Free In Name Only by Ellen Gable Page A

shove and Liam protectively pulled her against him,
putting his arm around her shoulder.
    “I must get
closer,” complained Elizabeth.
    Together, she and
Liam followed Elizabeth as she maneuvered through the crowd. “Excuse me,” she
said apologetically. People parted as they inched forward.  When they reached
the front, Liam let go of Caroline’s shoulder and straightened.  She grasped
onto his arm.  He looked down and smiled.
    When she lifted
her head and stood before the painting, she gasped. The painting depicted a
group of men surrounding an open and gaping cut on a naked leg. The crimson
blood depicted in the painting made her nauseous. 
    From behind her,
Caroline heard a man say, “Shocking.”
    Elizabeth’s eyes
were widened and she stared, silent.
    “Interesting,”
said Liam. “What do you think, Caroline?”
    “It’s. . .very
dark.” Caroline’s stomach felt queasy and she wanted nothing more than to
leave.
    “Come, let’s go,”
Liam said. He guided Elizabeth and Caroline to where Uncle and Patsie were
standing and together, the group made their way out of the room.
    “Rather bloody,
wasn’t it, Liam?” asked Uncle.
    “Yes, sir, but I
found it most interesting.”
    Caroline did not
agree.  She had lost her appetite.  She looked at her cousin, who had not said
a word since they had seen the painting.
    “Lizzie, are you
unwell?”
    Her cousin shook
her head.  “I suppose, despite all that’s been written about it, I didn’t
expect it to be that realistic.”  She leaned close to Caroline and whispered.
“I didn’t mind the blood so much as the naked leg and. . .”
    “Time for lunch,”
Uncle said.
    Elizabeth
groaned.
    *  *  *
    David O’Donovan
welcomed a leisurely rest beside Missy in the basement bedroom off the Martin
kitchen.  Most of the household were spending a day at the Centennial
Exhibition.  It was refreshing to have his pleasure outside of the henhouse or
stable.  And today, he’d be free to have Missy as often as she allowed him. 
    When Liam had
asked him if he would like to go along, he had declined.  David knew that his
presence would ruin Miss Martin’s day.  Her distaste for him was most amusing.
    Missy roused and
kissed David.  He had missed her the last three weeks or so.  Each time he
visited the Martin house on the days she was scheduled to work, she was
“indisposed” according to Patsie.
    “It’s good to be
with you again, Mr. David.  I’ve missed you.”
    “Well, I wasn’t
the one indisposed. Were you ill?”
    “No.  Just taking
care of a problem, that’s all.”
    She kissed his
lips again.  “I told you that there’s no need to worry.  I’m all fixed now.”  Missy
snuggled up close to David and soon she was drifting off to sleep.
    He hoped that
Liam was enjoying the day with Miss Martin and that it was going well for both
of them.  David was thankful that Miss Martin liked his brother because Liam
was smitten with her.
    He laughed to
himself when he thought of how dissimilar he and his brother were. Liam, the
neat one, who followed all the rules, his mother’s favorite, his father’s
disappointment.  They were not only different in appearance with Liam  favoring
his mother’s fair looks and David his father’s “black Irish looks,” they were
also opposite personalities, with David outgoing and Liam reserved.
    Despite the
differences, the brothers shared a deep bond.  Both boys grew up under the
heavy hand of their father and they often ran off to the woods together to
escape his foul temper.  Sometimes they would spend hours playing war or hide
and seek. They often visited a secret spot in the forest amongst the ruins of
an old stone house. 
    *  *  *
    Liam placed the
ticket inside the box on his dresser. The worst aspect about the day was that
it had ended.  The best was spending time with Caroline. It would not be
premature for him to state that she enjoyed the day as well. 
    Liam thought back
to his favorite