Chapter Nine.

The journey from the house to the station had gone smoothly. They had boarded the train with no problems, and were settled nicely for the long journey ahead of them. All were silent, each in their own thoughts.

Dixon had never felt so lighter in spirit and mind. Believing the master to be a true hero in every sense of the word. To her; if he had not arrived when he had, the miss would have been even more depressed especially with that tyrant of a Mr Jennings lingering over her. Waiting...Oh yes! Dixon knew that he was waiting, he just wanted the right time to approach her. Luckily the misses was not flattered by his falsehoods of promises and fairy tales. She would have put her foot down if she had seen any of that starting to happen. That man had only been after the misses fortune. He had not taken one bit of notice of her until Mr Bell had informed him that he had left all his wealth to Margaret, then he was suddenly everywhere they looked. Then the few weeks later, when they found that her brother had passed on she seemed to fall into despair. Mr Jennings was all sweetness and polite when around the miss. But when she was not paying him full attention he would get this glint in his eye, a look on his face and Dixon would have to remove the miss from his presence, for she felt he had an evil streak. He would casually bring into conversation about her brother and how no-one from the north that; she cared for, had come to help her, it seemed every word he spoke to her, she would slowly decline further than she was already. However the spineless twit did not know that Margaret had not told a soul in the north about her brother. He had been barking up the wrong tree on that one, but just the mention of the young master bought the Miss Margaret down. He had often tried touching the miss inappropriately but she had tried to stay with the miss as much as possible to keep her from his filthy little paws. She thought it best not to let that slip in front of the master, he would be on a rampage of all rampages if he found out. But he is here now and that is the most important thing. They can both start concentrating on getting Miss Margaret well again. Getting some weight on those thin limbs, bring back the twinkle in her eye, the defiance of her tone; everything she loved about her mistress. Oh how she had missed her! Even though she had been right there; she had missed the mistress she had seen grow to the beautiful and caring woman she left behind when they had returned to London. Now was the time to bring her back and make her see that no matter what happened to Frederick, he would not want her to be living the way she has for the past few months. She will do anything she has to to make her well again.

John's mind was on other things, like where would they both sleep, would it be at the house or would they go back to Crampton. He was hoping with all he had that she would go to his home and stay with him, he knew it would be inappropriate but his feelings for her were so intense, he did not want to leave her on her own. Even with Dixon there Margaret seemed to always keep things closed away from those she cared for, he did not want that to happen again. Having her making the biggest step so far was leaving her aunt. He had been so proud, she had made so much progress in such a small time. They could focus on the most important thing now and that was getting her well and back to a normal frame of mind. Maybe being away from London society would ease the strain a little. John was looking forward to her bouts of determination, something he had missed terribly when they had left. But now she was on her way home, he could try and help her bring that back again. His deepest worry was how her mind would still be feeling over the guilt of her brother. She did feel guilty, but it was not her fault that he had passed on, but to try and make her see this as a matter of truth and fact would be a very hard task to do. Margaret was a very determined woman and when she got thoughts or ideas in her mind there was not a lot one could do to change them. But he would keep on trying no matter what, maybe even Fanny could help. Oh dear god...Fanny would be hysterical when she finds out that Margaret is back, he could see her now. Like a child, jumping up and down on the spot clapping her hands, a huge smile gracing her face, and the biggest embrace that he believes Margaret would ever receive. The thought made him smile widely. How many happier people were going to be residing in Milton upon their return, Nicholas, Mary, Fanny, himself and plenty of the workers from his mill that had taken a shine to Margaret. There would be plenty of smiles being spread around the town tonight. Maybe his mother will put a somewhat chill in the air, but he would certainly set her straight about how to treat her. If and only if, she was to reside in his home, he would abide no disrespect towards any guest residing there no matter the length of time or how much his mother disliked the person. This was a thought that did dampen his spirit somewhat. Deciding to just see how the land lay when he got home, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind and then thought of when Margaret was in his arms some hours earlier.

Margaret on the other hand was in a completely different frame of mind, she was consumed with worry. Upon boarding the train, Margaret had believed she had seen a glimpse of her brother, knowing it to be painfully false. But worry she did all the same, what if her mind was addled just like Mr Jennings has stated that morning? What if through the stress and guilt she had pictured Frederick in her mind and believed she had seen him, She would have to see doctor Donaldson when she arrived and ask what he might think, he was a professional and has seen more than his fair share of patients, so one more would not be to much, she hoped. Margaret had not acted any differently when she had the vision of her brother, there was no need in alarming John and Dixon any further than what she had done already. She could already see John going through lots of emotions whilst he sat next to her. She had watched him whilst he had been deep in thought, the darkness of his hair, his beautiful blue eyes and the frown that nearly hid them. He seemed so relaxed, she could not help but follow suit. He was a very handsome man and glad she has him in her life and that he wanted to be there, was even more elating than ever. She had taken her third step, she now had to work on the next, but knowing with the thought of her mind playing games on her; that this might end up to be a struggle she had never had to deal with before. Finally making the choice to think on it no more, she settled in the seat a little further, resting her head on the window and closed her eyes. She had steadily been growing tired, having done more in one day today than she had in a month, her body had become exhausted, her mind even more so, she finally gave in to the sleep she needed.

It was dark by the time John roused her, she had for once slept lightly, with no nightmares. Having only a few minutes before the train stopped, Margaret readied herself, smoothing out her dress and fixing her hair, whilst Dixon did the same. John just sat there, he had no need for such fanciful ideas, he had the woman he wanted, she knew who he was, he did not need to go primping himself. Obviously it was different for a woman, they could not go out looking anything but immaculate, tidy and in their eyes, beautiful. In his mind, Margaret could be wearing a cotton sack and she would still be stunning, but he did not pursue on this thought. He stood and started retrieving there belongings from the overhead compartment and laying them down on the train floor, ready for when they exited the train. Once the last bag was down it had finally come to a stop, gathering up all their belongings they exited and walked to a waiting carriage.

"Where are we going Margaret?"

"Home John, where else?" He heard Dixon's slight laugh and rolled his eyes.

"I mean, who's home, your previous one or mine?" looking deep into her eyes, he was pleading with her to pick the right one.

"I think it best Dixon and I reside at your home or find a hotel tonight and then tomorrow I can speak to the landlord and see if I can move back into my hold home. If the house is empty of course" saddened at this news but knowing it was for the best, he instructed the cab of where they wished to be heading.

A few minutes later two men stepped into another carriage travelling in the opposite direction. But the occupants of this carriage did not need to follow, they knew exactly where Mr Thornton and his guests were heading. With a silence that could cut the air around them they set off for their accommodations and for a good nights rest, for the following weeks were going to be a busy ones.