Margaret of the North (9 page)

John heard his remark and
approached them with a wide grin.  He shook his hand vigorously, with gratitude
in his eyes that Nicholas acknowledged wordlessly, nodding and grinning as
widely.

"I am heartily glad that I
was wrong," John said with a loving glance at Margaret who beamed back at
him.

Margaret turned to Nicholas. 
"How have you been Nicholas?  How are the children?"

Nicholas sighed.  "We are
doing as well as can be expected but sometimes I feel I am too old to deal with
six young children."

Margaret touched his arm
sympathetically.  "Can we help?"

"The mills did not want to
hire me at first but Hamper reluctantly gave me work because they were short on
men of my skills and orders were coming in that used to go to Marlborough
Mills."  He glanced at John before adding.  "So I can put food on the
table but it has not been easy with the little ones often missing and asking
for their mother."

"I am so sorry." 
Margaret said helplessly.  "It is hard to lose parents, unspeakably so
when children are this young."

"Yes and there is nothing
anyone can do about it."  He shrugged, uncomfortable about having
attention focused on his troubles.  In a lighter tone, he shifted the conversation
back to his surprise visitors.  "You two are a sight for sore eyes."

John smiled gratefully at
Nicholas once again.  "I want you and Mary to come to our wedding.  You
helped make this all possible and we will forever remember it."

Nicholas frowned.  "I am
happy that I helped but how did I do that?"

"Do you recall the day the
mill closed when you told me about Margaret's brother?"

"Why yes.  I saw clearly how
you felt about Miss Margaret but I could tell something was bothering you and
making you miserable.  I suspected it was all that malicious gossip about Miss
Hale and that mysterious man."

"Well, that was it,"
John answered a little self-consciously.  The direct rather simple manner with
which Nicholas recalled that encounter and his astuteness at having seen
through him at the time made John feel how foolish his jealousy had been. 
"And here we both are," he added, putting his arm around Margaret's
shoulders and gazing at her for a long intimate moment.

Nicholas shifted his eyes from
one to the other with a mixture of some discomfort at their frank display of
affection and a feeling of satisfaction at his role in bringing the union of
two people he liked and admired.  "Miss Margaret never let on how she felt
but it was clear to me that she admired you.  Why, she sided with you many
times, instead of me, about the strike!"

John threw Margaret a surprised
glance.  She laughed, a little embarrassed.  "Oh, Nicholas!  Nothing
escaped you, it seems."

"It is not often I see two
people who seemed made for each other but who could not come together even when
they are miserable without each other.  I thought I would help matters
along."  He grinned mischievously and with obvious self-satisfaction.

"You have been a real friend
to both of us.  Say you will come," Margaret implored.

Nicholas was a bit dismayed.  He
wanted to go but how could he?  Margaret understood the many reasons he
hesitated and thought that she had the solution to one, "You are about my
father's size.  I still have a few of his things and I am sure we will find one
that is suitable and could be altered to fit.  As for Mary, I have just the
thing."

Mary had been preparing a pot of
tea and she approached with two cups that she handed John and Margaret. 
"Will you sit Miss?"  Mary asked pulling a chair closer to Margaret.

"Thank you, Mary.  Will you
come to Marlborough Mills to pick up a dress that I would like to give you to
wear to my wedding?"

Mary smiled shyly and looked at
her father.  Nicholas still seemed hesitant and Margaret declared firmly,
"We will not take no for an answer, Nicholas."

He regarded her for a minute or
two, turned towards his daughter who waited with hopeful eyes, and finally
grinned at John and Margaret.  "How can anyone say "no" to Miss
Margaret?"  With mischief in his eyes, he added.  "We will come as
friends happy to watch you two get united but I will admit to doing so also to
provoke other mill owners."

John laughed.  "Well, that
would be nothing new, just another aggravation from the union firebrand.  I am
afraid I might be gaining a troublesome reputation myself.  I had apparently
committed a transgression in their minds when we started the dining hall.  I
believe they thought I had betrayed them."

**************

The hill park John and Margaret
went to for a walk was not far from the Higgins home and was familiar to
Margaret who had frequented it when she lived in Crampton.  As soon as they
reached it, he said, "Tell me more about Frederick.  I want to know more
about him than what Higgins told me, which is quite scanty.  Where has he
settled in Spain?"

"Cadiz, in the south.  He's
married now, has a good job, and appears to have settled there for good." 
She proceeded to relate the particulars of Frederick's joining the Navy, the
alleged mutiny and the flight to Spain.  "Henry—Mr. Lennox—started some
legal process so Fred could at least visit England but, at the moment, it does
not seem very hopeful.  There is still a warrant and a reward out for the
capture of the alleged mutineers and since Fred was branded their leader, he
remains in the greatest danger.  I'm afraid Fred may never set foot here
again."

Margaret was pensive and sad when
she finished her story and they walked in silence for some time.  Then Margaret
resumed a little more cheerfully, "Fred is quite happy in Spain, smitten
with his beautiful Spanish wife, and is sounding more and more in his letters
like a proud Spaniard.  He's even converted to his wife's religion."

"That is wonderful!"
John remarked with a bright smile, wishing to lift Margaret out of her sadness
and lingering concern for her brother.  Some distance later, he asked,
"That man who fell at the train station and died later, was he from
Helstone?"

"He was from a small
neighboring village where Dixon comes from."

"Did he recognize Frederick?"

"He must have.  Fred was
barely a young man when he left and I doubt that he was ever acquainted with
that man.  Dixon did know him well and had seen him grow up to be a troublesome
drunk who would have done anything for money."

John nodded and said no more. 
They continued on their walk, following a path that Margaret had favored in her
previous walks, sometimes stopping to look down at the city, straining to see
it through the haze.  Occasionally, Margaret called his attention to small
patches of wildflowers that her eager eye was constantly searching for.  They
talked little and mostly about what they saw on their walk and did not refer to
Frederick again until the return to the city.  John asked, "How about
visiting your brother in Cadiz?  I know it will make you happy to see him and I
cannot wait to make his acquaintance."

"Is that possible?  Can we
really go just like that?" Margaret stopped and stared at him, her eyes,
lustrous and wide with joy and incredulity.

"Yes, of course," he
replied, pleased at her childlike delight.  "I have a few business
connections that would help with reservations and accommodations, even
last-minute ones."

"When will we go?  I must
write Fred."

"I can easily make
arrangements for us to spend one week in Paris on our honeymoon.  From there,
we could go on a train to Marseilles and then sail to Cadiz.  Write him to
expect us about a month from now.  I am impatient to meet this dashing brother
of yours."

"That soon?  I can hardly
believe it!  I had dreamed of going since Edith told me that Mr. Bell had
talked about taking me to Spain before he fell ill.  I never ever imagined that
it is you with whom I will be going."

John frowned, flabbergasted and
appalled.  "Mr. Bell!"  He had liked Mr. Bell before he met Margaret
but afterwards, he found Mr. Bell's habit of provoking discord rather irksome. 
He suspected that the old academic tried to stir Margaret away from him.

Margaret, somewhat perplexed by
his reaction, looked at him quizzically and waited for him to say more but he
turned his face away and responded, instead, to her last statement.  "It
will do me good to get away from Milton for a while, particularly to a very
different city.  I realized when I visited Helstone that a new place gives you
a fresh perspective on things."

Later, as they were nearing home,
she said, "Will you allow me now to thank you for having prevented an
inquest into the death of the man who accosted Fred at the train station?"

They were on the sidewalk of a
busy commercial street but he stopped to plant a quick kiss on her lips and
with a smile that lighted up his whole face, he replied, "You can thank
me.  All your life, if you wish.  And, yes, I thought of you as I made
inquiries and deliberated over the case."

**************

While John and Margaret were at
Nicholas, Fanny also paid a visit to her mother in a huff.  "There is
gossip all over town that Miss Hale has come here and now John must marry her. 
I told you she had designs on him all along."

"Fanny," her mother
replied indulgently, "you know nothing.  Your brother was bound in honor
to make an offer to Miss Hale after the riot but she rejected him then.  Too
proud, I imagine, and too much the southern lady to know her heart.  It seems,
however, that despite everything that passed, they have now reached an
understanding."

"So, she is here!  Where is
she?  What of that man at the train station?  John should not feel obligated
after she was seen with him."

"That was merely gossip and
we need not concern ourselves about it.  Miss Hale has been the subject of much
gossip."

"Merely gossip!  Are you
saying there was no man?  She was there at the station, she was seen."

"No, I did not say any of
that."  Mrs. Thornton was at a loss how to explain but she had made a
promise to her son to say nothing of Margaret's brother.  She continued
irritably.  "How should I know?  John assured me she was not involved with
a man at the station and I believe him."

"Well, we know John never
lies to you."  Fanny could not hide an undertone of sarcasm in her voice.

"Miss Hale would not have
been my choice for your brother but I cannot deny that he is happy with her and
something is different about him."

"Different?  Is that in a
good or bad way?"

Mrs. Thornton knotted her
eyebrows, trying to hold on to a thought that still remained elusive. 
"Miss Hale finally swallowed her pride and admitted her feelings for him. 
I myself will reluctantly admit her return has done him a lot of good.  He is
relaxed, even looks years younger.  For that, I can overlook anything."

Fanny smirked, "Well, I
cannot say that I am happy to have her for a sister.  I shall never like
her."

"I am sure that I will never
understand her," Mrs. Thornton sighed.

"Well, one big problem at
least is solved.  Johnny's financial troubles are over and I need not pester
Watson anymore about lending him some money."

"Miss Hale owns the mill and
this house but the bank still has to be paid."

"Her inheritance should
easily handle that, Watson told me.  Did you know Mr. Bell invested a bundle on
Watson's speculation and she is now very rich?"

Mrs. Thornton, surprised, stared
at her daughter, "No, I did not know that.  John has said nothing about
it.  I knew she would live well from the inheritance she received from Mr.
Bell.  But rich?  Are you sure Fanny?"

"Watson said Mr. Bell was a
very shrewd investor and bought many shares that became part of the
inheritance.  From the profit on those shares alone,  Watson says Miss Hale can
be considered quite rich and he believes she also owns other properties valued
much more than the combined shares and profits from the speculation.  Perhaps,
Johnny knew and proposed again for that reason.  Just as well, I am sure.  Anne
Latimer would not have him after his financial collapse."

Mrs. Thornton glared irritably at
her daughter.  "Your brother did not have a financial collapse.  He lost
the mill and we would have had to give up this house but he had put aside
enough for us to live on not only respectably but also comfortably.  He would
have regained what he lost and gotten another mill in due time, I am certain of
it."

Fanny shrugged her shoulders,
bored with talk of her brother's business affairs, and began to chatter about
what most interested her.  "Do you suppose Miss Hale will come to see my
house?  She has recently lived in London so she can probably tell me about the
latest fashion."

Mrs. Thornton's thoughts were
engaged in something of greater consequence than Fanny's house and she rolled
her eyes and fixed them blankly at her daughter who kept up her prattle.  She
was forming a resolve to be nicer to Margaret.  She knew that a rich woman
without much beauty would have attracted many men.  If that woman was also
beautiful—and she could not deny that Margaret was so in an uncommon but
appealing way—she would have been considered a priceless catch.  If on top of
wealth and beauty, she exuded the natural grace of good breeding that Mrs.
Thornton begrudgingly conceded Margaret did, she would have men from the best
families, even those with titles, seeking her favor.