A Life Together - A North and South Continuation

Chapter Twelve

The days passed quickly. Margaret hardly saw John; he was shut away in the mill from morning to night making sure that everything was in place. When she did see him, in passing or at dinner where he ate as quickly as possible, he was too distracted for much conversation.

Margaret kept herself busy in her new little home; it felt strange to reside somewhere that was truly hers. Even if it was only to be for a few weeks, it filled her with some kind of strange pride. All her life, she had been told what to do, where to be, how to behave. In her own home, there were no such orders. Dixon watched her with a strange face, thinking Miss Margaret had gone quite mad.

Margaret had spent hours mending things that needed it; the curtains were almost threadbare, so she sat by the fire repairing their linings with care. She had even stitched her initials into her bed linen, though there would not be much need for anything that bore the letters MH in just a few weeks. There was something nice about having a place to call her own, for however short a time. More than nice, in fact. Independence was not a luxury afforded to many, and she relished it.

John had sent her a letter on Saturday, sent round with one of the servants, asking that she attend church with his family. Margaret smiled when she opened it, though his handwriting was rushed and ink splattered the paper.

The Sunday morning, the day before the Mill opened, the Thorntons, the Watsons, Margaret and Dixon went to church. Margaret sat away from John - he at one end of the pew, she at the other by one of the large pillars of the church. She sat next to Fanny, wincing a little at her shrill singing voice as they sang hymns as a congregation.

After the service was over, John had sought out the vicar to arrange the wedding. Margaret had told him to choose any date that suited him and the mill. Weddings took place on working days, at around nine in the morning. This would mean that the mill would either have to be closed or run without him for the day. They had decided, together, that as the reception would take place at the Thornton's home, it would be best for the mill to close for one day. John decided he would pay the workers for that missed day, as a gesture of goodwill and of thanks.

While John spoke with the vicar, Margaret stood with her future family outside the church. She was distracted, wondering what was taking John so long. Fanny whinged that she wanted to go home and lie down, claiming that having walked the short distance from her house to church had exhausted her.

John eventually emerged from the church, a small smile on his face.

"Monday, July the nineteenth, nine o'clock sharp."

Hannah and Fanny worried that it would not be enough time - indeed, how could a suitable wedding dress be made so quickly? It was already the end of May, which left a little over six weeks for it all to be arranged.

"I do not wish for anything extravagant." Margaret told them for what felt like the thousandth time. They began walking out of the churchyard, the women in front and the men behind. Dixon decided she would go and visit her mistress's grave. "I saw many beautiful designs in London but I have decided I would be happiest with something I already have, made in a different fabric. That will take less time, I have spoken with the dressmaker who is in agreement."

"It does not seem right to get married in something so plain." Fanny said, aghast.

Margaret had to suppress a laugh at the carelessness of Fanny's words, reminding herself that surely she did not mean it to come across as it did.

"It will be special no matter how simple, for it will be my wedding gown." Margaret told her. "Anything else can be arranged easily, no?"

Mrs Thornton made a funny little noise.