Sentence of Marriage Read Online Free

reason.
    After the trouble with the Feenans, Arthur was obviously feeling protective. He kept his horse to a walk and stayed close to the girls for the first part of the ride, until they were far enough up the valley road to be out of sight of the beach. Amy had to talk quietly to Lizzie so as not to be overheard.
    ‘Lizzie, you’re terrible!’
    ‘Why, what did I do wrong?’
    ‘You embarrassed Frank. And I thought you were shameless, throwing yourself at him like that.’
    ‘Rubbish,’ said Lizzie. ‘Some men need a bit of a push. Besides, he needs a woman—did you see that rip in his shirt?’
    ‘If he needs a woman that badly, you might miss out.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Well, he might decide he can’t wait years and years until you grow up, and he might find someone who’s old enough to get married now!’ Amy had the satisfaction of seeing a look of shock pass over her cousin’s face, then Lizzie turned on her.
    ‘You cheeky little…’ She put the reins in one hand and twisted around in the saddle to tug at Amy’s hair and tickle her mercilessly. Amy had to keep holding on to Lizzie to avoid falling, but she squealed and tried to wriggle out of her reach. The horse, disturbed by their noise and movement, snorted noisily and shied a little.
    ‘Hey, you girls, settle down back there—stop frightening that horse or I’ll lead her home and make you walk,’ Arthur said, looking back over his shoulder at them. They composed themselves hastily. A walk of two miles did not appeal.
    ‘Oh!’ Amy said when they passed Frank’s farm. The thought that had nagged at her earlier had suddenly gelled. ‘Oh, you shouldn’t have been so rude about the Feenans, either.’
    ‘Me, rude! I like that—after the way they carried on! What do you mean, rude?’
    ‘Not so much what you said about Feenans, but the way you went on about the Irish.’
    ‘It’s all true, isn’t it? Pa says they’re bog Irish, and that’s why they fight and cause trouble all the time, and why their farm’s so rubbishy.’
    ‘That’s what I mean—where do you think the name “Kelly” comes from?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ Lizzie said with a shrug. ‘Oh! Do you think it’s an Irish name?’
    ‘I'm sure it is. I remember Granny saying that.’
    ‘Oh.’ Lizzie was silent for a moment. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said, cheerful again. ‘Frank was born here, so he’s not Irish, even if his father was. I’m sure the Kellys aren’t bog Irish, anyway.’ As Amy had no idea what ‘bog Irish’ might mean, she was unable to argue with this.
    ‘I’m staying here till lunch-time,’ Lizzie said to her father when they reached Amy’s gate.
    ‘Did you ask your ma?’
    ‘Yes, it’s all right with Ma,’ Lizzie said airily. She turned her horse’s head towards Amy’s house. ‘Ma wouldn’t remember even if I had,’ she murmured.
    ‘You shake that dress out before you come in my kitchen—you’ve got sand and horsehair all over it,’ Amy admonished when they reached the house. ‘You can take those dirty boots off, too.’
    ‘Bossy.’ But Lizzie did give her dress a good shake, making quite a cloud of sand and dust, and left her boots at the door.
    Lizzie had not worn a pinafore on the outing; when Amy asked if it had been because she wanted to look more grown-up in front of Frank, Lizzie cheerfully admitted that was the case. She followed Amy into her bedroom and with some difficulty squeezed into one of her pinafores.
    ‘It’s a bit tight over the chest, but no one’s going to see me in it. You’ll need a new one when you get a bosom ,’ Lizzie said, all buxom superiority. She straightened Amy’s armband. ‘How long are you going to wear this?’
    ‘A year, it’s meant to be. Pa said I didn’t need to—he thinks I’m too young to bother with it. But I want to do the right thing.’
    ‘You always want to do the right thing, don’t you? You try a bit too hard sometimes, you know.’
    ‘That’s my