"There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends that become family."-Jay Shetty

Chapter Five: Revelations

John apprised Mr. Hale of the situation, and Mr. Hale went to pack a small bag to stay at the mill house. Dixon was asked to pack a few of Margaret's things, and she would come with them for the night as well.

Once they arrived back at the mill house, they all went immediately to the guest room. Hannah had been sitting with Margaret while she was resting.

Mr. Hale was visibly distressed, and John helped him to a chair, then stepped back to the doorway. He asked his mother to see to tea for them.

Margaret was still sleepy from the laudanum and struggled to open her eyes.

"Papa, I am so glad you are here."

Richard took her hand and said, "My Pearl, nothing could have kept Dixon and me away. You gave us quite a scare. It will take some time, but you will be right as rain again."

Jane returned with tea and broth, and Hannah was not far behind her, carrying a jar of salve for Margaret's bruises. Dixon took the bowl of broth from Jane and encouraged Margaret to drink it, but Margaret struggled to swallow. Even though she was propped up against the pillows, it was too painful to eat comfortably. Margaret found that it even hurt to breathe.

John looked over at his mother, and she dismissed Jane.

After closing the door behind Jane, John stepped to the bedside and with Dixon keeping Miss Hale covered with the sheet, he gently lifted Margaret as Hannah added another pillow behind her. As he leaned into her, John whispered into her ear, "Please forgive me if I am hurting you." He inhaled the scent of lavender and roses, mixed with the acrid smell of smoke that clung to her hair and stepped back to allow Dixon to put the tray with a cup of broth in front of Margaret.

Dixon sat down next to her mistress and said, "Try some of this broth now, Miss Margaret. It will make you feel better."

It had distressed Hannah to see Margaret in John's arms, but he was grown and did not listen to her counsel any longer. She held her tongue, but not without resentment. She did not miss the tenderness John displayed as he helped Miss Hale sit up more comfortably. The girl had taken first place in John's affections.

John stepped back to open the door and stood in the doorway once again.

Hannah turned to her son, "Let's give the Hales some privacy, John."

'Of course, Mother." He turned to Dixon and said, "Please ring if you need anything for Mr. Hale and Miss Hale's comfort, or for your own. I will have more tea and biscuits sent up for you as well as some dinner."

Dixon was surprised, but grateful. "Thank you, Mr. Thornton."

John told Richard that he would get him for dinner downstairs in an hour.

Assured that all that could be done for Richard, Margaret and Dixon, John went to his study to work on his ledgers that Williams had brought over to the house. As hard as he tried to focus on the numbers in front of him, his thoughts kept straying to Margaret.

With her hair down and braided, she looked younger than her nineteen years. He was almost twelve years older than her. He forgot their age difference at times, in his deep love for her. She and Fanny were about the same age, but Margaret was far more mature than his sister.

He thought of all the things he loved about her, her intelligence, her compassion for others, her fiery and bold personality, and her beauty. Marriage to Margaret would never be dull. She would challenge him to be a better man. If...he could win her love.

He sighed and turned back to his ledgers. Right now, the challenge in front of him was to recover the profitability of the mill prior to the riot.

…ooOoo…

Dr. Donaldson returned and checked his patient for signs of an infection or fluid in her lungs. Satisfied that his patient was not in immediate danger of developing pneumonia, he packed his instruments in his bag.

John walked back upstairs. He knocked quietly on the door and asked the men to follow him downstairs to the dining room. Dr. Donaldson declined as he had another patient to call on.

A hearty dinner of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, and steamed vegetables was delivered to the sickroom for Dixon, and a thin beef soup was included for Margaret. Dixon did her best to get Margaret to eat some soup, but she was still in too much pain to have an appetite. She did manage a few bites, but then pushed it away.

At the dining table, John and Mr. Hale conversed easily, and Mrs. Thornton thought there was something familial about their relationship. They were comfortable with each other, and it was clear that the two men were close friends.

It was akin to a father-son relationship and it disconcerted Hannah. She had been her son's only confidant in the years following her husband's death, and she felt pangs of jealousy that John shared things with Richard Hale that he had did not share with her.

After dinner, John and Richard retired to the study. John poured them both a snifter of brandy, and they sat down in comfortable chairs before a warm fire.

"John, thank you so much for all you and your mother are doing for my daughter. I have always said that friends are our family of choice, and we are blessed to have your friendship."

"Thank you, Richard. I like what you said about friends being our family of choice. Until your family moved to Milton, I had only acquaintances, and friendship was something that has been missing in my life."

Richard did not respond, and he seemed lost in his thoughts as he stared into the fire. After a few moments, he turned to John and began to speak.

"The last time I was at a bedside, my wife was the one lying there. Margaret had written to her brother about the seriousness of Maria's illness. Frederick risked his life to come and say goodbye to her. Even though I was unhappy with Margaret for asking my son to come to Milton, I can never regret having that last memory of both of my children with their mother. It is a moment I will never have again in this life now that Maria is gone, and Frederick is living in exile in Spain."

John was perplexed. A son? Richard had never spoken of a son before. Was it possible that Frederick was the man at the train station? It had to have been! Miss Hale had told him the man was family.

"Richard, why did you not tell me that you had a son? You could have trusted me."

Richard said, "Margaret and I discussed telling you about Fred before Maria died, but John, as a magistrate, your duty is to the Crown, not to your friends. We did not want to put you in the position of having to choose between us and your duty. Frederick's life was in grave danger when he came to visit because he is wanted by the navy for mutiny."

He continued, "We did all we could to conceal Frederick's presence in Milton while he was here. Nobody other than Mary Higgins was allowed in the house, and she kept our secret. A man named Leonards saw Dixon on the streets and recognized her from Helstone. Leonards was a known rabble-rouser and would have turned in my son for the bounty. We knew that it was no longer safe for Frederick to be in Milton with a price on his head, so Frederick left the night before the funeral."

"John, your servant, Jane, was betrothed to this man, Leonards."

"Yes, she was, but I did not know that until after Leonards died."

Richard took a deep breath and turned back to stare at the fire, "Margaret sent her brother to London to see her cousin's brother-in-law, Henry Lennox. She had hoped that Henry could get information to clear Frederick's name. After their meeting, Lennox helped my son to the docks where Frederick boarded a ship bound for Spain. We did not know until a few weeks ago that Frederick had made it safely home."

Richard turned back to look at his friend, "I cannot tell you how relieved I am. I may never see my son again, but I know he is alive and happy. He is to be married soon to a woman called Dolores."

"Henry wrote to Margaret only last week and told her that he had learned some new information that might help to clear Fred's name. We are cautiously hopeful that someday, my son will be able to come back to England and bring his bride to meet us."

Richard, exhausted from their talk, laid his head back and closed his eyes.

John thought of all his friend had revealed. It all made sense now. Margaret had sent him away that day when he had brought fruit to her dying mother. The man she embraced at Outwood Station was her brother, and that poignant moment of the embrace was meant to encompass a lifetime of togetherness they would forever be denied.

Margaret's lie to the police was to save her brother's life. Her explanation that all was not as it appeared made perfect sense now. If only he had not allowed his jealousy to cloud his ability to see beyond the circumstances.

Even though he had asked for her forgiveness for not trusting her character, John felt ashamed of how he had treated Margaret when he was tormented by jealousy. She had needed his understanding and his support, but he had not been there for her or for Richard.

Richard had mentioned that Margaret had sent her brother to meet with Henry Lennox. John remembered meeting him at the Great Exhibition. Was he the man she refused before she refused him? He called Miss Hale by her first name, and Margaret addressed him informally as well.

It hurt that Margaret had trusted Lennox to assist Frederick and had not trusted him. He understood both her and Richard's reservations, given that he was a magistrate, but had he known, he would have supported them in any way he could have.

He did not have the answers, and he would not ask Richard any questions tonight. Seeing that his friend was fatigued, he suggested that Mr. Hale get some rest.

After seeing Richard back upstairs to retire for the night, John sought out his mother. "Thank you, Mother, for all your help today. I know you dislike disruptions to the order of this household, but I appreciate all you have done for the Hales today."

Hannah set her sewing aside and looked at her son. "I did it all for you, Son. I can see that you are still strongly attached to Miss Hale. You must guard your heart."

John came to sit beside her, "I will not guard my heart, Mother. My love for Margaret is a part of who I am. I cannot choose whether to love her or not."

"Yes, her rejection has caused me pain, but the truth of the matter is, I went about asking for her hand all wrong. I knew she did not care for me, yet I persisted because it is what I wanted. I listened to you when you told me her actions were those born of love when I knew it was not true."

"And since then, I have said and done things that I am ashamed of, Mother. I have been churlish and unkind at times. I have done nothing to show Miss Hale that the words I spoke to her the day after the riot were spoken from my heart."

John implored his mother with his eyes to understand, "I have hope she and I can at least come to understand one another better. Will you help me by making her feel welcome in this house? Someday, if my deepest wishes come true, she will not be a guest here, but instead the mistress of this house as my wife."

John stood up and walked to stand by the fire.

Hannah had hoped John would at least try to move past his love for Miss Hale and marry a Milton girl who knew their ways, and who would not usurp her as first in her son's affections as Miss Hale had done.

John had said what he needed to say. John laid his hand on his mother's shoulder and wished her a good night.

He checked on Margaret before going to his own room. When John knocked on Margaret's door, Dixon opened it enough for him to see that Miss Hale was resting. The candlelight cast a soft glow over her beautiful face. Her eyes were closed and her lips slightly parted.

Dixon returned to her chair at Margaret's bedside, inspecting the mourning dress that had been cut off Margaret earlier.

"I do not think I can repair it. It is too damaged. I will need to get more cloth to sew her a new one. Of course, she can sew herself, but she will not be able to do much for a little while, I expect."

John took a long look at this servant who had been with the Hale family since Maria Beresford was about the same age as Margaret was now. He knew no one else among their acquaintances who could say they had the same loyalty from one of their servants. She did not always treat him well since he was a mere tradesman, and she felt Margaret should marry a gentleman. She was gruff and ornery at times, but she loved Margaret, and for that, he could forgive her slights to him.

"Thank you for taking such diligent care of Miss Hale."

Dixon sniffed and looked at Margaret tenderly. "This one was always headstrong and determined. She was a handful to look after when she was a girl. Now, she is going to need all that determination to get well again, and I am glad she is a woman with a strong spirit. It will serve her well through her recovery, Mr. Thornton."

"Yes, it will."

Before John left his beloved in Dixon's care for the night, he took one last look at Margaret, and he felt his heart warm with his love for her. Today had been eventful, and he felt weariness beginning to claim him.

John said good night and went to his room.

John washed and changed for bed. Margaret was under his roof and even though it was under terrible circumstances, she lay in her bed just two doors down.

John climbed into his lonely bed and thought about the woman he loved. He was sorry and ashamed it had taken him so long to trust in her character and the woman he knew her to be. If he ever were blessed to call Margaret his wife, he would cherish her. She would never know a day when she did not know how much he loved her.

Before he went to sleep, he prayed for her swift recovery, and John felt peace come over him that all would be well. For the first time in a very long time, John slept soundly.