AN: Special address in the notes at bottom of page
The night before they were to leave for England, Henry and Margaret sat on the pier, alone but for the cry of seagulls and the rippling crash of waves against the shore. John was to return later, as he had only just gone away to finish the preparations for their leave and Margaret turned to Henry with a frown.
"Why must you stay Henry?" she asked.
"There is nothing left for me in England," he returned in a taciturn voice.
"Yes there is!" Margaret insisted, "you have Edith, the Captain, Janice your sister, and even little Sholto! Surely we all must be enough."
"Work is better here," Henry lied."There would only one person who I would leave this place for, and she does not care for me."
"Oh Henry! Don't say that!" Margaret shook her head and put a comforting hand over his. He blushed crimson and studied his shoes. "I love you Henry. I really do."
"Truly?" Henry met her eye and she nodded. "Then why did you marry him?"
Margaret was taken aback. She did not understand his meaning.
"Why?" her eyebrows rose and she pursed her lips. "You know why."
"Of course." But it was clear that he did not know why, only that he believed he did. Then, with a motion she was not prepared for, he turned to her and took her face in his hands. She blinked dumbly at him and he kissed her before she could stop him and struggled to free herself. He would not be stopped, and it was only when he heard a voice, confused and angry, that he let her go,
"Henry, Margaret?" John asked, one hand in his pocket and the other limp at his side. "What do you mean by this?"
"She is staying with me," Henry glared. Margaret shot John a desperate look and attempted to escape, only to have her arm roughly seized by Henry who said, low in her ear, "do not be afraid of the brute, Margaret. You don't have to go back."
"John!" Margaret cried.
Without another word, John was at her side and pushed her beside him, taking her waist gently in his arms. Henry let go of Margaret's hand but came up to John, almost a head shorter than his large northern rival.
"Let her go." Henry balled his fists.
"You must," John's voice was cold and Margaret felt the beginning of fear in his belly. She knew John had a temper, but it had never been directed wrongly, or at the wrong person. He looked down at her and asked if she was alright. She nodded.
"No! I saw her first—I loved her first!" Henry would not back down. "Again, I say, let her go!"
"Do not order me," John's voice was low and dangerous, "and never proposition my wife again." John moved one arm to Margaret's shoulder and turned to go. Before he could, however, Henry swung and cracked John in the face, splitting his lip. John let go of her, put two finger up to his bloodied lip as if shocked by the action, and whirled around, furious. He decked Henry clean in the face, and Henry staggered, blood pouring from his nose as he attempted to swing again. John's own knuckled were bruised and he flexed his hand. Henry, reeling from the blow, staggered forward and swung.
This time, however, John caught his arm and twisted it behind his back. Henry cried out and John pushed him away, calling, "We are done here. Take your things and leave us be."
Margaret, after a moment of shock, realized that John was moving away from her and took one glance back at Henry. His face was black in the moonlight, his nose, chin and lips stained dark, making Margaret sure that his nose was broken. A pang of regret shot through her at the scene. It was her fault, surely. She should have been more firm with him in her rejection; she should not have "led him on," as Edith might say.
When the couple reached their lodging, Margaret snatched a clean towel from the vanity and dabbed her husband's swollen lip.
"I'm so sorry John, I don't know what came over him."
"Nor do I," John replied quietly, blue eyes searching hers. "What was that about? Are you keeping something from me?"
"No, of course not!" Margaret shook her head, "only..." John's face went white, "it was something from my Helstone days. I really thought he would leave it alone but I see now he could not, not even when I married you."
"Leave what?" John's eyebrows knitted into a dark line, and, being of the mind to be jealous, held his breath.
"He asked me to marry him before we came to Milton," Margaret sighed. "I told him no of course, but he was so hurt by my rejection and I was so close to Edith and the Captain that I could not help but to socialize with him. I was sure he was done with me, so I asked him to help me with my finances... and he was working on Fred's case, John! So we could bring him back to England safely."
John blinked once, slow and processing.
"You do not care for him?" He asked like a child, his lips slightly parted.
"I care as a friend cares," Margaret sighed, relieved, "but after his conduct tonight, I hardly think his name worth mentioning without Fred's or the Navy, the impropriety of it."
"Oh Maggie, I'm sorry to be so harsh, but you know I have insecurities about you. Why I thought when you rejected me the first time you were much used to the practice, among your Harley Street set."
"No," it was Margaret's turn to feel ashamed, "only Henry Lennox. And I suppose it was too much to ask to stay friends. I hope Edith does not blame me."
"Blame you?" John asked, puzzled, "why would she? It is his choice to say in America."
"Yes, but now Sholto may never meet his uncle," Margaret plunged her hands into the washbasin water, cleansing the towel of blood, "she always fancied that I should marry him and stay with her."
"But you chose me." There was a tone of incredulity in the way he said the words, and Margaret took one wet hand, put it on his cheek, and kissed the undamaged part of his lip.
"Yes, I did," she replied tenderly. "I love you John."
"I love you too Maggie," John stood up after a pause and went to loosen his cravat. "By the by, what will you do now? There is no Mr. Bell to manage the accounts anymore."
"I know," Margaret took off her now old India shawl and folded it on the paper changing screen on her side, "but things are in order now, and if I find myself in any trouble I can always find another lawyer to take my case. A fat old married one, to be sure."
John laughed, and Margaret unpinned her hair. "You know, my love, I've been thinking."
"Oh dear," John shot her a look and she narrowed her eyes. "Look all you want, John Thornton, but shall it be your downfall when I name our child something purposely hideous."
"What were you thinking?" John asked, dressed down into his breeches. Margaret had to take a moment, her eyes roaming over the wanton impropriety of such an image, though enjoying the intimacy.
"I think it will be another boy," she touched her stomach, "it feels the same as when we had Owen, but I suppose it's too early to be sure. Could we name him Richard?"
"I thought we weren't naming our children for our parents?" John questioned, coming to stand behind her and help her from her stays.
"Yes," Margaret replied in a measured voice, "but I really loved him John, and he was such an important person to me.
"I honoured him too," John agreed, done now. He tossed the corset to the side and untangled her long black hair, caring for her. "He was a good man, and a just one, though if this is to be the case, I wish to name our daughter for my mother, if we have one."
"Of course," Margaret turned to him putting her sensitive, finely tapered arms around his neck and making him believe that in their new world of moments, this would be his favorite. "We must sleep. Get some rest and think no more of Henry Lennox."
"If it suits you dear," John nodded, picking her up and placing her on their bed, "I will think no more."
Margaret nestled close to him, and they were both soon asleep, only to wake up the waiting ship, and the promise of being reunited with their son once again.
AN: Hello and sorry for the late update, I was reading North and South, and now have a much stronger sense of a bunch of things. So in the BBC series there is a bunch of "what?! That didn't happen!" things, and I know, but I will keep them in here, at least for my fic, though in the future I aim to marry the two works in a way that is both pleasing and entertaining to both me and die hard book fans!
Also, a word of thanks, especially to all my reviewers and favourites/ followers. You guys are the greatest!
*Special (super special though,) is the shout out to my most recent reviewerSue. Your review made me cry, and I feel so blessed that you feel this way about what I am doing. This piece is also a way of coping for me, as one of the dearest people in my life suddenly passed a few years ago and I felt that I had to write my feelings, all of them, down in a story. It is a twist and turn of everything, as you will know, and so, as crazy as the roller-coaster may be, it must be ridden out and felt. (No matter how much I insist that my own advice is crap, and its easier to be angry or try to shut it off.) Thank you so much again. It is because of kindness like yours that makes me wish to continue writing, and the idea that maybe through my loss, I might be able to help someone, even if its only one person to heal and to, if for a moment, alleviate the pain. There I go tearing up again! Thank you so much, my prayers go to you. 3