Margaret of the North (52 page)

After tea, Margaret requested the
parson's wife for a look around the house to show John where she had grown up. 
Although the house had been extensively renovated to accommodate the present
parson's much larger family, Margaret thought he could still get a general idea
of where the Hales gathered for daily activities and where there had been a
piano that she reluctantly practiced on.  She was grateful to see her old room
still intact and she could show him where she read her books and did her
lessons as well as where she cried her heart out at night when she had been
chastised.  After taking him on walks to experience the idyllic landscapes of
Helstone, she meant to give him a glimpse into country living in a tiny hamlet
with their visit to the Parsonage.

When they were walking back to
town, John asked Margaret, "Why was there that wicked twinkle of in your
eyes while we were having tea?"

She smiled broadly at him as she
recalled the mixture of surprise, embarrassment, and eagerness to please on the
countenance of both the parson and his wife when she introduced John.  "On
my last visit here three years ago, I nearly lost my temper when the parson's
wife insinuated that I had become wild in my ideas because I had lived in the
north where life was "more wild."

"I see.  I was the specimen
from the north to prove them wrong."

"Well, yes, I wanted to show
them how ignorant they were of Northerners.  That was all incidental, of
course.  Primarily, I wanted you to see where I grew up.  You have always told
me you wanted to know all you could about my life here.  Although the house is
much altered, I thought enough was left of what it had been to give you a
glimpse into my childhood."

"I had a rather pleasant,
illuminating visit and I thought it generous of the parson to welcome us to his
house for that purpose."  He turned towards her, his eyes teasing. 
"How did I do as a specimen?"

"Admirably, of course,"
she replied, her lips in a slight pout as she felt somewhat chastised. 
"You are mocking me just a little for laughing at their ignorance and you
think that it was insolent of me to do so after their kind reception."

"No, you were not at all
insolent.  One can easily see how sincere your gratitude was to them when we
parted but I do not often condone laughing at ignorance."

Margaret was silent for a couple
of minutes before she answered with some defiance in her voice.  "You were
not here three years ago when the parson criticized my father's questioning of
church policies and declared ignorance better than all that "book
learning"—those were his very words and the very idea his wife called
wild."

John was taken aback but did not
answer until after they had walked some distance.  He stopped and turned to
face her.  "I am sorry.  I do not agree with that type of ignorance.  We
cannot know everything but I believe we must learn all we can in matters of
conscience and faith."

Margaret nodded but said
nothing.  He gazed at her with contrition in his eyes.  She looked even more
beautiful in the clear and mellow southern light.  Her ivory skin had a bright
velvety cast and her eyes were an even deeper blue.  There were so many times
in the past when he disagreed with and even disapproved of her ideas but later
realized she had a good reason for them.  He had wanted to apologize
afterwards, admit she was right, and take her in his arms to kiss away her hurt
look or her displeasure.  Before that fateful day at the train station, he did
not have the right to do so.  He did all those now as they stood on the
street.  There were but a few people passing them by but he did not doubt that
they watched, particularly because he was kissing the old parson's daughter,
one of their own.  He found, upon arrival in Helstone, that many townspeople
still remembered the Hales, even after so many years absence, and were glad to
see Miss Hale come for a visit.

He wondered if his spontaneous
gesture of affection offended southern sensibilities but he did not care. 
People were not so different.  In a northern city like Milton, people might not
openly express either offense or shock but they would gossip and, if the
kissing couple was not married, the gossip could be the ruin of the lady's
reputation.  John placed an arm around Margaret's shoulders and led her back
into town in silence. 

They were approaching the inn
when he asked, "Will they think us wild for kissing in the open?"

"Yes!"  She answered
with an impish smile, "But we are from the north.  We have an
excuse."

**************

When they sat down to dinner at
the inn on their last evening in Helstone, Margaret seemed both pensive and
wistful as she said, I thought I would never come back here.  My previous visit
was too sad because many of my illusions were destroyed and the associations of
this place with my parents were too vivid and too painful."

"So, why did you come
back?"

"Helstone still occupies a
special place in my heart and I have faith that time heals wounds.  Besides, at
that time, I not only suffered from having lost my parents, I also despaired
that I had sunk in your opinion.  I thought that if I came back here with you,
I would have new and pleasant memories."

His face lighted up into a smile
of serene happiness at her admission of his influence on her.  "Did my
opinion matter that much to you?"

She did not answer but wrinkled her
nose up at him.

He continued, teasing.  "I
suppose it was only fair that you were suffering the same way I was.  Did you
ever imagine the agony I went through thinking that you could never be mine? 
That would have been about the same time."

Their dinner of perfectly roasted
chicken and boiled, buttered vegetables arrived, claiming their full attention,
eliciting praises about how fresh and colorful the vegetables looked and how
much tastier everything was.  A dessert of freshly-picked berries and cream followed
and as the dinner came to an end with tea, John said, "I rather like it
here.  Perhaps, we can get a country house here.  It is not far from Milton,
only four hours by train."

"You do intend to enjoy the
fruits of your labor!"

"Where have you been all
this time?" He replied, feigning incredulity.  "Have you not noticed
that my life has largely been one of pleasure and enjoyment since I married a
beauty from this village?  Of course, I cannot be idle like your typical landed
gentry.  I must work, but even in that, I get more satisfaction since she came
into my life."  He paused and with a merry twinkle, added "Well, I do
have to keep her happy with visits to Paris and Helstone.  But, I enjoy those
anyway."

She smirked, "Paris?  What a
snob!  But are you sure?  I will wager, if she is a woman from these parts that
her needs are simple and being with you is enough."

"Perhaps, but you do not
know this lady.  She is insatiable.  Anyway, I would like to get her a house
here if she wants it."

Turning somewhat more serious,
Margaret said, "Edith suggested buying a house with us where we can all be
happy together at certain times of the year but she was thinking of one at a
coastal town south of here.  Some place where my aunt used to lease a townhouse
for the summer."

"It sounds almost like being
in Cadiz but much cooler and rainier.  Still, I prefer a country home here in
Helstone because of what it means to you.  Of course, I will seldom have long
spells that I can spend away from the mill but I can come regularly for
weekends and for a week every now and then."

"Well, we shall see!"

Margaret went with John to the
mill on the Monday after their return from Helstone.  She wanted to see the
progress of the renovation on the rooms for the medical clinic after he told
her that he expected it to be completed in less than three weeks.  She could
not quite believe that the medical clinic was about to become a reality, ready
to see patients possibly on the first week of July.  It had immersed her in
months of planning, coordinating, and working on tasks, both small and big,
that she had never done before and she found it hard to imagine that it was
actually going to come to fruition.

Margaret had been both amazed and
grateful at how smooth the process had been of making the clinic happen. 
Everyone she had approached had been more than receptive and willingly complied
with her requests for information or help.  Drs. Donaldson and Hartley were the
most obliging of all, professing belief in the necessity of the clinic and
enthusiastically donating their expertise in planning it.  Not long after
Catherine was hired, Dr. Hartley started training her at their clinic and,
three months later, he was certain that Catherine, an enthusiastic and apt
learner, would be prepared to assist by the time the clinic opened.  Meantime,
Dr. Donaldson facilitated the ordering of equipment and medicines which arrived
promptly and were, at the moment, temporarily stored in a locked area in the warehouse. 
Even Henry Lennox had given generous legal and financial advice gratis when
John sought him out for his opinion on appropriate but nominal fees for the
doctor's services—fees subsequently set jointly with Dr. Hartley. 

At a meeting with overseers and
work representatives several weeks earlier, John had announced the pending
availability of medical services two afternoons a week and nursing care every
workday at a clinic in the mill premises, then under construction.  Shortly
thereafter, Margaret painted a colorful sign that was posted at the entrance to
the mill: It included projected opening date, doctor's fees, free nursing care,
and hours when the doctor and the nurse would be at the clinic.

Margaret stood in front of the
clinic, clutching in her arm a second sign she had painted and which she
intended to place directly on the door to the clinic.  It listed the doctor's
name, his fees, the nurse's name, and hours of operation.  She was in no hurry
to put up the sign since she had all morning to ask one of the carpenters to do
so.  In any case, none of them was in sight.  Much of the renovation that
remained was inside the clinic and she was certain they were all there.  For
the moment, she preferred the silence in the new hallway just outside the clinic
where everything looked fresh and new.

John had taken the drawing room
as his office and the library as an office for an assistant he intended to
hire.  The clinic occupied what had been the dining and breakfast rooms and the
kitchen.  Margaret contemplated the door to the clinic for some minutes,
initially, with much satisfaction—she relished the idea of its being there and
felt proud that its existence was largely her doing.  That satisfaction was
soon tempered by apprehension, however, as she wondered if workers would really
come to use the clinic.  Despite the success of the Christmas Eve celebration,
she knew that there was still much skepticism, if not distrust, among mill
workers.  That distrust could make them reluctant to seek services at a clinic
provided by a mill owner.

By noon, Margaret had surveyed
the renovation, talked to the carpenters and put up the sign.  John had told
her that he was going to be too busy that day and would most likely not see her
at all at the mill so she had arranged for a cab to pick her up shortly after
noon to take her back home.

Before she left the mill,
Margaret went up to Mrs. Thornton's apartment to pay her respects, more out of
a feeling of duty than of anticipation at a pleasurable visit.  Although the
two women no longer suffered discomfort in each other's presence and the
affection between Elise and Mrs. Thornton brought them together in an unspoken
bond, a cozy companionability seemed to elude them.  Margaret knew that her
mother-in-law had seen her come in with John.  She also suspected that Mrs.
Thornton had been looking at the renovation being done on the floor below her
apartment and knew what the new rooms were intended for.   Margaret thought it
time to talk to her about it and confirm her suspicion of the opening of a
medical clinic.  Margaret was prepared to answer her questions sincerely, if
she asked.

After the usual greetings, Mrs.
Thornton invited her to stay for lunch.  "It would be nice to have company
for lunch.  John rarely comes to have it with me.  I think he schedules
meetings with his workers during lunch hours at the dining hall."  She
could barely hide the disappointment in her voice.

The unexpected invitation
surprised Margaret.  It was extended casually and, she surmised, out of proper
decorum because of the hour, but there was an earnestness in Mrs. Thornton's
manner that she could not help reciprocating.  "I would like to stay for
lunch but the cab I ordered will probably be here in about ten minutes. 
Perhaps, next time."

"Oh?  Were you intending to
come back soon?"

"Actually, yes.  I would
like to spend more time here during the next few weeks to watch and provide
some guidance to the renovation that is going on below.  I know you know what
it is for."

Mrs. Thornton was momentarily disconcerted
at Margaret's frankness.  She did know from snippets of conversation between
John and Margaret that she had heard in the conservatory and she answered
simply, "Yes, I do.  Is there still much work to be done?"

"For the renovation of the
rooms, I suppose there are only finishing touches.  But equipment would have to
be brought in and properly placed, medical supplies stored safely, things of
that sort.  I would like to come and oversee some of that work and make sure
that everything is done right and the opening of the clinic occurs without any
major hitches."

Although Mrs. Thornton had been
curious when she asked her question, the answer she received was more than she
wanted to hear for it tempted her to break her resolve not to interfere or even
share her opinions on mill business.  She nodded, looked away and when she
turned towards Margaret again, she said simply, "Well, then, if you are
not too busy, do come and have that lunch with me."