12th October 1894—Phoenix Park, Dublin. Claire was sitting in her silk embroidered ladies' chair in the eclectic drawing room of Farmleigh House. Staring into the crackling fireplace, she was thinking about the upcoming weekend. The weekend of her wedding.
Being an heiress of the Protestant Ascendancy of Ireland, her father had arranged for her to marry the prosperous businessman Padraig Murtagh of Cork. She was briefly introduced to him a few months back at a ball in Farmleigh House, not knowing at the time that she was to wed this man. Mr. Murtagh had light-brown hair and was of average size—that is all she could recall about her future husband.
Spending the rest of her life at the side of someone she didn’t know felt somewhat unnatural to the young girl. But it was not only expected of Claire as this was her role in society, it was just the natural way of things at the time and her part of ensuring that the legacy of her family would be able to be paid forward for further decades.
Her mother, Adelaide, entered the room with Claire's maid. They were supposed to depart shortly. Their journey to Cork would begin at the railway station in Dublin. Claire straightened the emerald green chiffon of her skirt and rose from her favourite chair, willing to fulfil her role.
*This is an excerpt of the introduction*