“If he hadn’t, Aidan, be sure I wouldn’t have said he did. It wasn’t the way Eithne told it. It was quick and not in the least passionate. A farewell kiss, that was all.” Not quite true: a chaste farewell kiss would not have caused me to respond in the way I had. It had been a lovely kiss, a kiss that I could never have imagined a man like Cathal had it in him to give. “He took me by surprise. It was an odd thing for him to do, since we weren’t even friends. Then he left without another word.”

Aidan looked at the floor. “He didn’t say anything to me,” he said. “He left without even telling me.”

“Maybe Johnny’s right. Didn’t he say Cathal has done something like this before? He’ll probably be back by nightfall with some good explanation.” I could see that Aidan believed this no more than I did. “I’m sorry,” I said. “He’s upset you. The two of you seem to have a knack for doing that.”

He grimaced. “We know each other too well. We’ve had all our lives to learn each other’s weak spots. And Cathal’s never stopped trying to prove he’s as good as me, or better, whether it’s in feats of daring or skill in arms or just making a spectacle of himself. Thanks to his prickly nature, I had few other friends as a child. My father has a genuine affection for him. The rest of my family tolerates him. For all the opportunities my father provided, Cathal has never learned to behave in a way folk think quite fitting. The rivalry’s been irksome sometimes. Worse than that recently. His behavior here at Sevenwaters has tried me hard.”

I remembered the conversation I’d overheard at the stables, and the unexpected kindness in Cathal’s voice as he comforted his friend. I recalled that it was Aidan who had lied to me. I thought of the stricken look on Cathal’s face the night he heard the Wolf-child story. “Do you know who Cathal’s father was?” I asked. “I know your father took him in because his mother couldn’t cope, but . . .”

“She was a woman from the village. Poor, unmarried, expecting a child. She never said who the father was. Cathal won’t speak of it. I don’t know if she ever told him, or even if she knew herself.”

I did not much like the implication of that last remark. “Is she still living?”

Aidan shook his head. “She died when he was seven or eight. Cathal and I may have our disagreements, but we’re like brothers, Clodagh. I’m closer to him than I am to my real brothers. That’s what makes his behavior so galling. A brother doesn’t kiss his brother’s sweetheart.” He suddenly blushed scarlet.