Three days later, London

95 Harley Street

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Aunt Shaw had informed Margaret that Adam Bell was visiting that morning and had hoped totake Margaret out for a stroll in the park. It was fall in London, and the air was pleasantly nippy. It was a beautiful day for a walk, and Margaret looked forward to it.

When Mr. Bell arrived, Margaret was in the hallway, and she met him at the door. She hugged her godfather affectionately.

"It is good to see you, too, my dear. Before we go in to greet your family, I have something for you."

Adam retrieved John's letter from his breast pocket and handed it over to Margaret. "It is from John Thornton, Margaret."

He did not miss the emotions that flitted across her beautiful face before she masked them. Yes, there was something between these two young folks, he was sure of it.

Margaret finally lifted her face to him, and Mr. Bell could see tears glistening but unshed in her expressive eyes.

He said, "You will need to be wearing warmer clothes for our stroll around the park, my dear. Take your time changing. I am always glad to visit with Mrs. Shaw and Mrs. Lennox and besides, your cook makes the most divine biscuits. I might have a few with my cup of tea."

Margaret nodded her head in understanding and went to her room, hiding the letter in her skirts in case Dixon might see it.

Sitting down on her window bench, Margaret took a deep breath before she carefully broke the seal of Mr. Thornton's letter to her.

Dear Miss Hale,

I hope this letter finds you moving past your grief and happily settled in your aunt's home. I am certain your family loves you dearly and is glad to have you with them.

You are missed, Miss Hale. Milton is not the same without you. Oh, the days are as gloomy and gray as ever with smoke from the mills not lifting until late at night, but my days are somehow lonelier than before because you are not here.

I have told myself a hundred times that you love another; I saw you in his arms, and I saw the tender way you looked at him. However, you have told me more than once that things were not as they appeared. As that young man, whomever he was, has never been seen in Milton again, I cannot imagine that he was your intended. Richard never spoke to me of an attachment between you and another man, nor had I ever seen that young man in Milton before that night at Outwood Station.

My question for you, Miss Hale, is whether I could make you forget him if I were given the chance to do so? I cannot say that the memory of what I saw is not seared into my brain, or each night when the 8:00 whistle from the train sounds, that I do not remember the night I lost all hope of ever calling you mine. You see, foolish man that I am, even though you made your feelings quite clear to me, I believed there was something between us. I still believe there may be something between us besides regrets.

Miss Hale, our opportunity to communicate is quite limited. Mr. Bell has kindly agreed to be our go-between if we want to exchange letters. I do not like deception, but I have little doubt the matrons of our family will not agree to us writing, so we are left with little choice. I have determined that nothing is more important in my life than you, so I will take whatever risks are necessary to work past our misunderstandings, if it would please you to do so.

I have struggled with my deeply held beliefs about truth, and what it really means. Is something a lie because you keep it a secret?

I have not always been so remarkable for the truth, Miss Hale. I can hardly sit in judgement of the lie you told the inspector when I have not always spoken the truth myself. I believe integrity as an important characteristic of someone you hold dear in your life, but sometimes life is not black and white. Sometimes circumstances make things as gray as our Milton skies.

Miss Hale, I am speaking the truth, and from the depths of my heart when I tell you that I lied to you that day that I told you that my feelings for you were over. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I told you that I was looking to the future, but the future I want is tethered to my past. There has not been a day when I have not missed you sorely since your carriage pulled away from the millall those months ago.

If you reply to me, please speak from your heart. I do not want you to be so careful of my feelings that there is any room for misunderstanding.

A reply from you would be most welcome.

Yours always, John Thornton

Margaret held the letter against her chest, her heart thumping wildly. He still cared for her!

She barely had a moment to process her thoughts when Dixon knocked on the door and asked her if she needed help dressing.

Margaret knew she could change much faster with Dixon's help, so she quickly folded John's letter, put it in a drawer, and bid her maid to enter.

After changing into a much more suitable dress for an outing, Margaret dismissed Dixon and put John's letter in her pocket, then went downstairs to join her family and Mr. Bell.

Edith spoke first when Margaret entered, "Cousin, we wondered where you were. Please come and sit to have a cup of tea before you venture out for your walk."

Dutifully, Margaret did as she was asked and sat down beside Edith. The steaming cup of tea did more than warm her insides, it calmed her fluttering heart.

Mr. Bell told an amusing anecdote about a faux pas committed by a young scholar at a recent party and had everyone chuckling.

Aunt Shaw noticed that Margaret seemed distracted, and asked, "Margaret, are you well? You are flushed and seem far away in your thoughts."

Margaret turned to her aunt and smiled, "I am quite well, and I apologize for wool gathering. I was thinking of Papa just now when Mr. Bell was talking about the young scholar at the Oxford party. Papa would have enjoyed such a party but felt compassion for the young man."

Aunt Shaw agreed, and answered, "Yes, my dear, I believe he would have."

Mr. Bell sat down his cup and asked Margaret if she was ready to go. Her answer was to stand, and the two of them went to gather their things to take a stroll in a nearby park.

Once outside, Mr. Bell offered his arm to Margaret and laid his hand over hers. "My dear, did John's letter please you?"

Margaret turned to her godfather and said, "Mr. Bell, first let me thank you for the decades of friendship you shared with my parents. I really did think of Papa when you told your story. As far as the letter is concerned, I have not had a moment to process my thoughts, but my initial reaction is one of both relief and angst as well.

"You see, Mr. Bell, I thought I had lost his good opinion of me quite some time ago and would never have the chance to address some misunderstandings between us. However, I am not good enough for him, Mr. Bell. He has worked very hard to restore the Thornton name in Milton society and must make an advantageous match."

"Margaret," Mr. Bell interjected, "I do not think it is possible to lose his good opinion of you. And as far as not being good enough for him? Poppycock! That is all I have to say on that matter."

He continued, "Of course, I heard about the incident at Outwood Station. I gather it was Frederick that you were seen embracing?"

"Yes, it was. I had written to him about the graveness of Mother's illness, and he had come to tell her goodbye."

Mr. Bell replied, "Frederick took a great risk to venture into England, and I assume he got back to Spain safely?"

Margaret answered, "He did, and he married Dolores Barbour several months ago. Frederick works for her father at Barbour and Company, and they are expecting a baby in early spring. I am glad for him to be safe and happy even if I may never see him again."

"If you want to travel to Spain, I can arrange it for you, Margaret, unless there is a reason that you might want to remain in England?"

Margaret turned to her godfather and stopped walking. "I cannot bear to leave England, not even for Frederick, at least not at this time."

Mr. Bell studied his goddaughter's face as she spoke. There was something wistful in her expression.

"My dear, what is it that you want for your life? As long as you are in mourning, you are safe from your aunt and cousin's meddling to marry you off to Henry Lennox, but they will not relent once your year of mourning is over. I have known Joanna Shaw for over four decades, and she will not be moved once she has determined what she thinks is best."

She knew he was right, sadly so, and replied, "What I want and what is best for Mr. Thornton are two different things. You see, Mr. Bell, Mr. Thornton asked for my hand over a year ago, but I refused him. I did not know him as I do now, and I thought he was asking me out of duty because of my behavior the day of the riots."

Mr. Bell asked, "What happened the day of the riots, Margaret?"

"I had implored him to go down and speak to the angry mob to address their concerns, and he did as I asked. From my vantage point upstairs, I could see them taking off their shoes to throw at him and even picking up rocks. I ran downstairs to offer whatever aid to him that I could. I thought they would not hurt a woman, so I threw my arms around Mr. Thornton. The whole matter ended when I was struck by a stone."

Margaret lifted her hair to show the small scar on her right temple.

Mr. Bell was appalled, "Good God, Margaret! You could have been killed!"

Margaret answered, ruefully, "I underestimated how vengeful the mob was, and yes, I couldhave been injured worse than I was. The idealistic young woman I was before that day has never returned. I learned that the relationship between master and workers is far more complex than I originally understood it to be."

Mr. Bell nodded in agreement, and said, "Thornton was duty bound in honor to offer for you after such a public display of affection."

He held up his hand to stop Margaret from interrupting him, "I know that it was not a gesture of affection, but instead one of protection, but you must understand how it was perceived."

"Yes, of course, and to make matters worse, I had no idea Mr. Thornton cared for me, and not only did he ask for my hand, but he also declared his deep feelings for me. Debacle is the word I would use to describe the whole matter. He ended up yelling at me, I said unkind things, and we have been estranged ever since."

Mr. Bell remembered seeing Thornton that day leaving Crampton and had remarked to Richard Hale that Thornton had not seemed in so in control that day. It all made perfect sense now.

Mr. Bell noticed that Margaret's voice had a sorrowful tone as she spoke, "A few weeks later, he saw me with Frederick after dark the night Mother died. Mr. Thornton misconstrued what he thought he saw, and worse yet, because of the charges against Fred, I could not explain anything to Mr. Thornton. He is a magistrate, and I did not want to put him in the terrible position of having to choose between his friendship with our family and his duty to the Crown."

Margaret implored Mr. Bell to help her. "Will you please explain to Mr. Thornton in complete confidence of course, that the man he saw me with was family?"

Mr. Bell looked at Margaret much as he would if he had a daughter, and he would deny her nothing. "I will speak to him the next time we meet. His lease is due for renewal in a few weeks, so I will travel to Milton at that time."

"Thank you, Mr. Bell." Margaret continued, "A man died after being seen in a scuffle with Frederick. I was questioned by the police and of course, I lied to protect Frederick. Mr. Thornton did a most extraordinary thing by protecting me from an inquest. Mr. Bell, I lied, and Mr. Thornton knows I lied. Surely you can understand now why I am unworthy of him."

Adam tried to comfort her, "My dear, there has been a great deal between you and Mr. Thornton, and layers upon layers of misunderstandings to uncover, " Mr. Bell mused. "I suggest that you and Thornton use the opportunity that you have right now, through these letters, to clarify as much as you can, and Margaret, rest assured, it will at least give you some peace to know that his opinion of your character will be based on the truth."

Margaret's answer was a sad, but hopeful smile, and Mr. Bell suggested they stop at a tea shop for some tea and a tray of biscuits.

They had just placed their order when Mr. Bell noticed old friends sitting a few tables from them.

The woman at the table glanced their way and recognized Mr. Bell. She and her husbandwalked over to greet them.

The gentleman spoke first, "Mr. Bell, it has been several months since we last saw each other. What brings you to London?"

Bell stood and offered his hand, "It is always good to see old friends. This young lady is mygoddaughter, Miss Margaret Hale, and I have come to London to see her."

Margaret stood as she was introduced to Lord and Lady Sebastian of Yorkshire.

They were in town for a wedding, and while Mr. Bell and Lord Sebastian caught up on their news, Margaret and Lady Sebastian sat down together and began to talk. "Please call me Lady Merry, as in Merry Christmas. Everyone does, and I find anything else quite tedious. I was not born of wealth, and what attracted me to my husband was that even though he has more money than most banks, he is humble and does not always cater to the whims of society. However, with our daughters, the strictest rules of propriety apply,"

Margaret smiled, and found she quite liked Lady Merry Sebastian. She had a wit about her that was refreshing. "I was raised here in London for many years, and I have little use for society myself. I far preferred spending time with my family during the summers. We lived in a small village south of London called Helstone. It is in the New Forest. It is picturesque and an idyllic place to grow up. My father was a minister when we lived there. Where is it that you live?"

"Lord Sebastian and I have an estate in Northern England. I am quite fond of animals, and myhusband indulges me. I have quite the menagerie of pets at my home, I am especially fond of donkeys and have several of them. We also have horses and a number of other domestic animals."

Margaret smiled at her new acquaintance and said, "It must be so lovely to live on a grand estate where you have privacy. I long for that at times here in London. After my parents died, my Aunt Shaw and Cousin Edith offered me a home with them. We reside at Harley Street. Perhaps you know my Aunt Shaw?"

Lady Merry had two daughters of her own, both just a bit older than Miss Hale. Lord and LadySebastian attended society functions in London as they had many friends among the ton.

"Yes, I do know Joanna Shaw and Mrs. Lennox as well. In fact, I see them from time to time when we are in town at various social occasions."

Margaret was delighted and smiled, "What a small world it is. My family has been very good to me, and I am grateful to have a home with them."

Lady Merry heard a hint of sadness in her new friend's tone, and asked, "Miss Hale, if you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?"

Without hesitation, Margaret answered, "Milton-Northern."

Lady Merry was surprised, as Milton was an industrial city and not known for its beauty or culture. "It is a wondrous city, is it not? My husband says that Milton has made England the industrial capital of the world, when it comes to cotton mills."

Margaret nodded, "Oh yes, that it is. While it is true that the city consists primarily of cotton mills and shops, the people are industrious and hard-working. I find there is much to admire in them. I once was quite prejudiced against tradesmen, but now I have a different opinion of them after having lived in Milton."

Merry suspected that there was a young man involved somehow, but did not press Miss Hale.

Bell and Lord Sebastian were listening, and Mr. Bell added, "Our Margaret is quite a champion for the workers of the mills, especially those who work at Marlborough Mills. She often took baskets to the poor during the strike over a year ago. She was chastised by the mill masters, but she held true to the tenets of her faith."

Margaret added, "I only had one true friend in Milton, as my family was in reduced circumstances while we lived there. You see, my father was a dissenter from the Church of England and finding our place inMilton society was difficult to say the least. He worked as a tutor to support our family."

I met Miss Bessie Higgins, who worked at Marlborough Mills one day on a walk. We became close friends from that point on. Sadly, she passed away from a lung affliction just before my mother died."

Lady Merry reached across and patted Miss Hale's hand, "My dear, you knew such sorrow in Milton, and sometime, I would like to hear more about what makes you want to return."

Lord Sebastian and Lady Merry regretfully had to take their leave.

Lady Merry took her card from her reticule and handed it over to Margaret. "Miss Hale, will you write to me? I would love to continue our acquaintance."

Margaret smiled and answered that she would like that very much.

Adam Bell took in this exchange with great interest. His mind began to formulate a plan. Yes, this was a most fortunate meeting indeed.

oooOOOooo

When Adam Bell dropped Margaret back to Harley Street, he told her that he would return tomorrow to say goodbye before leaving for Oxford.

Margaret surprised her godfather by leaning over to give him a peck on the cheek. "Until tomorrow, Mr. Bell."

Margaret had lunch with her family, and she was glad that Edith and Aunt Shaw had calls to make all afternoon. Aunt Shaw said that in a few months, when Margaret was out of mourning, she could attend afternoon tea, too. "Margaret, all of our friends are looking forward to seeing you again, and you will be able to participate in all the balls and parties next spring."

"Yes, Aunt, and that will be nice." Margaret appeased her aunt, but she honestly did not enjoy the endless calls and parties. Her time of mourning had given her a respite from it, but she would be expected to rejoin society soon.

In addition, Margaret felt Mr. Bell was right in his assumptions about Henry Lennox and her family's expectations that she would welcome his attention once her time of mourning was over. Henry had been respectful and a good friend to her, but she felt nothing for him beyond the affection one friend feels for another. She had given him no room for misinterpretation of her feelings. Yet, she knew that it was her family's wish that she marry Henry, and the pressure would increase with each passing week, Margaret was sure of it.

Margaret sought the privacy of her room to reread Mr. Thornton's letter to her and to write her reply.

It proved to be a more difficult task than she had thought it would be. He had asked her to speak from her heart, and she did as he asked.

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As always, I love hearing from readers! Please do not hesitate to leave me your thoughts on the characters or the plot. Annabella Grace