فصل 13

Chapter thirteen

A New Life

Edith gave birth to her second child and, as was the custom, remained quietly in her room for several weeks afterwards. Consequently, the house in Harley Street was less busy than usual, and Margaret was able to rest and try to understand the sudden change that had taken place in her life. Once again, she was well looked after and living in a luxurious house. Mrs Shaw and Edith were delighted that she had returned ‘home’, and Captain Lennox was kind and brotherly to her. Margaret felt that it was almost ungrateful of her to have a secret feeling that the Helstone vicarage and even the little house in Milton were much more like her idea of ‘home’.

Just as she was starting to feel bored, Edith came downstairs and the normal life of the household began again. As she used to do, Margaret answered her cousin’s notes for her and reminded her of her social engagements. She loved playing with Sholto, Edith’s little boy, and looked after both children while the servants had lunch. But because her father had died so recently, she was not yet able to go out socially, and while the rest of the family went out almost every day, she was often left alone. Then her thoughts returned to Milton and she compared her life there with her comfortable life in Harley Street. She was becoming bored and was afraid that she would forget that there was a world of servants and workers, with all their hopes and fears. There seemed to be an emptiness in her life now. When she suggested this to Edith, her cousin stroked her cheek and said, ‘Poor child! Soon, when Henry returns from his travels, we will start having dinner parties again, and you will feel more cheerful, poor darling!’ But Margaret did not feel that dinner parties were the answer to her problems.

Dixon was still in Milton and Margaret missed her greatly. She read the servant’s letters eagerly, hoping for news of friends. Dixon mentioned Mr Thornton quite frequently, as he often gave her advice about the Hales’ business affairs. Then, at the end of June, when the house in Milton had been sold, she came to London in her new role as Margaret’s servant. She brought a lot of Milton gossip with her. Fanny Thornton had got married and had had a very grand wedding, paid for by her brother. Dixon had organised a sale of furniture, and Mrs Thornton had bought several pieces and paid too little, while Mr Thornton had bought others and paid too much. She did not have much to say about the Higgins family but believed that Nicholas was well. She had heard that Mary had gone to work at Mr Thornton’s mill as a cook, which sounded strange to her - why did the mill need a cook?

Henry Lennox, who had been doing legal work in another part of the country, returned to London and, as he had done in the past, spent a lot of time in Harley Street. He seemed even cleverer than before, although Margaret thought he had become colder. But the two shared similar intellectual interests, and unlike Edith and the Captain, they enjoyed discussing a variety of subjects. Indeed, Margaret suspected that Mr Lennox felt slightly contemptuous of his brother and sister-in-law and their aimless way of life. He and Margaret often saw each other, but always in the presence of others, and this helped them to relax and forget their embarrassment. Margaret suspected that Mr Lennox tried to avoid being alone with her. But when he had made a particularly clever remark, she noticed that he would glance at her as if he wanted to know what she thought of it.

Mr Bell wrote frequently, and in August Margaret received a letter from him saying that he would visit her the following week. For several months he had been complaining that he felt unwell, and some days before his visit, he wrote to say that he would come on Wednesday instead of Monday. But on Wednesday he did not appear, and the next morning a letter arrived from his servant explaining that Mr Bell had postponed his visit because he had suddenly felt ill. Then, at the time that he was supposed to leave for London, he had suffered a heart attack, and the doctors did not think he would survive the night.

Margaret received this letter at breakfast time and her face went very pale as she read it; she silently put the letter into Edith’s hands and left the room. Her cousin was very shocked by the news and started to cry, but when she had recovered a little, she went upstairs and found Dixon packing a small case.

Margaret, who was putting on her hat, was sobbing, her hands trembling so much that she could hardly tie the strings.

It was quickly agreed that Captain Lennox would accompany her to Oxford, and before midday the two were sitting in a train carriage. They arrived at Mr Bell’s house and learned that he had died during the night. The news could not have been worse, but Margaret was glad that she was able to see the room where her father had died, and that she could say a quiet goodbye to the cheerful old man who had loved her so much.

Captain Lennox fell asleep on the journey home and Margaret spent the time crying and thinking of how, in the last year, she had lost her mother, her father, and now Mr Bell. It seemed too much to bear, but then she arrived in Harley Street and Edith and her aunt were so kind and gentle, and little Sholto was so happy to see her, that she began to feel better. And by the time she went up to bed, she was able to thank God that her dear old friend had suffered so little.

‘Will Margaret inherit Mr Bell’s money?’ whispered Edith to her husband when she was alone with him that night.

The Captain, however, had no idea, and did not think that Mr Bell had much money at all. Edith was disappointed to hear this, but a week later she came dancing towards her husband and said, ‘I am right and you are wrong, sir. Margaret has had a lawyer’s letter and she will inherit about 2,000 pounds, and also Mr Bell’s property in Milton, which is worth about 40,000.’

‘She will be a rich woman! And what does she say about it?’

‘Oh, she has known about it for some months, apparently, but had no idea it was so much. She says she is afraid of the money. But that’s nonsense and she’ll soon get used to it.’

It seemed natural that Henry Lennox would be Margaret’s legal adviser, and he often came to her with papers that needed signing.

‘Henry,’ said Edith one day, with a little smile, ‘do you know how I expect your long conversations with Margaret to end?’

‘No, I don’t,’ he said, reddening. ‘And I don’t wish you to tell me. What you are thinking of may or may not happen. Please don’t say anything to Margaret. She has been quite cool to me for a long time and is only just beginning to be kind.’

Autumn came and the family went on holiday to Cromer, a pretty town on the east coast. Margaret’s troubles had made her quite weak, and the fresh sea air was just what she needed. She spent long hours sitting on the beach, and the gentle sound of the waves, and the beauty of the sea and sky, calmed her spirit. While Aunt Shaw went shopping and Edith and Captain Lennox went horse-riding, Margaret thought about her time in Milton. Her greatest regret was that Mr Thornton had never learnt the truth about why she had lied. But slowly she began to realise that she had a future, and her face, which had looked so pale and tight with pain, began to change.

After three weeks Henry Lennox, who had been in Scotland on business, came to join them, and he immediately noticed the difference in Margaret.

‘The sea has done Miss Hale a lot of good,’ he said one afternoon, when she had left the room. ‘She looks ten years younger than she did in Harley Street.’

‘It’s the hat I got her,’ said Edith delightedly. ‘I knew it would suit her the moment I saw it.’

‘I’m sorry,’ said Mr Lennox, ‘but I believe I know the difference between a pretty dress and a pretty woman. No hat could make Miss Hale’s eyes so bright or her lips so red. Her face is full of peace and light. She is even more beautiful than…’ he lowered his voice, ‘the Margaret Hale of Helstone.’

From this time, the clever and ambitious man used all his powers to will Margaret. He loved her intelligent mind and her sweet beauty, and saw the money she had inherited as only one part of her, although it could help him in his career.

On his way back down from Scotland, he had visited Milton on business connected with Margaret, and it was clear to him that her property there was increasing in value. He was glad that in their new relationship of client and legal adviser, he had many opportunities to talk to her. Margaret was very willing to listen, providing he talked about Milton, and she was delighted that he admired its inhabitants almost more than she did. He praised their energy and their courage, and noticed that when Margaret got bored, if he mentioned Milton her eyes would brighten and she would smile warmly at him.

During her long hours of thinking on the beach, Margaret had realised that her life was her responsibility and no one else’s. The result was that when the family returned to London, she told her aunt that she wanted to visit the poor and sick, as she had done in Helstone. Mrs Shaw did not wish to allow this at first, but Margaret was so sweetly persuasive that eventually she agreed. In their private conversations, Edith, Captain Lennox and Mrs Shaw decided that it would be helpful to Henry if Margaret did not go out much socially; Margaret had other admirers but her lack of interest in them was very obvious. They had noticed that Henry was the only man she really enjoyed talking to; and slowly, the two became closer to each other.