John and Margaret Thornton's child duly made his way into world in the usual manner and impressed all about with his healthy lungs. Fanny was quite the doting aunt and young Jack appeared to greatly appreciate the attention. John Richard Thornton rapidly became too large for the painstakingly sewn infant attire and required more manly outfitting to the dismay and pleasure of both his parents and his grandmother, who was delighted to indulge the young master's every wish. When Jack had attained the respected age of six months, he was presented with a wrapped gift from his aunt and her husband but, much to his chagrin, when he attempted valiantly to remove the wrap on said object, his hands were removed from the present. This bundle was then opened by Fanny and carefully lifted so that all might see Jack's new cousin, Hannah Frances Watson. The tiny girl's mother admitted to admiring the handsome Jack so much that she desired a matching companion.
Margaret and John permitted their young whelp to be overseen quite often by his highly gratified grandmother, as they dealt with myriad details pertaining to the mill, monies loaned and legacies. At Mr. Bell's death, Margaret had come into a more significant than expected holding of both property and bank accounts, to her surprise and she and John spent a good portion of time in learning about and, eventually, understanding the legal ramifications of her bequest. With much effort expended on the part of Margaret and Hannah the elder (as she would occasionally refer to herself, to the shock of her children), Mr. Thornton was convinced that he could not change Margaret's opinion on her forgiveness of the loan originally extended by Mr. Bell.
The Thornton family swelled to a total of eight, inclusive of Mrs. Hannah Thornton, John and Margaret. Their three sons and two daughters were fortunate enough to all survive childhood and had the opportunity to enjoy the camaraderie unique to siblings, with the frequent addition of their three Watson cousins who, while amusing, were more likely to follow one of John and Margaret's children into a scrape than be the perpetrator of said frivolity.
Hannah Thornton's passing after a lengthy life was a cause of great grief for her family, as she was most truly the matriarch of their clan. John Thornton found that he was loathe to step into such distinguished shoes, but Margaret gently reminded her beloved that as he had successfully run Marlborough Mills through both times of difficulty and prosperity, in addition to his having changed the entire dynamic of master and worker interactions in Milton by his introduction of mediation and arbitration, he was eminently capable of keeping peace amongst their relations. Thus, the torch was given over into John Thornton's hands until his eventual demise and it then passed into the strong and adept hands of his eldest son, Jack Thornton. Margaret could not bear to live more than two months beyond the decease of her lifelong and most cherished friend. Fanny Watson was doted upon in her extreme old age, much as she had entertained the children in their youth, and she regaled all who would listen with the story of how Margaret had saved Milton and, consequently, their family. Although John had been given all of the credit for instituting a more fair and impartial manner in which to settle work related disputes, the Thornton family were very well aware – due to John's persistent mention of such – that the concept had begun in the mind of Mr. Thornton's future wife.
Memory has a wonderful way of smoothing the rough edges of truth and so the account of what began with misunderstandings and sorrow was far, far later lovingly related as a story of joy, set to rival the finest fairy tale.
That's it, folks! I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing.