The Journey Home

Chapter 42 - A Warm Hearth

The time had come for Margaret to leave the welcoming home of Pru Cartwright. Pru had encouraged Margaret to extend her stay for nearly two weeks beyond her arrival; however, the bustle of wedding planning, managing the administration of the new Marlborough Mills school and having a small child underfoot made the little house feel as though it was bursting at the seams. Margaret could not, in good conscious, continue to impose upon Pru, despite Pru's insistence otherwise.

Pru had taken easily to Margaret's unassuming ways and enjoyed her company at the end of her own long days at the Marlborough Mills canteen. She was touched that Margaret looked to her as a maternal figure in the matters related to her upcoming wedding, and despite feeling the physical stress of fourteen hour days at the mill, Pru made herself available to Margaret, listening attentively as Margaret sought her advice. Pru also recognized that Margaret was not the typical young bride, having gained a worldly maturity in the years since she first arrived in Milton, and refused to patronize her in a way that she would have with a more inexperienced bride. She encouraged Margaret to make her own decisions and to not be pressured by the whims of Fanny, nor the stricture of Mrs. Thornton. Pru's practical advice regarding keeping a home was respected; her wisdom in keeping a husband was treasured.

Although Margaret had been briefly schooled in the carnal obligations of a wife and the intimate expectations of a husband by the governess that raised her and Edith, she had few opportunities to have a frank conversation with a woman experienced in such matters. Edith had shared with her only bits of her own private life with Captain Lennox, noting that things got easier and more pleasant over time. Edith cautioned her to not make herself always available to a husband's desires and encouraged separate bedrooms. Her sister in-law, Dolores, kept the same room with Fred, but any explanation as to what occured behind that door was whispered in blushing tones, and refered to as 'performing her duty' with her husband.

Margaret's mother, Maria Hale, had grown frail by the time Margaret reached womanhood and never spoke of such things.

On the evening before her departure, Margaret sat with Pru, Lilly and her old friend, Mary Martin, née Higgins, in front of the great hearth of Pru's living room. Mary had grown comely over the years, shedding the deathly pall of starvation, and settling into a solid, square bearing, much like that of her father. Margaret saw in Mary the occasional glimpses of her older sister Bessie, who was Margaret's first friend in Milton. Having Mary was a two-fold blessing, as it provided Margaret with a long desired touchstone to her deceased friend, as well as Mary's friendship and loyalty in this life.

Margaret's few possessions had been sorted, with some being sent to the hotel for the remainder of her maiden days, and the others sent on to Marlborough Mills, to await her on her wedding day. Margaret had sent letters to Edith and Aunt Shaw, announcing her wedding plans, as well as to her brother Fred, by way of Senor Barbour's establishment in Cadiz. There were no other family or friends for Margaret to inform, other than those in the room around her. She knew that Fred's attendance at the wedding was out of the question based on his fugitive status. She had invited Aunt Shaw and Edith, naturally, but questioned whether the family would leave London as the holidays approached.

As was often the case, Pru performed light prep work in the evenings for the canteen. Dozens of sacks brimming with chestnuts sat in the cool storage cellar beneath her home, that had been collected by local children earlier that fall. Mary spent part of her day in Pru's kitchen moving pans in and out of the great black iron stove, roasting pails full of chestnuts while she tended to her own children and those of a neighbor. Mary and Pru sat removing the meat from the shells, while Margaret concentrated on some close embroidery and Lilly continued with her knitting, concerned that there was no amount of hats, mittens and scarves that would protect her young charge from the harsh northern winter. Margaret smiled at Pru's habit of wearing an old pair of leather gloves to protect her hands from the sharp edges of the chestnut shells.