Shadow in the North

Chapter Eight - A Strike for Independence

That evening, Mr Thornton came to call upon the Hales; firstly to apologise to Mr Hale for missing his lesson the previous evening, and secondly to bring the direction for the doctor, as bidden by his mother. When he entered the drawing-room, Miss Hale was seeing to her mother and Mr Hale had about him a pile of books, which momentarily weighed him down upon his chair. Isabel, who had been in the process of pouring tea, looked up at him with a flustered smile; conscious of having referred to him as "handsome" only earlier that day, and fearful that his mother would have related to him, her words.

'Miss Darrow,' said Mr Thornton, stepping fully into the room as she made to approach him, 'I have here the direction you requested from my mother,' holding out a small, folded note.

'Dr Donaldson?' queried she, in low tones, so as not to incite concern in her friends. Mr Thornton appeared to understand her caution, but was surprised that she knew of the doctor's name. Realising her mistake too late, she put in hastily, 'I knew of his name, but not his address.' Seeing Mr Thornton seated, she then set about pouring his tea - recalling how he took it - and handed it to him with a timid glance. He noted, as the Hales sat about their own refreshments, that Miss Darrow and given up the cup which had so clearly been allotted hers, prior to his arrival, but then she slipped silently from the room, and so he thought that she did not intend to join them. He was surprised then, when she returned with alacrity, carrying a fresh cup and saucer, whereupon she poured herself her own tea, taken black without sugar. He was intrigued to see that she had sought out her own cup, rather than ringing down for one, and supposed that she must be of peculiar preferences of taste - having lived in such strange climates - for the Hale's tea was not very fine and had a tendency to bitterness, which did not lend itself to being taken without milk.

Mr Hale soon began to speak upon the strike which was the talk of Milton, and Mr Thornton, keen to explain both sides of the argument to his friend, settled into an explanation with such a firm and unforgiving expression, as to quite repel Margaret. She could not help but think of him as unfeeling, and sighed in resignation. It seemed her father would favour him - her mother indifferent in her illness - and Isabel; she appeared to openly admire the rough fellow. She turned her gaze to her companion, and watched as Isabel listened attentively to the conversation, with an unobtrusive interest. She felt certain that her friend had a partiality for the man, but the only true evidence of it was her earlier admission of his being quite handsome. Every other time she had spoken up for him, there had been a sound logic to her words; an almost-cajoling tone to her voice, as though she wished for Margaret to feel the same admiration that she felt; as though she was championing a people or a cause and not merely one man. The difficulty was, believed Margaret, that where she felt an affinity to the worker, Isabel seemed to wish her to find footing with the very Masters who blighted the worker's existence.

Mr Thornton had explained to Mr Hale that business had taken a turn in the past twelvemonth and mills were not making such ready profits as they had been the previous year.

'The workers see only that we cannot increase wages - hear that we may have to lower them - and think themselves oppressed. They do not understand that we masters have to manage buyers and sellers of cotton; have to tread a thin line in order to balance the books. No; they will not allow that we act with good reason. They will launch their attack.'

'And how will they do that?' enquired Mr Hale.

'I should imagine they will enact a simultaneous strike across the city. Milton will be without smoke in the next few days, for we Masters have all given our answers; there is to be no wage increase. No, we wait for what we know shall come.' Margaret frowned at hearing Mr Thornton speak so calmly on the matter; as though a strike - which would see the poor even poorer - was inevitable and nothing could be done, when she felt that not to be the case.