"Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get–only with what you are expecting to give–which is everything." –Katharine Hepburn
Chapter Four: The Accident
On the second day of the work week, John was surprised to see Miss Hale again at the canteen. He was torn between his joy at seeing his love and the anguish at seeing her toiling away as a common woman would. He was sure her family in London would be dismayed to see Margaret in an apron with her hands buried deep in a bucket of soapy water and dirty dishes.
He remembered the calluses he had felt on her small hands when he had visited Crampton last night, and he wondered how much of the housework she was helping Dixon with since Richard was no longer bringing in an income. He did not voice his thoughts, but Higgins was aware of the discomfort Thornton must feel at seeing Margaret working in his mill canteen.
"Miss Margret is a hard worker, Master, and there is no task too mean for her I am told. Mary helped Dixon in their home before Mrs. Hale passed away. She told me that Miss Margret kept the house tidy and did some of the cooking while Dixon took care of her mistress; then sat up at nights with her mother so Dixon could rest."
Higgins was watching Master and saw pain flit across his face as he was telling him about Miss Margret. He could not puzzle out why Master and Miss Margret were apart since it was no secret to him that they cared for one another.
Among the lower class, there were fewer rules of society, and people spoke plainly. In the upper class, there were more rules than a person could keep up with, and it created more misunderstandings than understandings in Higgins's view. He sighed and turned his attention back to his delicious stew.
A few minutes later, John and Higgins finished their meal and got up to leave. Margaret had her back to the men as she washed dishes. She heard the scrape of the wooden bench against the floor, signaling Mr. Thornton and Nicholas were returning to work, and turned to bid them a good day. She held a dish towel in her hands and smiled at both men before they turned to leave.
John stood rooted to the floor and willed her eyes to meet his. She lifted her chin to look at him directly, and her expressive eyes softened when they met his piercing, dark blue ones.
He bowed his head to her and turned to walk back to his office. Higgins was waiting for him outside and mentioned that the loom in Shed Two needed looking at, but John was not listening.
"Master, I said the loom in Shed Two needs looking after. Should we go now?"
"Ur…yes, Higgins, we will go now." John shook his head as if to clear his thoughts of the woman he left washing dishes. He would not get any work accomplished on this day if he did not put her out of his thoughts, even if she were far more pleasant to think about than broken looms or untallied ledgers.
Higgins hid his grin from Thornton. He knew the Master was thinking of Miss Margret. He had not missed how Master had looked at Miss Margret when he thought no one would notice. Yes, the ole' bulldog had given his heart to the bonny lass, there was no denying it.
…ooOoo…
Margaret worked in the mill canteen for the entire week, and each day John looked forward to that precious half-hour in her presence. His hungry eyes sought her when he entered the room, and he waited to sit down until she greeted him.
They did not speak much more than that, but John did not mind. They were together in the same room, and it was enough.
He was no longer jealous of the unknown man he had seen her embrace. He trusted her character and knew Margaret would never give her virtue to a man who was not her husband.
Now, when he heard the whistle of the last train of the night leaving Outwood Station, the images of her in the arms of another man did not torment him as they had for so many weeks. He might never know who the man was, but Margaret's words rang true when she told him the man was family.
The pain of her rejection still festered, but the handkerchief she had made for him was kept close to his heart, in his coat pocket, to remind him that things had changed for the better between them. That handkerchief, along with his father's watch, were treasures to be cherished.
…ooOoo…
Saturday was payday at the mill each week, and John had just finished the last of it when he heard a loud rumble coming from somewhere outside. He ran out into the mill yard and saw that the canteen's roof had partially collapsed.
He saw Higgins running into the structure, and moments later, Mary came out of the building coughing.
John got to the structure door and saw a beam had fallen near the stove, knocked it over onto its side, spreading hot coals over the wooden floor. He joined Higgins in clearing a path through the debris from the roof to where Margaret was trapped beneath the beam. Smoke was filling the room as the embers caught fire, fueled by the pieces of the roof that had fallen to the floor.
"Margaret!" John's voice was filled with desperation.
"Higgins, help me lift the beam up, so I can get to her."
Margaret whimpered in pain.
John assured her, "Miss Hale, we will get you out of here, I promise!"
Williams rushed into the building to help. Between him and Nicholas, they were able to lift the heavy beam enough for John to free Margaret. The beam had landed across the end of a bench, smashing it, but creating a small void that prevented Miss Hale from being crushed beneath it.
"Higgins, go to the house and tell my mother I am bringing Miss Hale. Take your daughter to the house as well."
"Williams! Gather some men and make sure the fire is extinguished."
John, tenderly and as quickly as he could, lifted Margaret in his arms.
John carried her out of the building and across the yard. His mother was standing in the doorway and instructed him to take Miss Hale to the drawing room. John laid Margaret on the couch and dropped to his knees beside her.
Hannah sent for Dr. Donaldson and as she stood there, she felt a sense of déjà vu. Miss Hale had lain on that very couch when she was injured the day of the riot. Margaret moaned in pain, just as she had that day months ago, and Hannah could not help but feel pity for her.
It distressed her to see that her son had lost all sense of propriety in his concern for Miss Hale. She shut the door so that the servants would not bear witness to him down on his knees and far too close to Miss Hale.
John spoke quietly to his love, "Miss Hale, Dr. Donaldson is on his way."
"Mary? How is Mary?" Margaret's voice was raspy from the pain she was enduring.
"She is not injured, from what I saw, Miss Hale."
John asked Higgins to bring Mary into the house too, but neither she nor Higgins were seen.
"Mother, did Higgins bring his daughter with him to the house?"
"He did, but said that he would see to her himself, and they did not stay. She seemed fine, and I did inquire as to whether she felt pain anywhere. She assured me that she did not. Everything was done properly, John."
"Yes, thank you, Mother."
John stayed by Margaret's side until Dr. Donaldson arrived. After telling his mother he would return shortly, he left for the mill to check on Mary Higgins.
Higgins and his daughter were still in the yard when he returned. Mary assured Mr. Thornton that she was unharmed. "Miss Margret, how is she?"
"She is being examined right now, so I cannot say."
Higgins heard the raw emotion in Thornton's usually controlled voice. He offered what comfort he could, "Our Miss Margret is a strong girl, and she will be alright, Master."
"Let us hope so, Higgins. I will have someone take you home in the wagon. But first, let me get your wages for the week. Miss Higgins, you will be paid next week's wages. You will be back at work at the mill canteen as quickly as it can be repaired. I am so sorry for what happened today."
Overwhelmed with his kindness, all Mary could do was nod her thanks.
John quickly went to his office, retrieved their wages, and then sent Nicholas and Mary on their way home.
Williams, his overseer, had things well in hand, so John returned to the house to wait for news of Margaret's condition.
After Dr. Donaldson's initial examination, he asked Mrs. Thornton to prepare a bedroom for Margaret and dress her in a loose nightgown so that he could do a more thorough examination.
After giving her servant instructions, Mrs. Thornton remained with Miss Hale while Dr. Donaldson went to speak to her son.
Seeing Thornton waiting in the foyer, Dr. Donaldson asked, "May we speak privately?" John led the doctor to his study.
Dr. Donaldson wasted no time. "From what I can tell from my initial examination, I suspect she has some fractured ribs."
John nodded in understanding, "Go on, Dr. Donaldson."
"There could be internal injuries as well, and I will know more once I can complete my examination. Your mother is having a room prepared for Miss Hale right now, and I am going to need you to carry Miss Hale upstairs."
"Of course, I am glad to help in any way I can."
Jane knocked on the door and told Mr. Thornton the guest room was ready for Miss Hale. The two men left the room to move her upstairs.
Margaret was pale, and tears of pain were running down her cheeks.
John used the pads of his thumbs to gently wipe the tears from her face. "Miss Hale, I am going to have to carry you upstairs. I will be as gentle as I can."
Margaret spoke barely above a whisper, "Yes, Mr. Thornton."
John gingerly picked her up and carried her to the guest room. He laid her gently on the bed and left the room while Jane cut away her mourning gown with Hannah's help, and then they removed Margaret's corset.
John was outside the door with Dr. Donaldson, and he could hear Margaret's whimpers of pain. He clenched his hands at his side, wishing he could spare her such agony.
Hannah left for a moment to get a basin of water and a washcloth to clean Margaret's face and hands while Jane dressed Margaret in one of Fanny's old nightgowns. Hannah gently washed Margaret's face and hands, then let Dr. Donaldson in the room to examine his patient.
Mrs. Thornton remained in the room, as was proper.
Dr. Donaldson carefully felt Miss Hale's torso and discovered that she had fractured ribs on her right side, just as he expected. Without the obstruction of her corset, he could easily locate which three ribs were fractured. He asked Mrs. Thornton to help him wrap them.
Hannah helped Margaret sit up and gathered the nightgown Miss Hale was wearing in her hand so that Margaret's breasts were covered, and the doctor could wrap her ribs to hold them in place.
Both Hannah and Dr. Donaldson were shocked when they saw how thin Margaret had become. She was so tiny without all the petticoats she was using to disguise her true figure. Before her mother died, Margaret had a full, but lithe figure. Her body was badly bruised as well.
Margaret was mortified for anyone to see her so exposed. She felt tears of embarrassment gathering in her eyes as Dr. Donaldson wrapped the bandages around her torso.
After propping Miss Hale up in bed with several pillows, Dr. Donaldson gave her a small dose of laudanum, enough to relax her and allow her a respite from the pain.
"Thank you, Dr. Donaldson."
"I know that you work far too hard taking care of your papa and your home, but you will not be able to do so for a while. If you do not allow your ribs to heal properly, there could be long-term consequences. In another day or so, you can move around this room with someone to support you."
"Now, get some rest, and I will be back to check on you later this evening."
Hannah tried not to feel resentful that the care of this girl had been forced up on her and her household. Her primary concern was for her son and his attachment to this young woman. He had been seen, yet again, carrying Margaret in his arms, and even though there was a good explanation for it, there would be gossip.
She would have a stern talk with her own staff to curtail it. However, she could do nothing about all the mill workers who had seen her son carrying Miss Hale in his arms from the canteen to the house.
Hannah could not help but feel pity for Miss Hale. The girl might carry herself as regal as any queen, but she was eating like a pauper. Hannah knew the feeling of hunger that gnaws at your insides, and she grudgingly admired Margaret's selfishness to sacrifice for those she loved. Hadn't she herself done the same for John and Fanny? Perhaps there was more to this headstrong girl than she knew.
John was waiting impatiently outside the bedroom door for Dr. Donaldson to finish his examination. When at last the door opened and the doctor came out, the two men went to the drawing room to speak privately. The doctor could see that John was distressed, so he spoke immediately of Miss Hale's condition.
"Mr. Thornton, as I suspected, has three fractured ribs. For the next twenty-four hours, we must try to keep her from developing a fever. I do not think she is injured internally, but sometimes a puncture on the lung is quite small and hard to detect immediately. If that happens, she may develop pneumonia."
"She must remain propped up, even to sleep, to keep fluid from collecting in her lungs. If she develops a fever tonight, no matter the hour, send for me immediately. In addition, her upper torso is deeply bruised. It will take several weeks for her body to completely heal."
"I will leave a prescription for laudanum and ask that your cook keep bone broth made for nourishment. She needs plenty of milk and cheese to aid in the healing of the bones.
In addition, "Miss Hale is quite thin, too thin in fact. She needs to gain weight as she recovers. I suspect the limited finances of the Hale household has prevented her from eating her share of the food, preferring instead to make sure her father has enough."
John turned away from the doctor to hide how his words had affected him. Once he regained his composure, John turned back to Dr. Donaldson and assured him that Miss Hale would receive the best care possible in his home.
"John, Miss Hale will want to recover in her own home, and when she is able, you must allow it. Let us make sure her injuries are limited to the broken ribs and the bruises, then we will address moving her to Crampton in a few days if she does not develop a fever."
The doctor continued, "That young woman is a rare one. She is the glue that has held the Hale family together, and she has more courage than any other young woman I know. When I wanted to keep the truth about how ill Mrs. Hale was from her, she implored me to be candid with her. She did not crumble, and with determination, she did all she could to give her mother as much care as she could until the end of Mrs. Hale's life. She is a remarkable young lady, regardless of what the tittle-tattles say."
"Yes, she is, Dr. Donaldson."
After telling John that he would return in a few hours to check on Miss Hale, the doctor took his leave. John made his way to the stairs, and he found the door to the guest room partially open. He stood in the doorway gazing at Margaret as she rested fitfully.
Hannah could see the torment in her son's face as he looked at Margaret, laying there in obvious pain. He felt a fierce protectiveness well up in him as he thought not only of her injuries, but of how she was malnourished. He vowed to do all he could to see her back to good health. He would take care of her, as if she were his own Margaret.
Hannah spoke quietly, but firmly, "John! It is improper for you to be here. You must go immediately before the servants see you."
John could not tear his eyes from Margaret. Ignoring his mother's admonishment, he asked, "How is she, Mother?"
"She is resting. All has been done to properly care for her, John."
Even in her restless sleep, she was so beautiful. The soot had been washed from her face, and her hair was in a single braid that lay across her shoulder. John did his best to keep his eyes on her face and not let his gaze stray beneath her neck.
"Mother, will you have the green room made up for Richard Hale? I will change, then collect him from Crampton. I expect that he will want to be with his daughter tonight."
"Of course, Son." Hannah agreed but resented another disruption to her household.
John reluctantly left the doorway and went to his room to clean up before making the trip to Crampton to collect Richard Hale. He washed quickly and was grateful that the maids had foreseen his needs and had filled the pot that hung above the fire in his room with water. He filled his basin with the warm water, stripped off the filthy shirt he had been wearing and washed quickly.
Wanting Margaret to have the comfort of her father's presence, John left the house and walked through the gates of the mill to hire a carriage to take him to Crampton. Richard was too frail to make the walk, and John wanted to collect him and be back as soon as possible.
On the journey to Crampton, John collected his thoughts. For now, he would keep the secret of Margaret's malnourishment from Richard. But he wondered how Hale could be so oblivious to his daughter's health. John felt his anger rise at the very thought of Margaret not having enough to eat in her own home. He would make sure it never happened again if he had breath in his body.
He remembered how it had felt to hold Margaret in his arms as he carried up the stairs. Her soft body was nestled close to his, and she had put her arms around his neck to hold on. He had no words to describe how it felt to hold her, to feel her warm body next to his.
He was holding on to his emotions by a thin thread. He tried not to think about how empty his arms felt without her…how empty his life was without her.
When he saw her under that beam today, it frightened him. She could have been crushed by that beam, and her frail body could not have withstood the blow. He gave a silent prayer of thanks that her precious life was spared. She might not ever be his, but she was alive in the world, and he was grateful, so incredibly grateful.
Within a quarter of an hour, John was in Crampton. He took the steps two at a time and knocked on the door to deliver the unwelcome news to Margaret's father.
Author's Notes: I did quite a bit of research about the treatment of fractured ribs in Victorian times. Some of the treatments looked archaic and painful, so I opted to just have Dr. Donaldson wrap Margaret's ribs.