“Oh?” James still peered anxiously.

“It proves that I was appreciated, anyway, if only in England.”

“Oh, England?” James sat back, relaxed. What England thought didn’t matter; local praise was the only kind he was jealous of. “That was a long time ago, Father.”

“Some of it still holds good, maybe.”

James said nothing. He had never been known to try his hand at a compliment; his talent lay in cutting people down to size. “I was just going to tell you about Jimmy,” he began.

“Oh, yes, so Jimmy’s getting hitched!”

Only the swift darting of the eyes betrayed James’s surprise.

They seemed to dart around to cover the back of his head, and finding their way blocked, to return to flash a warning, an intimation that there might be someone behind him, a nonparty man, a non-Conroy, some kind of interloper. Let’s keep talking, the eyes said, just keep talking. “What d’you think of it yourself, Father?” he whispered.

“Oh, well” – Father Conroy took a chance on the fact that whatever Jimmy did, he would fall on his feet – “I’m pleased, naturally.”

James thought the remark faint praise. “A decent, respectable family!” he said indignantly. “With a damn good business house there on the Square. The father took the other side in the old days, but sure, these things can’t be helped. The young people nowadays couldn’t care less which side their parents were on.”

Their name? Father Conroy, knowing his bluff was about to be called, tried to guess their name. Why the hell hadn’t Kate told him? She was as bad as the Donovans now, just as close.

“I’m surprised Kate told you,” James went on. “Jimmy had them sworn to secrecy till it was all fixed up. I was let in on it myself only because Jimmy wanted me to have a word with the girl’s father, which I’m glad to say was well worthwhile.”

“I’m sure.”

“I had to make over a tidy bit of business to Jimmy, the auctioneering end of things. Ah, well, ’twas time for me.” He smiled coyly, put his hands together, then gave that warning dart of the eyes. “It should fit in well with the farm-machinery side of theirs. If Jimmy plays his cards right.”

Ah, yes, now Father Conroy had it. The Burkes of Castlemore, the hotel and hardware place on the Square! It was a step up for a Donovan from the back of the mountain. Father Conroy smiled and murmured, “Don’t worry! Jimmy never misses a trick.”

“I take it, Father, you’ll be performing the ceremony?”

“If I’m asked.”

“Oh, you will be, Father, don’t worry about that. Now, the question is, who can we have to assist? The Burkes, of course, will be asking the Canon – he’d be a first cousin of the girl’s father.”

“Then he can assist.”