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Back A Man of Honour Save as PDF
Chapters (73)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. PART ONE
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. PART TWO
  16. TWELVE
  17. THIRTEEN
  18. FOURTEEN
  19. FIFTEEN
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN
  22. EIGHTEEN
  23. NINETEEN
  24. TWENTY
  25. TWENTY-ONE
  26. TWENTY-TWO
  27. TWENTY-THREE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR
  29. TWENTY-FIVE
  30. TWENTY-SIX
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. TWENTY-NINE
  34. THIRTY
  35. THIRTY-ONE
  36. THIRTY-TWO
  37. PART THREE
  38. THIRTY-THREE
  39. THIRTY-FOUR
  40. THIRTY-FIVE
  41. THIRTY-SIX
  42. THIRTY-SEVEN
  43. THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. THIRTY-NINE
  45. FORTY
  46. FORTY-ONE
  47. FORTY-TWO
  48. FORTY-THREE
  49. FORTY-FOUR
  50. PART FOUR
  51. FORTY-FIVE
  52. FORTY-SIX
  53. FORTY-SEVEN
  54. FORTY-EIGHT
  55. FORTY-NINE
  56. FIFTY
  57. FIFTY-ONE
  58. FIFTY-TWO
  59. FIFTY-THREE
  60. PART FIVE
  61. FIFTY-FOUR
  62. FIFTY-FIVE
  63. FIFTY-SIX
  64. FIFTY-SEVEN
  65. FIFTY-EIGHT
  66. FIFTY-NINE
  67. SIXTY
  68. SIXTY-ONE
  69. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  70. Keep Reading …
  71. About the Author
  72. Also by Barbara Taylor Bradford
  73. About the Publisher

Eileen went into the small larder and took out the package of pork sausages wrapped in greaseproof paper. There were four, one for each of them, and the fourth she would cut in half for Patrick and Blackie.

Placing a small pat of butter in the frying pan, she opened the packet of sausages. She pricked them with a fork all over so they wouldn’t burst, and put them in to cook. Once they had begun to brown, she placed the chopped onions next to them. Sausage and mash for dinner, a favourite dish of her husband’s, which he ate with relish. She thought Blackie would enjoy it too.

A moment later, she heard the front door open and close, and as she moved forward, Patrick put his head around the kitchen door.

‘We’re back,’ he said, smiling at her. ‘And famished. And doesn’t everything smell good.’

‘Sausage and mash,’ Eileen murmured and, noticing Blackie hovering behind Pat, she nodded. ‘There you are, Blackie. I bet he’s walked you all over Upper Armley.’

Blackie grinned. ‘And back again, and I swear on the heads of the Blessed Saints that I’ve never seen a nicer place. I’m going to like living here, Aunt Eileen, sure and I am.’

TEN

Like all poor, working-class folk, Blackie O’Neill was always preoccupied with food at some time or other during the day, with no exception.

His belly rumbled and he felt the first hunger pangs begin around noon or twelve-thirty – the time of the midday meal, which he and everyone he knew referred to as dinner, but Cook at the big house and the Lassiters called lunch or luncheon. However, no matter what it was called, it was usually the main meal of the day. He and his cousins were convinced that only the aristocracy indulged themselves dining in the evening as well, with Cook working all day sometimes on different courses, or even another meal called supper.

In a sense, Blackie had been lucky. Growing up in North Kerry, there had never been enough to eat for any of them, but he’d had several benefactors who had small titbits to give him – Mrs O’Malley and Cook from Lord Lassiter’s mansion at the top of the hill. His cousin Siobhan sometimes brought something home with her, sent by the generous cook. Even before Blackie lived with his cousins, Siobhan had tried to share food with his family, much to his sister’s gratitude. Bronagh was unwell for a while and did not have a big appetite, but he was much relieved when she managed to eat something, and he could see that she had enjoyed it.