Free In Consequence: A Retelling of North and South by Trudy Brasure Page B

impertinence of her insistent questioning. “I’m sorry. I have no right to intrude upon your business decisions,” she stammered meekly.
    “Not at all. I am pleased that you take an interest; you have every right ... now more than ever,” he replied warmly, letting his gaze rove briefly over her figure and the soft features of her face.
    She blushed at his words and felt the heat of his admiring scrutiny.
    Silence again invaded the space between them.
    “Perhaps I may see you tomorrow evening when I come to my lesson,” he suggested hopefully.
    Her eyes fluttered to find his once more. “Yes, of course,” she answered politely with a trace of a smile.
    The corners of his mouth drew upwards in satisfaction. “Then I will take my leave of you today,” he announced with reluctance.
    She followed him toward the door. He had just begun to step out when she noticed his hat still hanging on the wall. “Wait!” she called out.
    He turned with a start, hoping to hear some tender word from her lips. He watched as she retrieved his tall black hat and handed it to him with a pleasing smile.
    He grasped it with both his own hands but made no move to remove it from her hold. “Thank you,” he said in a low, whispered tone as his stark blue eyes attempted to convey all that he wished to say.
    She nodded in faint accord and fluttered her lashes in distraction as he took his hat from her clasp.
    He turned to go, securing the door behind him. He ambled somewhat dazedly down the stairs and into the street. His eyes swept heavenward, where he spotted a patch of blue amid the encompassing gray of Milton’s dreary sky.
    The crease of bewilderment upon his brow slowly receded as the corners of his mouth edged upwards into a wide grin.

Chapter Four
     
    Margaret stood in a daze. The silence of the hallway reverberated with the words he had earlier spoken — I wish to marry you because I love you. She had not wanted to believe him, certain that she had never done anything to earn his admiration.
    In a flash she recalled when Henry had surprised her with an offer of marriage. Was this how it always was with men — springing their hidden adoration upon unsuspecting women? How was it that she was never aware of their interest or intentions until it was too late? she mused in breathless confusion. How was a girl to know when a man’s attentions were fraught with the hope of making a match?
    Could the man she had sent to face the riotous mob truly be in love with her? she wondered.
    She remembered again that, although he had been disconcerted by her abrupt dismissal, Henry had spoken with even composure.
    Mr. Thornton’s voice had held no such measure of tepid detachment. On the contrary, he had frightened her with his passionate words and fevered tone. No one had ever spoken to her in such a way!
    She shivered and hugged her arms about her. She should have stopped him, but she had been powerless to refute his urgent timbre. His declarations had mesmerized her. His promises had enveloped her in a comforting embrace, coaxing her to abandon all resistance with his ardent honesty.
    He had been in earnest. She did not understand it. Nor could she divine how it was that she now stood here as his intended. His intended!
    It was too overwhelming. She roused herself to move at last. She would go to see Bessy, she decided, as she headed upstairs to tell her parents of her intention.
    “Margaret,” Mr. Hale called out, as he slipped out of his wife’s quarters, “your mother is eager to see you.” He summoned her with a knowing smile.
    Margaret returned his smile weakly, feeling very much averse to discussing her situation any further. She longed for some time alone so that she might have the opportunity to digest all that had occurred since the tumultuous events of yesterday. She did not know whether to rejoice or to recoil in trepidation at what lay ahead of her.
    Entering the room her father had just vacated, she found her mother very