“North & South: John Thornton, Love Lessons”, Ch. 24 (PG-13): Tea for Two Becomes Fractured, January 27, 2014 Gratiana Lovelace
(An original fan fiction copyrighted by Gratiana Lovelace; All rights reserved; Based on the Elizabeth Gaskell novel, North & South and its 2004 BBC adaptation; No copyright infringement intended)
[I will illustrate my story using my dream cast from the 2004 BBC production of “North & South”: Richard Armitage for John Thornton, Daniela Denby-Ashe for Margaret Hale, Lesley Manville for Mrs. Maria Hale, Tim Pigott-Smith for Mr. Richard Hale, Sinead Cusack for Mrs. Hannah Thornton, Jo Joyner for Fanny Thornton, Brendan Coyle for Nicholas Higgins, and Graham McTavish as Dr. Cameron Ogilvy, Holliday Grainger for Angharad Ogilvy MacIntosh, Simon Woods for Baird Ogilvy, and Emma Ashton as Mrs. Dillard, John Light as Henry Lennox, and Tim Faraday as Watson, etc] [(1) story logo]
Author’s Mature Content Note: “N&S: John Thornton, Love Lessons” is a story with mature themes of love and relationships set within a period drama of the 1850’s and beyond. As such there will be heartfelt moments of love and sensuality (S)--as well as other dramatic emotions, including some violence (V)--and I will rate those chapters accordingly. If you are unable or unwilling to attend a movie with the ratings that I provide, then please do not read that chapter. This is my disclaimer.
Author’s Recap of the Previous Chapter: Fanny Thornton and the Hales return home to Milton--accompanied by Fanny’s secret fiancé, Baird Ogilvy. But though their reception is warm, what awaits Baird and Fanny are revealing their engagement and difficulties for John with Watson blackmailing him to force Fanny to marry him. John would not be moved by Watson’s blackmail. And Watson stormed out of Thornton Manor vowing revenge. However, Watson will find that today will be more his undoing, than John’s undoing.
“North & South: John Thornton, Love Lessons”, Ch. 24 (PG-13): Tea for Two Becomes Fractured
After greeting her brother John and sister-in-law Margaret upon returning to Milton from her extended stay in London on Monday January 20th--and escaping from the unexpected and unwelcome visit of her former suitor Watson--Fanny goes to her bedchamber and removes her cloak and hat, removes her traveling clothes and freshens up. Then she changes into her pretty plaid dress that Baird likes so much on her. She hopes that she sees him at tea today. Fanny picks up Watson’s letter, looking at it with foreboding. But she does not want to deal with what it might contain just now--she presumes that it is a marriage proposal. So Fanny tosses the letter upon her bed for her to read later, before she goes to find her mother and this little girl named Lissa.
And though not intentionally coinciding with Fanny’s return home, it is time for Little Lissa Dillard to return to her family to finish healing. Walking to her old bed chamber, Fanny halts just before entering and shyly watches her mother Hannah Thornton helping little Lissa pack up her belongings into a small fabric bag to go home with her mother, Mrs. Dillard at the end of the work day. Lissa is still in a splint for her broken left arm--as she will be for another month--but she is healing well. So Lissa sits quietly on her bed.
And Lissa will be going to a new home when she leaves Thornton Manor today. For as an experiment in creating affordable mill worker housing by John, the family has relocated to in a converted caretaker’s two bedroom cottage on the unused portion of the mill property near where John would like to build some low cost affordable housing. One might say that the Dillards are testing the new housing set up for the Thornton’s.
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"N&S: John Thornton, Love Lessons", by Gratiana Lovelace (2013-2014) (Done)
FanfictionJohn Thornton has an eager mind, starved for intellectual stimulation. But what John could not have foreseen was that just as his mind needs nourishment, so does his heart. Mr. Hale's proud, beautiful, kind, stubborn, and compassionate daughter Mi...
