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- Book List & Themes
- Strictly for Adults Novels >
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Tales from Portlaw
>
- No Need to Look for Love
- 'The Love Quartet' >
-
The Priest's Calling Card
>
- Chapter One - The Irish Custom
- Chapter Two - Patrick Duffy's Family Background
- Chapter Three - Patrick Duffy Junior's Vocation to Priesthood
- Chapter Four - The first years of the priesthood
- Chapter Five - Father Patrick Duffy in Seattle
- Chapter Six - Father Patrick Duffy, Portlaw Priest
- Chapter Seven - Patrick Duffy Priest Power
- Chapter Eight - Patrick Duffy Groundless Gossip
- Chapter Nine - Monsignor Duffy of Portlaw
- Chapter Ten - The Portlaw Inheritance of Patrick Duffy
- Bigger and Better >
- The Oldest Woman in the World >
-
Sean and Sarah
>
- Chapter 1 - 'Return of the Prodigal Son'
- Chapter 2 - 'The early years of sweet innocence in Portlaw'
- Chapter 3 - 'The Separation'
- Chapter 4 - 'Separation and Betrayal'
- Chapter 5 - 'Portlaw to Manchester'
- Chapter 6 - 'Salford Choices'
- Chapter 7 - 'Life inside Prison'
- Chapter 8 - 'The Aylesbury Pilgrimage'
- Chapter 9 - Sean's interest in stone masonary'
- Chapter 10 - 'Sean's and Tony's Partnership'
- Chapter 11 - 'Return of the Prodigal Son'
- The Alternative Christmas Party >
-
The Life of Liam Lafferty
>
- Chapter One: ' Liam Lafferty is born'
- Chapter Two : 'The Baptism of Liam Lafferty'
- Chapter Three: 'The early years of Liam Lafferty'
- Chapter Four : Early Manhood
- Chapter Five : Ned's Secret Past
- Chapter Six : Courtship and Marriage
- Chapter Seven : Liam and Trish marry
- Chapter Eight : Farley meets Ned
- Chapter Nine : 'Ned comes clean to Farley'
- Chapter Ten : Tragedy hits the family
- Chapter Eleven : The future is brighter
-
The life and times of Joe Walsh
>
- Chapter One : 'The marriage of Margaret Mawd and Thomas Walsh’
- Chapter Two 'The birth of Joe Walsh'
- Chapter Three 'Marriage breakup and betrayal'
- Chapter Four: ' The Walsh family breakup'
- Chapter Five : ' Liverpool Lodgings'
- Chapter Six: ' Settled times are established and tested'
- Chapter Seven : 'Haworth is heaven is a place on earth'
- Chapter Eight: 'Coming out'
- Chapter Nine: Portlaw revenge
- Chapter Ten: ' The murder trial of Paddy Groggy'
- Chapter Eleven: 'New beginnings'
-
The Woman Who Hated Christmas
>
- Chapter One: 'The Christmas Enigma'
- Chapter Two: ' The Breakup of Beth's Family''
- Chapter Three: From Teenager to Adulthood.'
- Chapter Four: 'The Mills of West Yorkshire.'
- Chapter Five: 'Harrison Garner Showdown.'
- Chapter Six : 'The Christmas Dance'
- Chapter Seven : 'The ballot for Shop Steward.'
- Chapter Eight: ' Leaving the Mill'
- Chapter Ten: ' Beth buries her Ghosts'
- Chapter Eleven: Beth and Dermot start off married life in Galway.
- Chapter Twelve: The Twin Tragedy of Christmas, 1992.'
- Chapter Thirteen: 'The Christmas star returns'
- Chapter Fourteen: ' Beth's future in Portlaw'
-
The Last Dance
>
- Chapter One - ‘Nancy Swales becomes the Widow Swales’
- Chapter Two ‘The secret night life of Widow Swales’
- Chapter Three ‘Meeting Richard again’
- Chapter Four ‘Clancy’s Ballroom: March 1961’
- Chapter Five ‘The All Ireland Dancing Rounds’
- Chapter Six ‘James Mountford’
- Chapter Seven ‘The All Ireland Ballroom Latin American Dance Final.’
- Chapter Eight ‘The Final Arrives’
- Chapter Nine: 'Beth in Manchester.'
- 'Two Sisters' >
- Fourteen Days >
-
‘The Postman Always Knocks Twice’
>
- Author's Foreword
- Contents
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-One
- Chapter Twenty-Two
-
Celebrity Contacts
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Thoughts and Musings
- Bereavement >
- Nature >
-
Bill's Personal Development
>
- What I'd like to be remembered for
- Second Chances
- Roots
- Holidays of Old
- Memorable Moments of Mine
- Cleckheaton Consecration
- Canadian Loves
- Mum's Wisdom
- 'Early life at my Grandparents'
- Family Holidays
- 'Mother /Child Bond'
- Childhood Pain
- The Death of Lady
- 'Soldiering On'
- 'Romantic Holidays'
- 'On the roof'
- Always wear clean shoes
- 'Family Tree'
- The importance of poise
- 'Growing up with grandparents'
- Love & Romance >
- Christian Thoughts, Acts and Words >
- My Wedding
- My Funeral
- Audio Downloads
- My Singing Videos
- Bill's Blog
- Contact Me
Chapter Six :
'Courtship and Marriage'
The next three years between Liam's 18th and 21st b0irthdays was a time which helped to shape and develop his character into the sensible and most sensitive of men he was to eventually become. Liam grew more handsome by the day and despite his shyness of character, none of the local colleens who were available for a lasting romance would have objected in the least if Liam had asked them to hitch their skirts to the back of his coal cart.
His relationship with his gaffer Ned blossomed and in a short matter of time, Ned started to treat him as if he was his own son; the son he'd never had the opportunity of being with. With Liam wanting a father figure, just as much as Ned needed to be one, the requirements of both males seemed to mutually compliment each other.
His relationship with his gaffer Ned blossomed and in a short matter of time, Ned started to treat him as if he was his own son; the son he'd never had the opportunity of being with. With Liam wanting a father figure, just as much as Ned needed to be one, the requirements of both males seemed to mutually compliment each other.
Three months before Liam's twentieth birthday, he happened to meet Trish Doolie, an 18-year-old tomboy from the Tipperary border. Trish, although attractive beneath all her body grime and men's dungarees that she wore, had always seemed more interested in pursuing her trade at her father's forge than she had been in chasing the boys.
Having been born an only child, even as a young girl she soon realised that males usually tend to have greater opportunities in life than females and therefore wished that she'd been born a boy instead of a girl. She rarely played those girly games as a child and always preferred the muddy rough and tumble activities of the boys.
One of her most treasured memories was visiting the family blacksmith business as a three year old. Her grandfather had taught her father the trade of a Smithy and when he died, her father took over the family concern. Trish treasured this memory and the only two photographs she possessed of her grandparents, both of whom were now deceased, had been taken at the family forge.
Around the age of twelve years, one particular bully boy cornered her in the school playground and pulled her dress over her head before running off laughing. This shamed her so much that thereafter, Trish refused to wear dresses again and she avoided all manner of contact with the opposite sex; preferring instead to learn all there was to learn about being a blacksmith.
Having been born an only child, even as a young girl she soon realised that males usually tend to have greater opportunities in life than females and therefore wished that she'd been born a boy instead of a girl. She rarely played those girly games as a child and always preferred the muddy rough and tumble activities of the boys.
One of her most treasured memories was visiting the family blacksmith business as a three year old. Her grandfather had taught her father the trade of a Smithy and when he died, her father took over the family concern. Trish treasured this memory and the only two photographs she possessed of her grandparents, both of whom were now deceased, had been taken at the family forge.
Around the age of twelve years, one particular bully boy cornered her in the school playground and pulled her dress over her head before running off laughing. This shamed her so much that thereafter, Trish refused to wear dresses again and she avoided all manner of contact with the opposite sex; preferring instead to learn all there was to learn about being a blacksmith.
Having lost her mother to TB in 1948 when she was a mere three years old, Trish Doolie naturally became closer to her father as she grew up an only child. Her father had followed the family tradition of four generations and had become the village Smithy. Before Trish had been born, her own mother had worked beside her husband on a number of occasions when an extra pair of hands were needed to complete a busy order.
During the early childhood of Trish, whenever she wasn't at school, she could be found in her father's workshop watching him shoe horses or fix, fashion and forge all other manner of metal contraption. It pleased her enormously to know that the mother, of whom she had no real recollection, had once worked by the same furnace and had blown the same bellows to stoke up the heat like she now did; a task which no doubt Grandma Dooley had also performed from time to time.
From the age of nine years, Trish had been allowed to blow the bellows by applying constant foot pressure of stamping them as she maintained the temperature of the furnace fire. Whereas other children would be more used to hearing the sound of their friends' voices and laughter as they played in the fresh air of the open fields and streets, Trish would be getting more acquainted by learning to tell if the horse shoe was hot enough, simply by immersing it in a bucket of cold water and listening to the precise cooling hiss it made when both heat and cold came into direct contact. Her father had often told his daughter that a good Smithy can tell the precise temperature by the sound of the hot metal entering the cold water and the blueish colour of the shoe when it emerges from the bucket.
Ever since early childhood, Trish became determined to do one job and one job only when she left school. She was resolved to join her father's trade and become an apprentice Smithy under his tutelage. She was determined to become the first full-time female Smithy that Tipperary had ever known, and any male who seemed to question her right to such a position soon felt the sharp edge of her tongue!
During the early childhood of Trish, whenever she wasn't at school, she could be found in her father's workshop watching him shoe horses or fix, fashion and forge all other manner of metal contraption. It pleased her enormously to know that the mother, of whom she had no real recollection, had once worked by the same furnace and had blown the same bellows to stoke up the heat like she now did; a task which no doubt Grandma Dooley had also performed from time to time.
From the age of nine years, Trish had been allowed to blow the bellows by applying constant foot pressure of stamping them as she maintained the temperature of the furnace fire. Whereas other children would be more used to hearing the sound of their friends' voices and laughter as they played in the fresh air of the open fields and streets, Trish would be getting more acquainted by learning to tell if the horse shoe was hot enough, simply by immersing it in a bucket of cold water and listening to the precise cooling hiss it made when both heat and cold came into direct contact. Her father had often told his daughter that a good Smithy can tell the precise temperature by the sound of the hot metal entering the cold water and the blueish colour of the shoe when it emerges from the bucket.
Ever since early childhood, Trish became determined to do one job and one job only when she left school. She was resolved to join her father's trade and become an apprentice Smithy under his tutelage. She was determined to become the first full-time female Smithy that Tipperary had ever known, and any male who seemed to question her right to such a position soon felt the sharp edge of her tongue!
Trish joined her father at the smithy forge when she left school instead of going on to college or university and before too long, she was assisting her father to shoe horses. By her eighteenth birthday she had developed the experience along with the physical strength, to shoe a horse, wholly unaided. Often she would catch her dear father looking across at her working alongside him as he thought how much like her mother Trish was becoming day by day, especially when she worked without a cap upon her head. Whenever a customer arrived however, Trish would don her flat cap and tuck her hair beneath it and then place a leather breast cover over her top half to conceal any womanly cleavage; making her look more like a young man than a woman wielding the hammer and nails.
The first time that Liam met her, he had called into her father's workplace to replace the shoes on Lafferty's Lady. The blacksmith whom they frequently used had sadly died and their Cob was in urgent need of being properly shod. As Liam approached the new blacksmith and indicated that he required his Cob being shod, Trish's father said, "Take her over there and my young apprentice will see to her shortly."
Liam walked Lafferty's Lady across the shop floor and addressed the apprenticed Smithy. "Are you sure you can handle her? She's almost seventeen hands tall, you know," he said as he looked at the blacken-faced Smithy with shoulders no wider than his had been four years earlier.
The young blacksmith wore a flat cap that concealed her long hair tresses. Her blackened face looked like she'd just emerged from a pit shaft, and being dressed in working dungarees one size too large for her, nobody who wasn't in the know would have known that it was the beautiful body of a young woman beneath all that dirt and grime.
The first time that Liam met her, he had called into her father's workplace to replace the shoes on Lafferty's Lady. The blacksmith whom they frequently used had sadly died and their Cob was in urgent need of being properly shod. As Liam approached the new blacksmith and indicated that he required his Cob being shod, Trish's father said, "Take her over there and my young apprentice will see to her shortly."
Liam walked Lafferty's Lady across the shop floor and addressed the apprenticed Smithy. "Are you sure you can handle her? She's almost seventeen hands tall, you know," he said as he looked at the blacken-faced Smithy with shoulders no wider than his had been four years earlier.
The young blacksmith wore a flat cap that concealed her long hair tresses. Her blackened face looked like she'd just emerged from a pit shaft, and being dressed in working dungarees one size too large for her, nobody who wasn't in the know would have known that it was the beautiful body of a young woman beneath all that dirt and grime.
The young Smithy told Liam, "Bring the Cob over here while I check her out. I'd appreciate it if you'd steady her while I shoe. There's no point in her not being reassured if you're here to steady her, is there?"
As the young Smithy worked, Liam spoke to her, but she essentially kept her replies to a minimum. In spite of being an 18-year-old woman, her hard work in the blacksmith's trade had taken away that softness of hand that one would find more naturally in a young woman of her age.
Forty minutes later, the young Smithy hammered in the last shoe nail and remarked, "That seems to be it! The Cob will be fine now." As she spoke, her voice seemed to rise a few octaves in register and then when she took off her flat cap to mop the brow of her forehead, Liam saw that the young Smithy was a female. Trish had recently had her hair shortened, as she now did every few months whenever it threatened to grow too long again, yet there was no mistaking that fact that she was most certainly all woman.
As the young Smithy worked, Liam spoke to her, but she essentially kept her replies to a minimum. In spite of being an 18-year-old woman, her hard work in the blacksmith's trade had taken away that softness of hand that one would find more naturally in a young woman of her age.
Forty minutes later, the young Smithy hammered in the last shoe nail and remarked, "That seems to be it! The Cob will be fine now." As she spoke, her voice seemed to rise a few octaves in register and then when she took off her flat cap to mop the brow of her forehead, Liam saw that the young Smithy was a female. Trish had recently had her hair shortened, as she now did every few months whenever it threatened to grow too long again, yet there was no mistaking that fact that she was most certainly all woman.
When Liam next looked at the young Smithy, it was with different eyes; eyes of approval at the fine job she'd done on the Cob.
"I'm Liam Lafferty," he said by way of introduction.
"Oh are you? That's nice, I'm sure," Trish replied before leaving him and the Cob alone with her father to arrange payment for the work done.
"Don't pay her no mind," the senior Smithy who was working close by said. "You're privileged she spoke to you at all. She often works all day without so much as saying 'Good morning Da.' It's today's youngsters, I tell you."
Liam left the blacksmiths that day determined to return the very next time that he required some work doing and though he didn't know it then, Trish Doolie would one day soon become a big part of his life. Indeed, there would come a time in their future when he wouldn't be able to get her to shut up, stop talking or even allow him a bit of peace and quiet when he most needed it!
"I'm Liam Lafferty," he said by way of introduction.
"Oh are you? That's nice, I'm sure," Trish replied before leaving him and the Cob alone with her father to arrange payment for the work done.
"Don't pay her no mind," the senior Smithy who was working close by said. "You're privileged she spoke to you at all. She often works all day without so much as saying 'Good morning Da.' It's today's youngsters, I tell you."
Liam left the blacksmiths that day determined to return the very next time that he required some work doing and though he didn't know it then, Trish Doolie would one day soon become a big part of his life. Indeed, there would come a time in their future when he wouldn't be able to get her to shut up, stop talking or even allow him a bit of peace and quiet when he most needed it!
Pulling a coal cart along the roads of Kilkenny, Tipperary and Waterford eight hours a day, five and and a half days a week, all year round, led to Lafferty's Lady need of being shod around every six weeks.
Before Trish had shod the horse no more than four times, Liam had lost his heart to the young Smithy. It wasn't that Trish Doolie was the fairest maid that had ever come out of Tipperary, as there were no doubt others as beautiful of face as she was. However, even so early on in his contact with her, it was apparent to Liam that Trish wasn't like all the rest. For a start, there were none with as much love for horses that Trish possessed or any who were 'their own woman' as she undoubtedly was.
Her father could not have known the type of man that his independent and stubborn daughter would one day give her heart to, but he did know the type of man who would never secure it in a million years. Her father knew well that were any chap to catch his daughter and lead her down the marriage aisle, then such a man would have to be her equal and never superior or subservient in her presence. He knew only too well that his proud daughter would brook no fool standing beside her as a husband when she exchanged matrimonial vows. Mr Doolie also knew that neither would she ever tolerate any tyrant of a spouse nor allow any man into her life who had designs upon changing her ways, selecting her wardrobe or seeking to make her any less an independent person than she presently was.
Before Trish had shod the horse no more than four times, Liam had lost his heart to the young Smithy. It wasn't that Trish Doolie was the fairest maid that had ever come out of Tipperary, as there were no doubt others as beautiful of face as she was. However, even so early on in his contact with her, it was apparent to Liam that Trish wasn't like all the rest. For a start, there were none with as much love for horses that Trish possessed or any who were 'their own woman' as she undoubtedly was.
Her father could not have known the type of man that his independent and stubborn daughter would one day give her heart to, but he did know the type of man who would never secure it in a million years. Her father knew well that were any chap to catch his daughter and lead her down the marriage aisle, then such a man would have to be her equal and never superior or subservient in her presence. He knew only too well that his proud daughter would brook no fool standing beside her as a husband when she exchanged matrimonial vows. Mr Doolie also knew that neither would she ever tolerate any tyrant of a spouse nor allow any man into her life who had designs upon changing her ways, selecting her wardrobe or seeking to make her any less an independent person than she presently was.
The day that Liam realised he'd been smitten by this Tipperary maiden was when he took Lafferty's Lady to the blacksmith three weeks before he was due to have his horse's shoes replacing. He initially feigned a condition that required looking at when he said that the Cob had developed a bit of a limp in its left hind leg.
Trish looked over Lafferty's Lady and upon finding nothing wrong with the horse that she could see, she asked her father to look at the beast and provide a second opinion. The Smithy lifted up all the hooves of the Cob and after scraping and examing them, he declared that he could find no fault. While the blacksmith was looking over Liam's horse, he glanced across at Liam and noticed the way that Liam was looking across at his daughter. Then the Smithy saw the way that his daughter looked back at Liam once she'd caught his glance in her direction.. He knew that look; it was unmistakable and while he'd never seen it before on the face of his daughter, he recognised it as the very same look that his dear wife had once given him that precise moment that they both knew they loved each other.
Approaching Liam and ensuring that they remained out of his daughter's earshot, Mr Doolie said, "There's nothing wrong with the horse's gait, lad. Now unless you get on and do what you really came here to do, I suggest you stop wasting my time and let me get back to doing some proper work. I've a living to earn."
Trish looked over Lafferty's Lady and upon finding nothing wrong with the horse that she could see, she asked her father to look at the beast and provide a second opinion. The Smithy lifted up all the hooves of the Cob and after scraping and examing them, he declared that he could find no fault. While the blacksmith was looking over Liam's horse, he glanced across at Liam and noticed the way that Liam was looking across at his daughter. Then the Smithy saw the way that his daughter looked back at Liam once she'd caught his glance in her direction.. He knew that look; it was unmistakable and while he'd never seen it before on the face of his daughter, he recognised it as the very same look that his dear wife had once given him that precise moment that they both knew they loved each other.
Approaching Liam and ensuring that they remained out of his daughter's earshot, Mr Doolie said, "There's nothing wrong with the horse's gait, lad. Now unless you get on and do what you really came here to do, I suggest you stop wasting my time and let me get back to doing some proper work. I've a living to earn."
Liam realised that his ruse had been rumbled by the Smithy and that Trish's father was aware of the purpose of his pretend visit. Such realisation placed an acute look of embarrassment across Liam's face at having been found out. His initial urge was to leg it as quickly as he could, but he resisted this course of action. After all, he'd already come too far outside his comfort zone to return home empty handed. Taking a deep breath, he walked across to Trish and said, "I don't know if you want to, but there's a barn dance in Portlaw next Friday night and ......."
"And what?" said Trish, who could clearly see the degree of embarrassment that asking her was causing Liam.
"I was wondering.....I was.......would you like to come with me?" he asked hurriedly; glad to have got the words out before he'd choked on them.
"I would like to go with you," Trish replied coyly.
"That's good," Liam said, adding, "What time shall I meet you?"
"I said that 'I would like to go with you', and not that 'I would go with you'," Trish replied teasingly.
After seeing a look of disappointment immediately replace the look of pleasure that had flitted across Liam's face moments earlier, Trish realised that she had taken her tease too far.
"I will go with you to the dance Liam Lafferty, but they'll be no 'meeting' as you put it. The only meeting that any man will be fulfilling with Trish Doolie will be the meeting of her requirements. Nothing less than 'being called upon' and taken to the dance in suitable transport will meet this Tipperary girl's requirements," she said.
"Agreed," replied Liam and he left the blacksmith's shed with a large sense of relief and a huge smile of contentment on his face.
"And what?" said Trish, who could clearly see the degree of embarrassment that asking her was causing Liam.
"I was wondering.....I was.......would you like to come with me?" he asked hurriedly; glad to have got the words out before he'd choked on them.
"I would like to go with you," Trish replied coyly.
"That's good," Liam said, adding, "What time shall I meet you?"
"I said that 'I would like to go with you', and not that 'I would go with you'," Trish replied teasingly.
After seeing a look of disappointment immediately replace the look of pleasure that had flitted across Liam's face moments earlier, Trish realised that she had taken her tease too far.
"I will go with you to the dance Liam Lafferty, but they'll be no 'meeting' as you put it. The only meeting that any man will be fulfilling with Trish Doolie will be the meeting of her requirements. Nothing less than 'being called upon' and taken to the dance in suitable transport will meet this Tipperary girl's requirements," she said.
"Agreed," replied Liam and he left the blacksmith's shed with a large sense of relief and a huge smile of contentment on his face.
During the following year the courtship of Liam and Trish progressed happily, if somewhat unconventionally. It was as though Trish was slowly appreciating the distinct advantage of being both 'independent woman' and 'helpless little woman' in need of a strong man whenever it was in her clear interest to act either in the role of 'lady' or 'ladette'. In one area however, she did relent. She allowed her beautiful hair to grow longer.
At first, Liam found this frequent change of mood in his girlfriend hard to fathom and one afternoon while on his round with Ned, he asked his gaffer's advice on the subject. Surprisingly, Ned was sympathetic and understanding in a way that Liam would never have imagined possible a few years earlier.
At first, Liam found this frequent change of mood in his girlfriend hard to fathom and one afternoon while on his round with Ned, he asked his gaffer's advice on the subject. Surprisingly, Ned was sympathetic and understanding in a way that Liam would never have imagined possible a few years earlier.
"While I'm no expert on the subject," Ned said gingerly, "I've always found that however fair the woman be, a lady's expectations are always set much higher than a man's ability to deliver. This short fall leaves the woman the one who is forever owed, and poor man the one who's doing the owing and is in her eternal debt until the day he dies! And the only way that he'll be able to fathom out her mood and know if she is forgoing or calling in the debt will be the look on her face. If she looks to be smiling, she's forgoing your indebtedness, but if she is frowning or scowling, beware and be ready to pay up on demand with added interest!"
Liam smiled at Ned's response, knowing that he was never the type of man to offer another advice on any subject unless asked for it directly; yet when it came to being aware of women folk's flaws, eccentricities and female foibles, he totally lacked ignorance and spoke with some considerable learning on the subject.
"The bottom line is this, lad," Ned concluded, "If you love the lass and you're sure that you are right for each other, then I'd say, let nobody stand in your way and brook no obstacle. What matters is that you are truly right for each other; not whether others think you are or aren't! As for her frequent change of moods and roles, would you wear only one suit of armour if the mere changing and manner of dress could win you one battle and a different suit of clothes ensure you victory in another? Nay, lad, don't blame the lass for having womanly ways or for that matter, using them to her fullest advantage. It's only part of any Eve's nature; ever since she fell to Adam's temptation of the apple!"
Liam could tell that these few words from Ned's mouth came directly from his own personal experiences and probably involved the re-opening of old wounds and emotional scars in order to express them.
"The bottom line is this, lad," Ned concluded, "If you love the lass and you're sure that you are right for each other, then I'd say, let nobody stand in your way and brook no obstacle. What matters is that you are truly right for each other; not whether others think you are or aren't! As for her frequent change of moods and roles, would you wear only one suit of armour if the mere changing and manner of dress could win you one battle and a different suit of clothes ensure you victory in another? Nay, lad, don't blame the lass for having womanly ways or for that matter, using them to her fullest advantage. It's only part of any Eve's nature; ever since she fell to Adam's temptation of the apple!"
Liam could tell that these few words from Ned's mouth came directly from his own personal experiences and probably involved the re-opening of old wounds and emotional scars in order to express them.
As his 21st birthday approached, Liam Lafferty had his mind set on marriage the following spring. To tell the truth, he found himself unable to physically 'hold out' much longer. Whenever Liam was alone with Trish, although their bodies cried out for more intimate contact, while he would have been prepared to 'go all the way', her Catholic conscience would always prove greater than his sexual urge. That time in their courtship had arrived when, as St. Thomas Aquinas would have phrased it, 'Marry or perish in hell', and while there had undoubtedly been times when his desire might have suppressed his fear of eternal damnation, Trish could always be relied upon to always be the one to 'pull back' from the jaws of hell.
Had his Great Aunt Hetti still lived, she would have been proud of them both in their combined resistance of the physical temptations of the flesh, but she would have been the most proud of Trish's Catholic resolve and bodily discipline. As for Liam, even if he didn't fully understand or agree with the fixed position of his intended bride in this matter, it never led to him loving Trish any less.
Had his Great Aunt Hetti still lived, she would have been proud of them both in their combined resistance of the physical temptations of the flesh, but she would have been the most proud of Trish's Catholic resolve and bodily discipline. As for Liam, even if he didn't fully understand or agree with the fixed position of his intended bride in this matter, it never led to him loving Trish any less.
On the day of Liam's 21st birthday, his gaffer Ned threw him a big party and they even hired a folk group and four fiddlers and a drummer to lead the dancing. To maintain the equality of the occasion, Trish and Ned arranged for a group that had two male and two female fiddlers. During the evening, Liam announced that he and Trish planned to marry on March 21st the following year at 'St.Michael's Catholic Church' in Portlaw.
Among the many birthday cards congratulating him on his birthday was one from the USA, which held the briefest of messages, 'Be happy' and was unsigned. Not knowing anyone from abroad, Liam simply opened the card and then placed it with the numerous others that he'd received.
Among the many birthday cards congratulating him on his birthday was one from the USA, which held the briefest of messages, 'Be happy' and was unsigned. Not knowing anyone from abroad, Liam simply opened the card and then placed it with the numerous others that he'd received.
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