We present an extract from The Sins Of Armstrong House, the latest installment in author Andrew O'Connor’s The House series.
2025: At a lavish wedding in Armstrong House, a mysterious guest shakes Kate and Nico Collins with shocking claims about Clara, Nico's grandfather’s first wife. The stranger presents photos of Clara at a 1923 party—two years after she was believed to have fled Ireland and the house burned down during the War of Independence. Kate begins to investigate whether the house was rebuilt after the fire and later struck by a second, hidden tragedy. But as she digs deeper, Nico resists—accepting this truth would rewrite his family’s history and threaten their claim to the estate....
1923: After escaping from her unhappy marriage to Lord Pierce Armstrong and the fire at their stately home, Clara is starting a new life in London. But, when tragedy strikes in Ireland, she returns to Pierce and Armstrong House. With the country on a knife edge during the Civil War, Clara doesn't know who to trust as the deception of those closest to her becomes progressively menacing – and someone seems willing to go to any lengths to make sure she never leaves again...
It was after midnight when Pierce walked through the door of the gardener's cottage. He was surprised to find Prudence still up and sitting by the fire.
"Did you have a good night?" she asked.
"As good as can be expected when everyone is so gloomy. Where did it all go wrong?" Pierce sighed as he looked around the small sitting room.
"There is no point dwelling on where things went wrong. We need to concentrate on how to get things right," said Prudence.
"And how can we possibly do that?" asked Pierce in despair, throwing himself into the armchair by the fire.
"Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Clara!"
"How, in God’s name?"
"Did you listen to a word Aunty Daphne was saying? Your wife is going to inherit a fortune!"
"My soon to be ex-wife!"
"Only if you allow it. She has no grounds to divorce you. She’s admitted that herself when she is the one who has asked you to divorce her on the grounds of her adultery." She reached for the letter Pierce had received from his solicitors concerning the divorce and waved it in the air.
"That was a private letter – you had no right to read it!" he said angrily.
"I had every right – as you had left it in plain sight in your bedroom! Now, Pierce, I’ve given it a lot of thought, and this is your golden opportunity to get your life back. Clara will have enough money to give you financial security. You’ll even be able to rebuild Armstrong House."
"You are delusional! Even if I wanted her, she would never come back to our marriage. She hates me!"
"Hate is a strong word, and they say there is a fine line between love and hate. I saw Clara at Armstrong House during your marriage. She was utterly and absolutely in love with you! If you had given her the tiniest bit of love back, or even affection, she would never have left you or had that affair with Johnny Seymour."
"That was then – too much has happened since. This is bringing up a lot of bad memories. I don’t wish to talk about it anymore."
"Well, we have to talk about it! I’ve come up with a plan for how you can win Clara back."
"Are you actually gone stark raving mad!"
"Not in the least. Even Aunty Daphne was clearly saying you need to get back with Clara."
"That was more for the family to avoid the scandal of a divorce and the hope it might lead us to leave her gardener’s cottage!"
"Be that as it may be, don’t you see? With Clara, we can leave here and go home. You can safely go home to Armstrong House."
"What do you mean? Safely? Why safely?"
"That minister in the government, Thomas Geraghty, has publicly stated that Clara saved his life! That she hid him when he was on the run from the British army during the war. It’s in the papers! She is your ticket to going home as the locals will see she was on the Irish side and accept you back there. With Clara living back at Armstrong House, nobody is going to touch you. She’s practically a hero for the Irish cause at this point! Do not forget how popular she was with the locals. I was always complaining about how she was fraternising with the peasantry but that is now to our advantage. You can use her money to rebuild the house and use her popularity to save your hide!"
Pierce jumped to his feet and paced the floor.
"But – but Clara would never come back to me. Never a million years!"
"She will if you follow my plan." "Which is?" Prudence took a deep breath.
"That you kill yourself," she said.
"What?" She stood up quickly and walked to him.
"What I mean is you pretend to try to kill yourself. First you write a suicide note telling her how much you love her and that you simply can’t live without her and for her not to blame herself for your death."
He glared at her, outraged. "You really are out of your mind!"
"No, you are. You are, if you refuse to see reason here. You write the suicide note. Then you swallow a handful of pills that I will get for you. After you have taken them, I will call for help. You’ll be rushed to a hospital where your stomach will be pumped –"
"Madness, I tell you!"
"Then, while you are still recuperating I shall deliver the suicide note to Clara in person and make her feel so guilty that you were driven to try to kill yourself when she requested a divorce. She will be on the first boat back to Dublin!"
"Clara won’t even meet you!"
"Oh, she will – don’t you worry about that!"
Pierce took out his cigarette holder and, with his hands shaking, extracted and lit one.
"Do you – do you actually believe she would come back?" he asked.
"I’m convinced of it! Don’t forget I lived in Armstrong House with her while you were away at the front. I got to know her pretty well. I found her infuriatingly naïve and I have no doubt she still is."
"You’re wrong, Prudence. You underestimate Clara. Many do, including me, and it is at one’s peril do so," said Pierce.
Prudence stood over Pierce as he wrote the suicide letter, prompting him as to what to put in it. She had done her research in the British Medical Journal as to what tablets would best suit her purpose and the amount that would cause fatality. She then got them from a chemist she knew who would give any prescription requested for the price of a bottle of gin.
Pierce stared at the saucer of tablets she had placed on the table in front of him.
"How many do I take?" he asked.
"All of them," said Prudence.
"Would a military man such as myself not choose to kill himself by a gunshot than an overdose?"
Prudence rolled her eyes. "Undoubtedly he would – so do you want to shoot yourself in the head instead? I thought not. Idiot."
She went into the small kitchen, returned with a large glass of water and placed it in front of him.
"Best not to think too much about it – just get it over with," she said.
"Easy for you to say. You’re not the one risking ending up dead!"
"It won’t come to that. As I told you, I researched it and that amount of pills won’t kill you," said Prudence. "You are letting fear rule your mind. As soon as you pass out, I shall run to the main house and raise the alarm. They’ll call an ambulance and have you pumped out and back in the land of the living before you know it."
Pierce began to play with the tablets in the saucer.
"For goodness’ sake, Pierce! Surely a few pills can’t scare you after facing constant death by German artillery fire for four years!"
Pierce started swallowing the pills one by one.
The Sins Of Armstrong House is published by Poolbeg Press
