Margaret hadn't realized she had dozed off until the train's slowing speed startled her out of her slumber. She looked around, and realized that she was still with John and that it hadn't been a dream. She smiled as she observed John's peace-filled, sleeping face, and leaned up to kiss him softly on the cheek, awakening him from his slumber.

"Where are we, Margaret?" John asked as the wiped his eyes and looked out the window, trying to get his bearings, not knowing how long he had been asleep.

"I think I saw a sign that said Birmingham. I suppose we weren't asleep that long, then," Margaret replied.

John thought for a moment, and realizing how quickly the trip home was going, and how little time he had left with Margaret before facing his mother, said to Margaret, "Why did you decide to come home with me?" Margaret was taken aback by this question, and for a brief moment, a flash of sad fear passed over her eyes.

"Did you not want me to come home with you? I'm afraid I may have disgraced myself one too many times for you to overlook." Margaret worried aloud, moving slightly away from John, worried that this had all been too good to be true.

"Margaret!" John started, holding onto her arm, realizing that she had started to move away, and not wanting her to go, "I only ask because not even 3 hours ago, I had resigned myself to living a life of loneliness and solitude. I thought that the one true love of my life was gone, and would never be back in my arms again. I ask because I wonder what I could possibly have done to win your affections - something I have sought to do for a very long time now."

Margaret looked into John's eyes, and saw her future gleaming back at her, and she found that she was no longer afraid to name her feelings or her motives.

"John," she began, "I went to Milton this morning to find you. Business proposition, yes, but more importantly, I've been living a half-life since the day I left Milton. You are my other half, John - my perfect match. I went to Milton to tell you about my brother, and about my lack of livelihood in London. I went to Milton to see if what had been offered before would be offered again. When I arrived in Milton, I felt that I was home. I felt more at peace than I have in a very long time. But you weren't there. I felt as though I had lost something important all over again. The pain I felt when you weren't there was more than the pain I felt when my parents died. The pain I felt vanished when I saw you across the platform, and I knew that in your arms and by your side was where I was meant to be. I love you, John Thornton, and I never want to be away from you again. I am a better person because of you and with you. That is why I decided to come home with you - because I was already home."

John pondered this for a moment, then reached out for Margaret's hand. He looked into her eyes deeply, and saw that he, too, was home when he was with her. "Margaret," he whispered, "I don't know what I've done to deserve such happiness. I am home with you, too."