Cat was not prepared to see a familiar face from her childhood. Well, at least, a part of her childhood.
"Miss Katie, my, you have grown so!" Cat turned to see Mrs. Fitzpatrick, her mother's former housekeeper. So overcome was Cat, that she immediately embraced the housekeeper.
"Yes, it's me, Mrs. Fitz. Kitty Cat, as my Momma still calls me."
"How is your mother?" the housekeeper asked. Cat beamed at her. "She is well. And with my father. Oh Mrs. Fitz, I have so much to tell you, in the space of fourteen years. And you still remember me!"
"Of course, I do. Would you have time for a cup of tea?" Mrs. Fitz asked. Cat shook her head. "Only briefly, Mrs. Fitz. I was only going around the town, and I thought of visiting the Big House as I wanted to see what had happened to it. I'm expected back at my aunt's, as my parents expect to take the evening train to Dublin, where we're staying."
"Tell me, what had happened to you after the fire?" Mrs. Fitzpatrick asked as the housekeeper ushered Cat to the drawing room, after the young Lord Fenton offered it.
"I don't remember much of it, really. Except that Momma came home from the races with a man whom she introduced to me as my father. I think it was a misunderstanding—they were in a rough patch of their marriage, and she thought he was sick, probably dead, so she decided she was going to visit her relatives for a time. Here in Ireland. Anyway, she left my father and grandmother a note, and I suppose the note got lost. My father took it badly because he turned out to be alive...so he...well...did something...and married someone else, but she died eventually. So...he...married Momma again. So...that's how I got to use Butler as my name. But Momma is all right. We went back to America for some time, but my father's business took him to Europe so I was sent to school in London. Maybe, if you'd like, you can visit her in Dublin? Or we can come back," Cat explained.
"But were you left alone before the fire?" Mrs. Fitzpatrick was worried.
"Well, I suppose I was. I was too little to understand what was actually going on," Cat closed her eyes, praying to the heavens for forgiveness for her little white lie. "Maybe the servants were afraid as well so they forgot about me."
"But that's terrible," Mrs. Fitzpatrick said. "A little girl like you might come into harm."
"Momma found me in the kitchen. We managed to make it out of Ballyhara in the morning. With my father, of course."
"Your mother wrote to me when you were settled in America, but she made no mention of your father. She said something about keeping me safe, especially people in Ballyhara were angry at her for making friends with the English." Mrs. Fitzpatrick sighed. "It wasn't her fault that she was lonely."
"I know. I finally realised that as I grew up. And I've always wondered why she never got married again. Until I saw my father for the first time. When I was thirteen, they sat me down and told me what actually had happened before I was born and a little after, just in case the people in America said horrible things about me."
"Did they, Miss Katie?" Mrs. Fitzpatrick asked.
"Some did, but I've learned not to care. It seemed that my parents cared more, so I suppose that was why they sent me to boarding schools, even if they didn't really want to." Cat squeezed the housekeeper's hand. "But now, I must go. I'll tell mother about this afternoon. She might...want to see you."
"I hope she will," Mrs. Fitzpatrick murmured.
"I'm sure she will," Cat assured her.
Charles heard the conversation between the girl and his housekeeper. It was apparent that Miss Butler and her mother were very fond of the housekeeper, which was unusual in Anglo or Anglo-Irish circles. Miss Butler was a curious case, Charles thought. He had never met an eighteen-year-old girl with such depth of mind, especially the daughters of society mothers in London, a city which he occasionally visited, especially when Parliament was in session. He didn't notice the girl was already at the front door, when she thanked him. "Thank you so much for letting me visit with your housekeeper, my lord. But I do have to go back to my aunt, as she is expecting me." she said with a curtsy.
"Let me escort you to your aunt's house, then, Miss Butler." Charles offered. For some reason, he wanted to spend more time with this girl. Even though she had never been out in society.
Well, especially because she's never been out in society yet.
"Oh that's not necessary, my lord," Cat protested.
"Please, indulge me," was Charles' firm reply. "I don't think that in this town, ladies should go unescorted. I wonder why your aunt didn't insist on it," he added.
Because they're not from your world, and they've lived a simpler life than yours, Cat thought. "All right," she acquiesced. After all, she wouldn't likely ever see him again. And admit it, Katie Colum O'Hara Butler, it's not everyday that an odd girl like you gets escorted by a handsome gentleman, and by an Earl, no less!
So Cat waited for Lord Fenton to get a horse saddled for him. "I'll try if I can get Momma to visit," she promised Mrs. Fitzpatrick again. Lord Fenton went to work in his little office for a bit. Before the housekeeper could say anything further, there was a knock at the front door, and a stable boy stood with a very tall grey horse for Lord Fenton.
"Thank you, Bill," Cat heard Lord Fenton say to the stable boy. "Maybe you'd like to hop on to the servants' hall later? I'm sure Mrs. Fitz has seen to it that Cook has prepared something for tea. I'll be there after I escort Miss Butler home," he added. This fascinated Cat. An Earl eating tea with his household staff! Curiouser and curiouser, she thought.
Finally, they were outdoors, and Lord Fenton helped Cat on her horse. She put on her veiled hat again, and they rode in silence, at first. "How long have you been in Ireland, Lord Fenton?" she asked.
"Since I was thirteen—turning fourteen. Right after my Uncle Luke was murdered, and my father took over the Earldom." That was a long time ago, thought Cat. And not long after her family had been run out of Ballyhara.
"It wasn't an easy transition with my father. He was, after all, a doctor, and had little knowledge about land management and tenant management. But eventually, he learned, and took me with him, whenever I wasn't in school or at Oxford, to study Law. We visited farmers, talked to tenants, learned where to buy grain to plant for seed, and how make a way for the wives to support their husbands. For the wives who wanted to run clothes shops, we bought them sewing machines and had trained women to teach them how to use the sewing machines. When Uncle Luke was alive, he and my father didn't look eye to eye on things-he looked down on his brother for marrying beneath him."
"It sounds very enterprising," Cat murmured.
"So is that what your mother would have done, have you stayed?" Lord Fenton challenged.
"Something similar, yes," Cat returned. "But I was four when we left for America," she volunteered.
"America?" Lord Townsend asked.
"I believe I mentioned that earlier, my lord. My mother was born in America. I'm sure it would make sense to go back there, after everything she has been through. Let's see, she's gained her peoples' lands back for them, and just because she stopped wanting to support the Fenians— the townspeople thought that Scarlett O'Hara turned her back on her land and her people just because she's made friends with the English, when in truth, she was also looking for information about what's going on with management of lands and how to keep them safe. Also, the townspeople called her daughter a changeling who cursed the lands, who cursed the crops. Who would honestly feel safe in those circumstances, Lord Fenton?"
Cat bent low and whispered something to Sugar, and coaxed her into a run, leaving the Earl behind many paces. But the Earl caught up with her and apologised. He held out his gloved hand. "I apologise, Miss Butler."
Cat accepted it and shook it. "Apology accepted," she replied, looking at him straight in the eye. "I believe I must hurry, otherwise, my mother will have my aunt's head." It wasn't long until Cat reached Aunt Pegeen's cottage. But Cat knew she was in trouble. Her parents have arrived before her, and she could hear her mother talking frantically. Aunt Kathleen stood guard out at the fence and called. "It's alright, Scarlett. She's here. Cat's here."
