Allegiance: A Dublin Novella by Heather Domin Read Free Book Online

there.”
    She returned the smile and reached out to take the crate of glasses from his arms.
    “You do it so well though,” she said. “We couldn’t ask for anyone better.”
     
     
     
    8.
    February 8, 1922
     
    Mary was doing the singing tonight.
    William listened to her clear, lilting voice carry across the pub and into the kitchen, where he stood washing out tap nozzles in a pot of soapy water near the sink. He smiled as he worked, his foot tapping in time with her lively rendition of “Black and Tans!”. She sang like she talked, spirited and strong, and he could hear the room clapping and cheering her on with the occasional heartfelt – if somewhat profane – shouted agreement. William chuckled to himself as he placed a clean nozzle atop the pile and reached for another; soon he was humming the tune under his breath, swirling his cloth with little splashes through the warm, soapy water. Mary really did have a lovely voice. He was contemplating possible requests when the kitchen door swung open and drew his eyes up from his work. He smiled.
    “Well hello, then, Adam, what brings you back here away from the adoring crowds?”
    Adam strolled over to the sink, one hand in his pocket and the other wrapped around a half-empty pint. His face was flushed and sweaty from the evening’s fraternization, but his walk was still steady at least.
    “Gerald’s gone downstairs for more whisky,” William said. “He’ll be back up any moment, I’m sure.”
    “I wasn’t looking for Gerald,” said Adam. “I was looking for you.”
    William cleared his throat. “Were you?”
    “I thought I could catch you back here for a moment, whilst everyone else is outside.” Adam took a swallow of his beer before continuing. “I wanted to apologize to you for what happened the other night. I know you could hear all too well what Kelly was saying – Lord knows I’ve spied through that door since I was tall enough to peek through the cracks.”
    William shook his head. “No bother, right? The man was only saying what everyone else was thinking. I understand. It’s alright.”
    “No, it’s not alright.” The tone in Adam’s voice made William’s smile disappear. The merry glint had gone from his eyes, and his voice was quiet but hard. “It wasn’t his right to suspect you in public like that, just as it wasn’t my place to tell your life’s story to all the drunken crowd. I’ll ask your forgiveness for that. It wasn’t right of me.”
    William was taken aback. Eventually he said, “It’s alright, Adam. My past is no secret, not from those who’ve been so kind to me. I’m grateful you felt you had to defend me.”
    “I never do anything I don’t want to do,” Adam said.
    William stared at him in silence. Adam smiled then, and took another gulp from his glass before setting it down on the table. “And that brings me to the other matter I came back here to speak of.”
    William matched his grin, glad to change the subject, and returned to his work. “Oh, aye? Did you come back here to help me with the washing, then? Very kind of you indeed.”
    “I came back here to proposition you.”
    The tap in William’s hand squelched between his fingers and hit the water with a loud plop.
    “Pardon?”
    Adam leaned back on his elbows against the table, stretching lazily and crossing his ankles. He regarded William for a moment, a strange, appraising sort of look replacing his usual smirk.
    “Gerald meant to ask you himself, so he did, but he felt maybe someone closer to your own age might be better broaching the subject. I tried to tell him you look closer to his age than my own, but he wouldn’t listen.”
    William wiped the water from his face with one rolled-up shirt cuff and tried not to look as confused as he felt. Adam seemed supremely amused by his reaction.
    “You’ve no clue what I’m on about, have you?”
    And then, suddenly, realization blossomed in William’s stomach, and he had to keep his confused