A/N: So, this is the point of the story where John and the Thorntons fade out. Never fear, they are returning! We also finally see Margaret and how she's getting on. Also, if you feel so inclined to review, could you let me know your thoughts on the pacing of the story? I feel like I should spend longer on some scenes, but then I get too excited to move the story forward and I never know how to extend the scene. Some feedback would be appreciated. The chapters will all be about the same length, as I work best in small bursts.

For this chapter, italic writing shows what Margaret is thinking/doing.

Many thanks – enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 3

The carriage containing the Lennox brothers and Frederick Hale rolled to a stop outside Harley Street, and Fred could not contain his nerves. He had dreamed of this day since he fled England. A day where he would be able to return and be publicly embraced and welcomed by his family, with no fear of arrest or public scandal. He had dreamed of returning to that idyllic parsonage in Helstone. Mother and Margaret would race each other to embrace him. Margaret would win. His mother would cry and rejoice in his return, and his father would clap him on the shoulder and welcome him home a man. He would settle in another house, marry a local girl and raise children in the clean southern air. Margaret may have married some fine London gentleman that their Aunt introduced her to, and she would bring her children to Helstone for holidays. They would all play together, with their parents and grandparents watching on adoringly.

Fred knew it was unusual for a man to dream of such domesticity. But a few years on the run would make even the most hardened man yearn for such simplicity. But dreams, Fred had learned, were very different from reality, and his dreams had been utterly shattered. He returned to a place that he had never called home, still reeling from his mother's death to find his father had followed not far behind her. And then to find out his sister had suffered a breakdown and was possibly mentally unstable. Would she even know his face? Would she be happy to see him? Or would she scream and curse, blaming him for leaving her to suffer alone? He had no time to ponder further, the door was open and the trunks were being unloaded.

The three of them were taken into the parlour by a maid, where Edith and Aunt Shaw were seated, completing embroidery. Edith jumped up when they were announced, and embraced Fred tightly, smiling at her husband over his shoulder.

"It gives me such joy to see you here Fred. Truly, we were beginning to despair that we ever would. At least after these few months of sorrow, we have something to bring us all some cheer," she pulled back to look at Fred, and her eyes were glistening with tears. Aunt Shaw also rose from her chair and embraced Fred, freeing Edith to greet her husband and brother in law.

"It gives us much joy to welcome you home. My blessed sister is smiling down on us today," she proclaimed, taking pause to dab at her eyes with a handkerchief. Fred appreciated the sentiments, but they were not what he had come seeking. He cut right to the heart of the matter.

"Where is Margaret?" At this, Aunt Shaw's expression became a little tense.

"She is upstairs. She was asleep last we checked. Annie, confer with Dixon and see if Margaret is amiable to visitors". The maid curtsied and left the room.

"We have moved her into my suite of rooms," Aunt Shaw explained "Dixon has utilised the dressing room attached to the bedchamber as her own sleeping quarters. She sleeps with the door open and has angled the bed so that she is always watching Margaret's bed. I must warn you Fred, her condition is still quite serious. You should prepare yourself for any reaction. But control your emotions. Any reaction on your part will only distress her further. Be as amiable to her as you can," Aunt Shaw implored him. Annie reported that Margaret was awake, and Dixon felt that she was calm enough to receive her visitors. Captain Lennox, Aunt Shaw and Edith accompanied Fred upstairs. Fred tried to pretend that they were having a happy little family reunion, but he knew that they were there to help restrain Margaret if she lapsed into one of her episodes.

Dixon greeted them at the door to the parlour. She beamed at Fred and silently pulled him in for a brief hug, squeezing him tightly. Fred took it as her giving him strength for what he would face. Then she turned back to face the room.

"Margaret darling. Look who has come back. You remember, we told you that Mr Frederick was to be allowed to come home? He is here for you my sweet"

Fred finally got to set eyes upon his sister and took an effort not to cry out. Margaret had the shrunken, wasted appearance of a person who has lost a great deal of weight in a short space of time. Her eyes now seemed too large for her head and were framed with large shadows so dark they looked like bruises. Her cheeks were starting to hollow, her lips dry and peeling. He also noted that her cheeks and neck bore long red scratches. He realised with a gulp of horror that they were most likely self-inflicted. Her hair, once so vibrant and shiny, trailed limply down her back. Most of it had been braided into a plait, but a few trailing wisps stuck out and hung unkempt around her face. Though it was the middle of the day, she was dressed in a nightdress and dressing gown, the belt tied around her middle drawing painful attention to how thin she had become. She rose from the chair she had been occupying in an almost dream like trance, and stared at Fred, trying to decide if he was an apparition or not. She reached out her hand, and Fred tentatively stretched out his fingers to meet hers. When their hands connected, her face split into the widest smile and she threw her arms around his neck. Fred returned the hug in kind, resting his forehead on her shoulder. They stayed locked in that embrace for what felt like an eternity. The sound of Margaret drawing in a sharp breath made Frederick look up at his sister. She was staring over his shoulder with a vivid expression of alarm. Following her gaze, he saw only Captain Lennox, whose confused expression surely mirrored his own.

"Migsy, what's the matter?" He hoped her old childhood nickname would calm her. Far from it. Margaret began hyperventilating, almost clawing frantically at her face, before sinking to the floor with her hands over her ears and her eyes closed tight.

She hadn't embraced Fred since that night at Outwood Station. She peeked out from where she had tucked her head into his chest, and to her amazement they were in a place that looked very much like that station. How strange, she was sure she had been in Harley Street but a moment ago. She was drinking in the vivid sight of this place when she remembered herself. She was alone with Fred after dark. She must leave! She must leave, before –

And then her eyes fell upon him. Those steel blue eyes bore into her soul. She could see his glare, cursing her for her indiscretion. A name she could not place, but words as vivid as if she had heard them spoken, swirled around her like a drone of bees. She stumbled back, trying to fight them off.

"You run great risks, allow me to say, in being so indiscreet"

"If I had any thought or hope, of course that is at an end. I am quite disinterested"

"My own interest in you is – simply that of a friend. That is all given up; all passed away. You believe me?"

"I thought, perhaps you might have had something to say but I see we are nothing to each other"

"I hope you realise that any foolish passion for you on my part is entirely over"

The words kept flying around and they would not stop trying to attack her. In the swirling fog of her mind she could only recall that gentleman's face and those hard, blue eyes. She only knew that it was very bad that he should have discovered them there, though she could not discern why. Different voices began to swirl in her head until her head was overwhelmed. She could not take any more and let out a long wail of despair, willing for all the noise to just go away. A strong pair of arms encircled her and she leaned into the warm embrace eagerly. The voice whispering soothing nothings to her sounded remarkably like Papa, and she clung on tighter. Papa had not left her.

Frederick had caught Margaret as she sank to the floor and could do nothing but hold her tight and assure her that she was safe. Everyone else looked on in alarm. He stayed crouched on the floor with her until her sobbing subsided and her breathing evened out. Finally, she weakly lifted her head and looked at him as if seeing him for the first time.

"Fred?" she asked, her voice faint with disbelief.

"I am here Migsy. I am here"

She beamed for a moment before her expression sank back into one of horror.

"Oh Fred, it was awful. That awful man saw us at Outwood Station!" here she pointed wildly at Captain Lennox, who had the grace to only look politely puzzled.

"We should never have gone Fred! It was awful. That horrible man saw us. Who is he, why does he say such awful things? He judges me so harshly Fred, why?" Margaret begged, dangerously close to tears again. Everyone else in the room was baffled, but Fred understood. Their embrace had triggered a memory of that evening at Outwood station. She must have imagined Captain Lennox to be Mr. Thornton, which had triggered the memory of being seen and confronted by Leonards. He was baffled as to how she had confused Lennox with Mr. Thornton; the former was as fair as the latter was dark. The only thing they had in common was their height.

"It is okay Migsy. I have met Mr. Thornton. He knows who I am and that you were only accompanying your brother that night. Do not worry yourself sister"

Margaret did not miss the first part of his statement, and all else seemed to pale into irrelevance. She seized the front of his shirt and stared him hard in the eyes. The almost frenzied expression in her eyes frightened him but he forced himself to stare back.

"Mr Thornton? Oh, it was Mr. Thornton that saw us! I never told him Fred, I promise I didn't! Oh, but that I should have said something! He thinks so ill of me and they all gossip so perniciously in the North!"

No use telling her that it was just the same in London. The slightest hint of scandal sent all the masses into a tizzy.

"He was so good to us and to be repaid like that! He must have surely felt taken for a fool!"

Sensing that she was close to hysterics again, Fred gently cupped her face in his hands and tilted her head up to look at him.

"Calm yourself sister. None of those horrible events matter now. Mr. Thornton knows the truth, and his only care now is that you recover yourself. Do not distress yourself on his account, he would hate to hear of it. Can you do that for me?"

Margaret nodded, and held her hands out for Fred to help guide her to her feet. She smiled at him, still with tears in her eyes, and then looked at him curiously.

"But what are you doing here? Surely you would not risk getting caught again?" her eyes darted around the room nervously, as though expecting soldiers to burst out of her closet to seize Fred. She still seemed wary of Captain Lennox. Fred smiled at her reassuringly.

"Captain Reid was arrested for attempting to abscond with the officers' payroll on his former assignment. His behaviour in the mutiny was uncovered so all us officers were pardoned. The ones already hanged are being exhumed for a proper reburial, Navy's orders"

"And you have been allowed home?" Margaret whispered, hardly daring to believe it.

"I am come home sister. I swear to you, I shall stay with you as long as you need me. I will never abandon you again," Fred promised in a thick voice, almost choking with emotion. Margaret's answer was to clasp his hands in her own and press them to her forehead, whispering what sounded almost like a prayer over them, before pressing them to her lips.

Feeling confident that Margaret would be able to remain sensible for the foreseeable future, and after imploring Dixon to summon them if there was an issue, Edith, Aunt Shaw and the Lennoxes rose and dispersed from the room. Margaret was so engrossed in drinking in the sight of her brother that she scarcely noticed. The others left the reunited siblings to their tête-á-tête.

They were later greatly cheered by the fact that Margaret had summoned a servant for plates of toast and bacon, and had consented to sit in the bath and allow Dixon to bathe her and wash her hair, and Edith came to apply some salve to the scratches on her neck and cheeks.

Fred sat alone in his designated room and penned two letters.

Mr Thornton,

Today we arrived at Harley Street and I was reunited with my sister. This illness of the mind has wrought a great physical ordeal on her body. I won't torment you with the details but do seek to cheer you with the fact that a good deal of progress has been made on the first day. Of course, we must not be overconfident that there won't be a lapse of some sort, but I have good reason to hope that Margaret can truly begin the road to recovery.

I discovered early into our reunion that she is still quite distressed about our unfortunate meeting at Outwood Station. Be assured that I have informed her of our meeting and that all misunderstandings have been resolved between us. Forgive the impertinence, but I ventured to volunteer on your behalf that she has been absolved of your low opinion of her. I did what I believed best for my sister's state of mind. This seemed to cheer her greatly, and she has already begun to take proper meals again, although in small portions. She is also allowing Dixon to administer her proper care in her washing routine, which she must needs still carries out under supervision.

I must also beg one more impertinence of you Sir. Before she left, Margaret bequeathed to you our father's copy of Plato. I simply ask that you temporarily return it to Margaret's care. Aunt Shaw has not permitted many of our father's possessions to return to Harley Street, for they never got along well together when he was alive. I think it would cheer Margaret greatly to have a few more reminders of our father around her.

I hope this report finds you well and that parting with Margaret's gift does not cause you much anguish. I would not ask if I did not believe that it would truly improve Margaret's spirits.

Yours in gratitude,

Frederick Hale

Mr Bell,

By now you may have heard of my return to England and of Margaret's poor health. Be assured that my return across the channel went well and that I am safe in Harley Street. I am where I belong Sir, with my sister, who already shows great signs of improvement.

I am writing this short letter to invite you to call on us whenever you wish. More familiar and friendly faces would do dear Margaret the world of good, and I would wish to discuss financial matters with you. We cannot live with Aunt Shaw forever, and I am determined to find the means for independence to care for her myself, without being a burden to anymore relatives.

I await on your reply,

Frederick Hale

Folding the letters into their respective addressed envelopes, Frederick placed them on the desk to be posted the next morning.

Edith Lennox was not used to feeling neglected, and the feeling troubled her deeply. Multiple invitations sent to her friends to take tea were returned with polite declinations. When she went calling, the visits were always cut short with some remembered errand and the calls were never returned. She had never fully considered the implications that caring for Margaret would carry for herself. At the time, she had only thought of her poor cousin. The impact of that decision didn't fully register with her until she decided to step out, determined to obtain some fabrics to commission some new clothes for Shalto, and perhaps some lace to re trim a favourite bonnet of hers.

The drapers served her pleasantly enough, but she soon noticed that she was drawing strange looks from the other patrons. Ladies whispered to each other behind their fans and moved away from which ever part of the shop she was attempting to browse. Having a fair idea of what they whispered about, but having no wish to have her fears confirmed, she hastily paid up her order with the directions for its delivery and departed the shop.

She returned home to find the servants' quarters in a fair state of chaos and her mother bellowing most formidably.

"You have seen what becomes of a servant who takes private family matters and turns them into idle gossip! If you are desirous to keep your positions and not be turned away without a reference, I suggest you guard your tongues and rebuff any questions you are asked about our situation! Am I understood? Now get that sobbing wretch out of my sight!"

It was then that Edith's attention was drawn to the corner, where to her shock she saw Lizzie, one of the ladies' maids, standing with her cloak around her shoulders, bonnet in hand. Her bag that bore signs of being packed at great speed sat at her feet, and the hand that was not clutching her bonnet was clamped over her hand, muffling great racking sobs. At Aunt Shaw's final edict, two kitchen hands took her by the shoulders and gently guided her out of the kitchen towards the servants' entrance.

"Mama, whatever has happened?"

Aunt Shaw's head snapped up, having not noticed her daughter come in. Her mouth set into a tight frown.

"It seems Lizzie has been gossiping with the workers that come to collect our laundry. The news of your cousin's… condition must be halfway around the circles of London by now. Of course, she has been instantly dismissed and the rest of the staff issued with a stiff warning. We shall simply have to hope to ride out the inevitable gossip and that your cousin recovers quickly"

"I am sure that is a certainty now that she is reunited with Frederick. I say let them gossip Mama. They must not have half of your goodness to take in a family member and continue to care for them through a most trying illness. Do not trouble yourself with this Mama, you cannot show Margaret your distress, it would do her no good either"

Mrs Shaw simply patted her daughter's hand with a fond smile and they both departed to the parlour with instructions for a fresh tea tray to follow behind them.