Billy Malowney's Taste of Love and Glory Page #3

"Billy Malowney's Taste of Love and Glory" is a novella by Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu that explores themes of ambition, passion, and the quest for personal fulfillment. The narrative revolves around Billy Malowney, a young man who grapples with his dreams of success and the challenges posed by love and societal expectations. Set against the backdrop of 19th-century Ireland, the story delves into the tensions between personal desires and external pressures, ultimately illuminating the complexities of the human experience. Le Fanu's vivid storytelling and rich character development make this work a compelling exploration of love and ambition.

• Fiction

								

glory.

An' sure enough the Frinch was overjoyed beyant all bounds, an' small
blame to them--an' the Duke of Wellington, I'm toult, was never all out
the same man sinst.

At any rate, the news kem home how Billy Malowney was murdhered by the
Frinch in furrin parts.

Well, all this time, you may be sure, there was no want iv boys comin'
to coort purty Molly Donovan; but one way ar another, she always
kept puttin' them off constant. An' though her father and mother was
nathurally anxious to get rid of her respickably, they did not like to
marry her off in spite iv her teeth.

An' this way, promising one while and puttin' it off another, she
conthrived to get on from one Shrove to another, until near seven years
was over and gone from the time when Billy Malowney listed for furrin
sarvice.

It was nigh hand a year from the time whin the news iv Leum-a-rinka
bein' killed by the Frinch came home, an' in place iv forgettin' him,
as the saisins wint over, it's what Molly was growin' paler and more
lonesome every day, antil the neighbours thought she was fallin' into a
decline; and this is the way it was with her whin the fair of Lisnamoe
kem round.

It was a beautiful evenin', just at the time iv the reapin' iv the oats,
and the sun was shinin' through the red clouds far away over the hills
iv Cahirmore.

Her father an' mother, an' the boys an' girls, was all away down in the
fair, and Molly Sittin' all alone on the step of the stile, listening
to the foolish little birds whistlin' among the leaves--and the sound of
the mountain-river flowin' through the stones an' bushes--an' the crows
flyin' home high overhead to the woods iv Glinvarlogh--an' down in the
glen, far away, she could see the fair-green iv Lisnamoe in the mist,
an' sunshine among the grey rocks and threes--an' the cows an' the
horses, an' the blue frieze, an' the red cloaks, an' the tents, an'
the smoke, an' the ould round tower--all as soft an' as sorrowful as a
dhrame iv ould times.

An' while she was looking this way, an' thinking iv Leum-a-rinka--poor
Bill iv the dance, that was sleepin' in his lonesome glory in the fields
iv Spain--she began to sing the song he used to like so well in the ould
times--

          'Shule, shule, shale a-roon;'

an' when she ended the verse, what do you think but she heard a manly
voice just at the other side iv the hedge, singing the last words over
again!

Well she knew it; her heart flutthered up like a little bird that id
be wounded, and then dhropped still in her breast. It was himself. In a
minute he was through the hedge and standing before her.

'Leum!' says she.

'Mavourneen cuishla machree!' says he; and without another word they
were locked in one another's arms.

Well, it id only be nansinse for me thryin' an' tell ye all the foolish
things they said, and how they looked in one another's faces, an'
laughed, an' cried, an' laughed again; and how, when they came to
themselves, and she was able at last to believe it was raly Billy
himself that was there, actially holdin' her hand, and lookin' in her
eyes the same way as ever, barrin' he was browner and boulder, an' did
not, maybe, look quite as merry in himself as he used to do in former
times--an' fondher for all, an' more lovin' than ever--how he tould her
all about the wars wid the Frinchmen--an' how he was wounded, and left
for dead in the field iv battle, bein' shot through the breast, and how
he was discharged, an' got a pinsion iv a full shillin' a day--and
how he was come back to liv the rest iv his days in the sweet glen iv
Lisnamoe, an' (if only SHE'D consint) to marry herself in spite iv them
all.

Well, ye may aisily think they had plinty to talk about, afther seven
years without once seein' one another; and so signs on, the time flew by
as swift an' as pleasant as a bird on the wing, an' the sun wint down,
an' the moon shone sweet an' soft instead, an' they two never knew a
ha'porth about it, but kept talkin' an' whisperin', an' whisperin' an'
talkin'; for it's wondherful how often a tinder-hearted girl will bear
to hear a purty boy tellin' her the same story constant over an' over;
ontil at last, sure enough, they heerd the ould man himself comin' up
the boreen, singin' the 'Colleen Rue'--a thing he never done barrin'
whin he had a dhrop in; an' the misthress walkin' in front iv him, an'
two illigant Kerry cows he just bought in the fair, an' the sarvint boys
dhriving them behind.

'Oh, blessed hour!' says Molly, 'here's my father.'

'I'll spake to him this minute,' says Bill.

'Oh, not for the world,' says she; 'he's singin' the "Colleen Rue,"'
says she, 'and no one dar raison with him,' says she.

'An' where 'll I go, thin?' says he, 'for they're into the haggard an
top iv us,' says he, 'an' they'll see me iv I lep through the hedge,'
says he.

'Thry the pig-sty,' says she, 'mavourneen,' says she, 'in the name iv
God,' says she.

'Well, darlint,' says he, 'for your sake,' says he, 'I'll condescend to
them animals,' says he.

An' wid that he makes a dart to get in; bud, begorra, it was too
late--the pigs was all gone home, and the pig-sty was as full as the
Burr coach wid six inside.

'Och! blur-an'-agers,' says he, 'there is not room for a suckin'-pig,'
says he, 'let alone a Christian,' says he.

'Well, run into the house, Billy,' says she, 'this minute,' says she,
'an' hide yourself antil they're quiet,' says she, 'an' thin you can
steal out,' says she, 'anknownst to them all,' says she.

'I'll do your biddin', says he, 'Molly asthore,' says he.

'Run in thin,' says she, 'an' I'll go an' meet them,' says she.

So wid that away wid her, and in wint Billy, an' where 'id he hide
himself bud in a little closet that was off iv the room where the ould
man and woman slep'. So he closed the doore, and sot down in an ould
chair he found there convanient.

Well, he was not well in it when all the rest iv them comes into the
kitchen, an' ould Tim Donovan singin' the 'Colleen Rue' for the bare
life, an' the rest iv them sthrivin' to humour him, and doin' exactly
everything he bid them, because they seen he was foolish be the manes iv
the liquor.

Well, to be sure all this kep' them long enough, you may be sure, from
goin' to bed, so that Billy could get no manner iv an advantage to get
out iv the house, and so he sted sittin' in the dark closet in state,
cursin' the 'Colleen Rue,' and wondherin' to the divil whin they'd get
the ould man into his bed. An', as if that was not delay enough,
who should come in to stop for the night but Father O'Flaherty, of
Cahirmore, that was buyin' a horse at the fair! An' av course, there was
a bed to be med down for his raverence, an' some other attintions; an' a
long discoorse himself an' ould Mrs. Donovan had about the slaughter iv
Billy Malowney, an' how he was buried on the field iv battle; an' his
raverence hoped he got a dacent funeral, an' all the other convaniences
iv religion. An' so you may suppose it was pretty late in the night
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