So sorry for the long absence. I went travelling for a week followed by a hectic time at work. I have the enormous fortune to be working in a supermarket. (Brownie points for detecting the sarcasm).

I'm also working on a slightly more cheerful story that I might debut as a one shot to see how people take to it. CWBWA is some gritty stuff for concentrate on for too long, and some more cheerful stuff would do wonders for my sanity in these troubled times.

I know I said the Thorntons were going to be background characters, but I was brainstorming plot lines and the most logical ones necessitated an early return for our favourite grumpy northern mill man!

Chapter 6

John's heart made an odd sort of motion when he finally saw Margaret again. It leapt for the sight of her, and then twisted again when he spotted her, yet again, in the embrace of another man. Her brother, he chided himself gently. And then it leapt right into his throat at the sound of her terrified screams. He was promptly bundled back out the door, into the hall, where he was left to pace while Margaret's family took to soothe whatever terror had overcome her. John was suspicious to say the least. Fred's account of undertaking to improve Margaret's opinion of him did not tally at all with this woman who seemed terrified of the sight of him.

Inside the room, Margaret's thoughts were in complete disarray. She had thought herself prepared to meet with Mr. Thornton. However, the minute she had locked eyes with that piercing blue gaze, it had transported her straight back into one of her most recurring nightmares.

She was back on the platform of Outwood Station, safe in Fred's reassuring embrace. All of a sudden, a tall dark figure swept onto the platform. She saw the figure come for them and held even tighter to her brother. However, when she looked up into her brother's eyes, their soft brown had inexplicably turned to a cold, steel blue. He opened his mouth, and a different voice came out. Deep, cold and hard.

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

She desperately willed herself to speak, to argue with the voice, but some force held her mouth sealed shut.

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

No, not nothing! Please, give me a chance to explain-

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

Do not let it be over! He didn't understand, I must make him understand!

Then, the dark figure swept over Fred and both disappeared, leaving Margaret standing alone.

"Sssshhh, Margaret, it is okay. You are here in Harley Street. Here, it is me, Cousin Edith. Calm yourself, sweet cousin"

Gentle murmurings and soft warm hands pried Margaret's fingers from her cheeks, where she had been clawing agitatedly at her face again. She opened her eyes and looked up at her cousin, who smiled at her encouragingly.

"There? You see, here I am, and here is Aunt Shaw. You are safe now dear Migsy"

Margaret smiled wanly at her Aunt and then looked around in confusion.

"Where is Fred?"

Mr Thornton was pacing agitatedly in the hallway when the door gently clicked open and Fred extricated himself from the room through the smallest possible gap. John set upon him almost immediately.

"How is Miss Hale? Is she calm now?"

Fred attempted a reassuring smile, but he was so exhausted and worried that he couldn't make it reach his eyes.

"She is well, Edith managed to calm her. I apologise Mr Thornton, none of us anticipated that sort of reaction from her"

John glowered suspiciously at Fred.

"Bizarre that she should have so extreme a reaction to someone you say you have reassured her about. She screamed like I was about to rush at her with a knife"

Fred's eyes narrowed at the barely veiled accusation.

"Remember, Sir, that my sister's illness is unique. None of us have ever encountered anything like this. Her behaviour is so altered and varying from one day to the next – we cannot anticipate any fixed pattern of behaviour"

John lowered his eyes to the floor, giving the appearance of sorrow, but in his mind things simply did not add up. Why was Margaret so afraid of him? What had they told her about him?

Just then, Dixon stuck her head out of the door.

"Miss Hale would like to speak to you both"

Fred waved John into the room ahead of him. At least if Margaret was still angry and armed with some manner of projectile, he would not be the main victim.

To his relief and slight disappointment, Margaret was sat serenely in an armchair waiting for them. John winced at the sight of her. The large shawl draped about her shoulders was fooling nobody as to how tightly she was laced into her clothes or how drastically they had had to be taken in. She showed no real evidence of her recent outburst besides a downcast look and a reluctance or inability to look John in the eye. She turned her head to smile wanly at her brother and then gestured for the gentlemen to take seats opposite her.

"Mr Thornton, please do not be fooled by the nature of your welcome, please know that I am pleased to see you, and to see you looking well. I know Fred would have told you most of the details, but as you can see, I have not been well. That is no excuse however, and it distresses me greatly that you should have been subjected to such an ordeal through my behaviour. Please accept my profound apologies," her voice was reduced to a rough whisper as a result of repeated outbursts and a severely reduced diet. Any last traces of resentment John was holding vanished when he saw how truly wretched she looked. Her hair, which had been pinned into her usual elegant updo was not as bright or vibrant as he remembered, nor no longer seemed to constantly threaten to break out of its constraints. Her face still bore the angry red marks of self-inflicted scratches. The gauntness of her eyes and cheeks made her seem almost a different person altogether. John could not bring himself to stay angry at or attempt to understand the behaviour of such a pitiful creature.

"Miss Hale, please do not distress yourself on my account. I am none the worse for our unusual meeting. I believe we have met in still less pleasant circumstances than this. I accept your apologies and only hope that your health is improving"

"It improves as well as we can hope Sir, I thank you. While I remember, I must thank you for the return of Father's Plato, Mr Thornton. It has been a great comfort to me. Fred reading to me of an evening brings back cherished memories of Father reading to us as children. For that I am more grateful than you could know, if only I did not feel so wretched that I tore a token of your dear friend from your grasp"

"I am pleased that I could be of use to you Miss Hale. I returned the book of my own volition, do not distress yourself. I did more for the memory of my friend by doing what I could for his daughter than sitting about reading. Ease your conscience, there's no burden on it from me"

Frederick Hale was starting to feel more and more like a piece of living room furniture. He contented himself to sit and watch this exchange that was pleasant for the time being, ready to intervene if things became… less so.

After exchanges on the weather and the climate in Milton and the various workers Margaret had been acquainted with and the health of the other Thorntons, Frederick found his thoughts drifting to Cadiz, and his own Dolores. His eyes drifted closed before he knew their intention to do so.

Margaret was listening to Mr Thornton's report on the mill's recovery from the strike when Margaret glanced over and noticed Fred sprawled in his armchair, snoring lightly.

"Gracious. I fear we have rather bored my dear brother to sleep. I should let him rest, he has been so attentive to my care"

"You are lucky to be so close to your brother. I often fear Fanny would not be half so attentive to me"

"Pray God you never have to find out Mr Thornton, I would not wish this on anyone" Margaret winced as a cough overtook her, leaving Thornton scrambling to fetch her glass of water from where it had been placed by her Plato copy. Fred only shifted slightly in his seat before continuing slightly in his slumber. Margaret thanked him in a coarse whisper as she sipped at the water.

"You are too good a person to wish any more suffering than there already is, that has always been certain Miss Hale" John checked himself as he spoke, thinking the words too forward. Margaret merely blushed, the colour even more pronounced against the paleness of her cheeks.

"I thank you Sir. I am glad to see your opinion of me has improved, though I do not deny that I was deserving of your censure," she glanced at Fred again, remembering the source of all their misery.

"I thought you knew that I have held a high opinion of you for some time? Forgive me Miss Hale, but why were you so afraid when I came in? I thought you knew that Fred and I had cleared all those misunderstandings?"

"It is one thing to be told something – but my mind is such an uncertain place that I struggle to believe what I cannot see with my own eyes"

"Then listen to me Miss Hale. I have wronged you. In almost every way that a man can wrong a woman. I was behaving like a beast the first time we met, I did not stop to consider what an abominable impression I had made of myself. Of course you were shocked, of course you were angry. I spoke down to you, disdained you for not understanding the northern way of life. It was not your fault that you did not know any other home than your beloved Helstone. Then that night, at the station. Please know that I regret my actions that night and all that followed, deeply regret it"

"Why should you regret it Mr Thornton? You had no evidence to the contrary, your conclusions were perfectly understandable. I perhaps wish you had offered me more chances to explain myself, but I had not given you much hope to believe an explanation would be forthcoming"

"Because I did not give you a chance to be forthcoming. After my disastrous attempt at a proposal, my pride was so wounded that I lashed out at you at any given opportunity. I was selfish and wanted you to hurt as badly as I was. When you then lost your mother and father, the way that you did… I knew I was the worst sort of man who ever lived. I can't tell you how it has tormented me Miss Hale, and for that I beg your forgiveness"

Margaret was perfectly taken aback. Mr Thornton had poured his heart out to her, and she knew she was perfectly forgiven. There was no more misunderstanding between them.

And it broke her heart. That he should now perfectly understand her, and she him, at a time when a continuance of their acquaintanceship now seemed unlikely, even impossible.

She was spared the pain of a reply by her brother giving a great grunting snore as he suddenly jolted awake, floundering briefly in his chair before remembering where he was and who he was with.

"So sorry. Mr Thornton, what must you think of me, dozing off like that? Some great host I am, eh Maggie? So, what thrilling conversation have I missed?"

Margaret and John exchanged a look, reaching an unspoken agreement not to divulge what had passed between them. Margaret fixed a serene smile in place before turning back to her brother.

"Nothing of consequence Fred. Nothing at all"

So, I don't know when the next update of this will be. As mentioned in the starting notes, this is a heavy story to be focusing on for too long (still got some angst before our HEA) especially given the current circumstances. I'm working front line in a supermarket and my mental health is taking some hits right now. I have a plan in the pipeline for a more lighthearted story which I might focus on to keep people's spirits up. Read it when it goes live and tell me what you think.

I know these are scary times but we must rely on each other more than ever. If you are scared or worried, please talk to someone, we are all in this together. Drop me a PM if you are really stuck for someone to speak to.

Keep each other safe and have faith.

Sid x