Eye of the Law by Cora Harrison Page A

getting on. Myself and a couple of the men were giving them the spring dose.’
    Mara nodded. Both voices were frank and straightforward. It should be easy to check on both statements. Ballymurphy was on the west side of Lissylisheen and Balor’s Cave and Kilcorney on the east side. It would have been difficult for either to go across to Balor’s Cave without one of the workers noticing their absence. In addition, their presence would have been noted on the way to Kilcorney, especially as O’Lochlainn lands bordered both sides of the road. Ardal had a large amount of workers always busy around his land. It looked, at the moment, as if Ardal was clear of suspicion.
    But what about his brother, Donogh O’Lochlainn? And what about Donogh Óg, the nephew and the probable eventual heir to the rich lands and possessions of the O’Lochlainn?

Four
    Triad 100
    There are three darknesses into which women should not go:
The darkness of mist
The darkness of a wood
The darkness of night
    If a man seduces a woman who is drunk, this crime is known as sleth (rape) and the fine will be the honour price of the victim’s father or husband.
    ‘ I t wasn’t Saoirse’s fault.’ Mairéad faced Mara with her characteristic sturdy independence. ‘She had nothing to do with it. She had hardly even spoken to that Iarla from Aran – just gave him a dance out of politeness. She had forgotten all about him and then he just jumped on her when she came out of the privy. She’s not to blame for that.’
    ‘Of course not!’ Mara was emphatic and slightly horrified.
    After supper had finished she had inveigled the girls upstairs on the grounds of seeking advice as to which gown to wear for an investing ceremony at Thomond. Neither had shown much interest in the array of colours on the bed; both had the air of waiting for something to be said and when Mara had delicately turned the conversation to Saoirse’s ordeal on Monday night, Mairéad had immediately rounded on her.
    ‘It’s just that Saoirse’s mother and father are so furious.’ Mairéad allowed a slight note of apology to enter her voice. ‘Her father kept on and on at her all of Tuesday and Wednesday, telling her to keep away from that fellow, Iarla. She didn’t have a moment’s peace. She wasn’t allowed out of the house, not even on to the farm. Isn’t that right, Saoirse? You weren’t even allowed out to groom your horse, were you?’
    Saoirse nodded silently, her full-lipped mouth tightening and her heavy-lidded hazel eyes filling with tears. She looked down, shaking her dark-brown hair over her face. She was a plump girl with a large bosom, dark-haired like her father and curly headed like her mother. Normally she had a lovely pink-cheeked colouring, but now she looked pale and there were dark-blue shadows under her brown eyes.
    ‘I don’t know what got into Father,’ she said in a choked voice, biting her full underlip. ‘He was like a madman. He kept on and on. He thought that I had been fooling around with this Iarla. I kept telling him that I hardly spoke to him. It’s just like Mairéad said. I just danced with him a bit because he was a stranger and I was sorry for him.’
    ‘Saoirse managed to get a message to me yesterday evening,’ said Mairéad. ‘I came down to Lemeanah. I brought a bag with my nightgown and everything with me today and I pretended to Saoirse’s mother that it had been arranged that I would stay.’
    ‘And what did she say?’ Mara smiled. She was beginning to like Mairéad; she thought her a girl of enterprise!
    ‘Oh, she was fine; there was no problem with her.’
    There wouldn’t be, thought Mara. Ciara O’Brien was very easy-going. In fact, she had always thought Teige was the same, but perhaps his fatherly feelings were outraged by the attack on his daughter.
    ‘And I had a word with Saoirse’s father today after he had his dinner,’ continued Mairéad. ‘He was all right, then. I just chatted, but I made it plain that