Margaret stood by Osler's Crystal Fountain facing the main doorway of the Crystal Palace. She had threaded her arm through Edith's to steady herself as she raised on tiptoe to scan the incoming crowd for a particular tall handsome gentleman in a top hat. She would gladly have mounted the parapet surrounding the fountain to assist her in her search if it would not have been indecorous.
'That must be him!' she thought to herself, laying her free hand over her heart, as she spied a tall gentleman accompanying a lady in a gaudily colorful hat adorned with ridiculously ostentatious plumage.
In a moment he stood before them, his sister now straggling behind with the Latimers. He bade proper 'Good mornings,' to the rest of her party before turning to greet Margaret. While the others were welcoming the Latimers, John took the opportunity to raise Margaret's hand to his lips and bestow upon it a light kiss.
She blushed and teasingly replied, "Good morning Mr. Thornton."
"Mmmm," he growled, then in a whisper he said, "I suppose we do still have to use formalities." Then a little louder he returned her greeting, "Good morning Miss Hale. Did you sleep well?"
"Yes, I did. Thank you very much, and yourself?" she replied somewhat formally.
"Better than I have in years," he answered, giving her a wink.
They turned to face the rest of the party and Margaret slipped her hand into the crook of John's elbow.
After some discussion it was determined that the party would split into two groups both for the convenience of maneuvering through the crowds as well as to assuage the differing interests of the assembled persons. One group consisted of the Latimers, Henry, and Mrs. Shaw who wished to visit the French exhibit. The other group, determined upon the Indian exhibit, included Captain and Mrs. Lennox, the Thorntons, and Miss Hale. They had arranged to meet up again later in the tearoom.
Captain and Mrs. Lennox led the way to the Indian exhibit. Mr. Thornton, escorting his sister and Miss Hale, followed behind. Margaret never finished her tour of the Indian Exhibit yesterday as she had run off (to her great fortune) for the machinery exhibit instead. There were many things she had yet to see and still more that she wished to show John.
Shortly after arriving at the Indian exhibit Fanny's eye drew her off to examine the gorgeous wall papers. Edith and the Captain followed her. Edith and Fanny were happy to exclaim together over the beauties of everything on display in the Indian exhibit. John and Margaret were able to wander off and enjoy the exhibit for themselves.
They viewed the stuffed elephant draped with embroidered tapestries and carrying the royal canopy. In the tent of the Indian Court they saw the Crown of the King of Oudh, the ceremonial garb, complete with weaponry, of an Indian Chieftain, and the intricately carved ivory throne that the Maharaja of Travancore had gifted to Queen Victoria. John commented on all the labor that must have gone into the making of the throne. He then whispered into Margaret's ear that it was almost beautiful enough for her to sit in. Margaret told him that he would look rather handsome in the chieftain's robes and as such he would be welcome to kneel at her feet while she sat in the throne. She folded her hands regally in front of herself and lifted her chin in the air. He stole a kiss to her ear for her teasing impertinence.
John was fascinated by the Indian weapons and armor and Margaret enjoyed seeing the tribal costumes. By now it was almost time to meet up for luncheon but they decided they must see the famous Koh-I-Noor diamond first.
As they made their way through the jewelry display they saw many fine examples of Indian hand craftsmanship. John marveled at the time it would take to make just one of these fine pieces of jewelry and there were not a few items he wouldn't mind seeing adorning his Margaret.
When they finally got to the Koh-I-Noor, or Mountain of Light, diamond they were stunned by its size and grandeur. Margaret commented on the beauty of it but noted that she had seen smaller diamonds with more sparkle than the Koh-I-Noor. John explained the reason for its lack of luster was that it had been poorly cut. He then regaled her with the legend that the original Italian lapidary who had been hired, in the 17th century, to cut the stone had done such a terrible job of it that he was executed. Margaret gave a horrified gasp but John assured her that it was just a legend.
As they slowly walked toward the tearoom to meet the others, John posed this question to Margaret, "Yesterday you saw the machinery exhibit and today you saw the Indian exhibit. What comparisons can you make of the two?"
Margaret immediately recognized John's use of the Socratic method so commonly employed by her father whenever he had discussions with her and exhibited profusely in his lessons with his favorite pupil. She had to look down at her feet and smile at this thought before answering him.
"Well," she replied, "the machinery exhibit was a testament to the advancement of modern technology while the Indian exhibit," she paused to think of the right words, "was more a display of exquisite museum pieces. It was almost a look at the past instead of a view to the future like the machinery."
"Precisely," he commended, sounding even more like her father and she had to stifle another smile. He continued, "What struck me was how the machinery exhibit showed that we can now mass produce products and therefore make them affordably available to all classes of society." He patted her hand on his arm, leaving his hand there. "However, the Indian exhibit, while it displayed extremely fine and intricate handiwork, the work was typically done for a single person of high rank. If India, and other nations, cannot get on board with what the French economist Blanqui calls the Industrial Revolution, then the best they can produce will only be useful for ceremonial heads of state and, as you say, museum pieces."
"I agree that machinery is the wave of the future," replied Margaret, "and should make things more affordable for the lower classes therefore increasing their standard of living. However, as long as India and other countries remain in the pre-industrial age that just means," she paused and looked up at him with a smile and a twinkle in her eye, and said, "more business for us!"
"Aha!" John exclaimed, squeezing her hand, "We'll make a true businesswoman out of you yet, Margaret." He proudly smiled.
They had now reached the tearoom and moved to join the rest of their party.
A/N: Sources for my information were Infogalactic, "India, on display : The Great Exhibition of 1851" at The Heritage Lab website which has some awesome pictures of the Exhibition, and "The Great Exhibition" by John R. Davis, 1999 Sutton Publishing.