran", but "Kevin". "If you truly did want to marry me, do you know what you'd be marrying into? You marry me and you'd belong to Pa and Tammany for life. How many people does he own? Sullivan, for one. Maguire is his for life since he spared him from the gallows. That poor bastard is at Father's beck and call, his life is no longer his own. You're a copper, a good one, and you care about Five Points, but marry me and you'll be Father's lackey, you think you won't, but you will."

"I like to think I'm my own man," he said a little stiffly.

"You are your own man, but Pa could corrupt a saint, I've seen it. Why do you think I've gone to all these schools, why I wanted to go to medical school and go to work in Africa or India? I'm trying to escape Tammany and Pa. Do you know one of the reasons I spend so much time at the tables? I'm trying to acquire enough money to put myself through medical school. I have enough for a year and a half, but I need more. When I have enough, I'm going to leave and not come back till I'm a practicing doctor—if I do come back at all."

"What happened to becoming a missionary?"

"I had thought about that. There was someone I met while I was going to Vasser who had a brother who had served in a mission in India. That seemed the perfect escape, for a while. I've since thought better of it. I don't have the temperament for it."

She began to try to free her hair, but the long locks seemed to have wrapped themselves around her. He leant a hand, helping to lift her so she could pull them free.

"I'd like to cut this off," she muttered, "It does nothing but get in my way." She pulled off her tie and used it to tie her hair back.

"Don't do that." He hadn't meant to say it, it had just come out.

She smiled at him, laying a cool hand on his cheek. "Do you know that Pa talked to me before he approached you? I love my father but I know what kind of man he is. I also know the power Tammany has in our city. I don't want it to touch you. He wants you for something, but I don't know what. I've eavesdropped on a lot of conversations, I've heard a lot of things that I shouldn't, but I felt like I needed to know what he was up to. He's made it his business to know everything that goes on in this city. He has too much power and it frightens me."

"Then let me be your shield, Fiona, let me protect you from him. Marry me and you won't have to fight your battle alone. Let me take care of you."

"And who will take care of you?" Her luminous eyes stared at him.

"You will. We'll take care of each other. Say yes, Fiona, just say yes."

"Kevin, do you really want to marry me? Wouldn't you rather marry someone who isn't going to be difficult? Someone who's more likely to agree than argue with you?"

He took a risk and drew her into his arms. "No, I want to marry a beautiful, difficult, mulish, half Irish girl and maybe help her become a doctor if that's what it takes to make her happy. Do you think you could be happy with a copper for a husband? It's not an easy life."

"I'm a copper's daughter, remember? That's how Pa started. I'm a Five Points girl, I know the life. All I'd want from you right now is a pump inside our house, and a sink. Ask Pa for my hand and I'll marry you. It's the path of least resistance for now. And I like you, Corky, I like who you are and what you are. Don't tell Pa what I told you. I'm afraid of Tammany—it's too powerful. I think with you I could feel safe from them. Yes, Corky, my answer is yes. But I'm warning you, no good may come of this, all I can say is be careful."

The next morning he sought out Donovan and gave him the news—as best he could. "Uh, sir," he stood nervously, holding his hat by the brim, "Fiona will marry me, er, I asked Fiona if she would marry me and she said 'yes'". The second sounded a little better, but just as awkward.

Donovan looked at him, considering. "So you asked Fiona to marry you and she consented? I must admit I did not expect you to find success so soon." He rummaged around in a desk drawer and withdrew a small box. "This was her mother's, we held onto it through thick and thin so that someday Fiona might have it. I believe this will mean a great deal to her."

Corcoran opened the box and saw a diamond solitaire set in a carved gold band. The diamond was not large, but caught sparks from the muted light in Donovan's office just the same. Beautiful, he thought, and something he could not ever have hoped to afford it.

"It's an heirloom," said Donovan, "It's very old. Me Catherine had it from her grandmother, even though her parents did not approve of our marriage. Madame Fontaine was very grand, but she told me she saw the potential in me, that I was destined for great things. The only promise we were made to keep is that no matter what happened, the ring must not be sold, but passed on to the eldest daughter. And so it comes to my Fiona. I am trusting you with my greatest treasure Corky."

He stood up, "And now I have things to do. I believe that Fiona is downtown talking to Matthew Freeman. I think that girl is going to try to be a doctor even though I don't approve. Well, she'll be your problem now, Corky. Oh, by the way, have you set a date?"

Corcoran had not been prepared for that, but he had a ready answer. "I'll let Fiona take care of that. It should be the bride's day. Whatever she wants will be fine with me."

"I see you're learning," Donovan laughed and waved him away.

The box felt awkward in his pocket. For some reason he did not understand himself, he thought it best if he gave Fiona the ring right away. What he should do was find O'Brien and Maguire and get to work, instead he decided to seek out Freeman and find his fiancée—the word sounded awkward, but when he thought of her, it seemed only right.

He found Fiona wearing an apron wrapped over a grey cotton dress. Matthew was stitching a wound and explaining to her how he was doing it and what type of stitches he used. Their two heads were together over the patient and he heard Fiona asking why cat gut and why not another type of thread that could be cut and removed when the stitches healed. Matthew had launched into an explanation when he looked up and saw Corcoran.

"Corky, what are you doing here at this hour?" The tall Negro doctor smiled, as if he had some inkling of exactly what Corcoran was doing there.

Fiona looked at him land smiled. "Good morning, Corcoran." Again the "Corcoran". "I've been coming here mornings since I returned to New York. I thought I would get a firsthand look at medicine being practiced, Five Points-style. Who knows? I may have to stitch you up some day."

"I need to talk to you—alone," he said meaningfully.

"All right," she shrugged her shoulders and removed her apron. "I'll be back another time, Matthew, thank you for letting me watch." She let Corcoran help with her cape, then turned and waved goodbye.

The weather was nice and sunny, people were out buying food in the still cool air, or just standing about enjoying the morning. He looked around, enjoying the rare peace, then reached into his pocket and drew out the box.

"This is for you," he said curtly and hated the way he said it, but she didn't seem to mind.

She opened the tiny box. "Grandmere's ring! Oh Corky, this is so precious, why did he give it to me? This is what I least expected."

"Well, he told me that it went to the oldest daughter, and since you're the oldest daughter and we are getting married, giving it to you must have seemed the right thing."

She slipped the ring onto her finger, being careful not to show it around, even though Corcoran could have stopped any trouble before it started.

"You really intend to marry me?"

"Yes, I asked you, didn't I? And I believe you said yes."

She smiled at him, "Yes, so you did, and I did as I recall."

"And you're wearing a diamond engagement ring now. I believe that seals the bargain." He took her left hand and kissed it on the ring. "I've decided that marrying you might be the very thing I was missing."

She kissed his cheek. "And I was going to offer to let you back out of it. Don't want you to be coerced into this. I can handle Father."

He released her hand. "I've got to be going, darlin'. And I don't intend to back out of anything. We're getting married just as soon as you set the date. If you think you're getting out of this you're sorely mistaken." He tipped his hat to her and took off down the sidewalk.

He was halfway down the sidewalk when he remembered something he wanted to tell her. He turned and saw no one. He intended to go back the way he came, to look for her, when he heard Maguire call "Corky" and ran to he and O'Brien were waiting for him.

"They've found two bodies in the river, both women. Captain says we've got to go check them out, now. Looks like they're floaters, they've been in the water for a while."

Damn, something was bothering him. He thought he should have been able to see Fiona, he'd not gone that far, but she was nowhere in sight. He wanted to go back and check on her, something didn't feel quite right, but he needed to get back to his work. He would check on her later, he decided, and not let himself over worry.

He realized that he'd fallen in love with her, so unexpectedly, and he suspected that she felt the same. The whole thing was crazy, but it just felt right. They had been thrown together in manner that lacked all logic, but sure enough, he thought, no he knew, that Fiona Donovan was the woman for him, and no other would do.