Chain of Evidence (30 page)

‘I see,’ said Mara. ‘It was as I had thought. Now we come to the legal business—’

‘Now we come to the parting of our ways,’ interrupted Rhona. She rose to her feet and Mara saw that she had the key to the door in her hand. ‘I am going to lock you in; I won’t harm you. I respect you and I like you, but this bedroom is a long way from the kitchen and it will only be when you are missed from the law school that you will be found here. By that time, if I take the fastest horse in the stables, I will be in Galway. I have already arranged for one of the fishermen to give me a passage back to Scotland – paid for it with the silver that Garrett gave me to buy a gown worthy of one of his wives. I shouldn’t have come back today, but I wanted . . .’ Here her voice faltered a little, but she controlled it almost instantly. ‘I wanted to say goodbye to Peadar – perhaps you’ll do that for me,’ she finished.

‘No need for that,’ said Mara. ‘Stay and tell him yourself. This is not England. No one will burn you to death, or hang, draw and quarter you. Admit your guilt, pay your fine and then the scales of retribution are balanced and you are free to do what you wish.’

Rhona laughed harshly. ‘I have no silver, no cows. I know what the fine would be. I asked Fiona and she told me. A secret and unlawful killing of a
taoiseach
would bring a fine of forty-six ounces of silver or forty-six cows
,
that’s what she told me
.
I can’t pay it myself, but my son could pay it by selling his substantial farm and losing his status as a
bóaire
. And then what would become of all his dreams? I will not do that to him and you cannot make me
.
I may not have your brains and your education, Brehon, but I can look facts in the face and I can take care of my son.’

She rose to her feet, but Mara remained seated. Rhona was right. Physically she would be no match for this woman and she had no intention of trying.

‘No one can make your son sell his farm without the permission of his master,’ she said mildly as Rhona opened the door and inserted the large key in its lock.

‘Master?’ Rhona whirled around, but Mara waited until she had closed the door again.

‘Peadar was apprenticed yesterday according to our laws,’ she said mildly. ‘This means that his master, Nuala the physician, is now answerable for his actions in law, she will be required to authorise such business deals or marriage contracts as he, her pupil, might wish to make. Peadar cannot sell his farm unless Nuala gives permission and that she will not do as it would not be in his interests. Nuala,’ she ended with a smile, ‘was brought up amongst lawyers and she has a great respect for the law.’

Rhona sat down heavily.

‘But how do I pay the fine?’ she asked.

‘That,’ said Mara ‘is a matter for me to think about. It’s a complex and difficult point. You are here in this land as a stranger, but yet you did not come unasked or uninvited, but came in the company of a man who is the brother to the late
taoiseach
of the MacNamara clan. I’m inclined to think that Jarlath will have to pay your fine, and don’t worry, the fine is paid to the nearest male relations of the murdered man – that is to Jarlath and to your son Peadar. Jarlath can well afford to do this.’

The law, thought Mara as she watched relief flood into the woman’s grey eyes, always had the answer. A little good will on all sides would see a happy future for Rhona and her son, Peadar. What was it, she mused, that the great Fithail, had to say about an affair like this?

‘The law of the land makes smooth all the pathways of man
.
’