Roses and Lace
Chapter 7
The next morning, Mr. Thornton arrived punctually on time, but Henry Lennox was nowhere to be seen. Margaret fretted upstairs while Mr. Thornton sat in a meditative silence in the parlor.
Edith and Mrs. Shaw took pity on the gentleman and made polite small talk while he waited, Edith and her mother making most of the conversation, to Mr. Thornton's quiet, polite replies. Edith grudingly had to admit to herself that he was quite handsome, in a dark and serious sort of way. Of course Margaret herself tended to be quite serious. And then there was the way that the both of them seemed to stir to greater light and life when the other was in view.
On this point, Margaret herself finally bustled downstairs, looking rather pale and anxiously wringing her hands. From being polite and distant, it was as if Mr. Thornton finally became fully present in the room. He gazed warmly at Margaret as she approached and he rose to greet her.
"I am so sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Thornton," she was saying. "It's just that Henry was supposed to be here, and he can explain it all much better than I can. It's a... I have a... business proposal..." She trailed off, looking up into his eyes, and Edith herself suddenly felt very flushed.
"You don't need Henry to explain it," Mr. Thornton murmured back.
"I... It's do with... The papers are all in the study," Margaret continued, glancing behind her in the study's general direction.
And then the two of them went off, alone, Margaret leading Mr. Thornton by the hand, and Edith was left staring at her mother. Mrs. Shaw's pursed lips and raised eyebrows suggested that she had quite the same notion that Edith did.
"Oh, mother..." Edith finally sighed.
"Well," Mrs. Shaw pronounced, frowning. "Now that I think of it, we did stop at his house to pay a brief visit before I brought her out of Milton. I recall his mother being quite elegant in a cold, northern, nouveau riche sort of way. But I never imagined... Of all people. That man!"