In Consequence: A Retelling of North and South

by Trudy Brasure

  The bells pealed as the bride entered the church on her father’s arm. The arched, open structure was nearly filled to capacity and the quiet murmur of hundreds could be heard from the sanctuary. Margaret gripped her father’s arm more tightly, feeling faint at the magnitude of the impending moment.

  When the organ announced that it was time to proceed, her courage nearly failed her and she was grateful for her father’s gentle lead. A quick glance toward the altar made her heart patter as she glimpsed the tall figure of her beloved. She resolved not to meet his gaze lest she lose her footing as she began to traverse the aisle, leaning upon her father’s arm.

  She recognized few faces among the sea of strangers, and the multitude of curious onlookers reminded her of his stature in this rising town. For a moment, she feared she would be unable to live up to the role required of her, so far from the home she had loved in the South.

  She smiled to glimpse Nicholas and Mary amid the seated crowd and felt her confidence return as she remembered her purpose. When she reached the front, she acknowledged Aunt Shaw, Dixon, and Mr. Bell with a warm smile and beamed to see her mother’s happy face as the small woman dabbed her eyes with a dainty handkerchief.

  At last, she raised her eyes toward the man who stood patiently awaiting her arrival. All extraneous thoughts — every fleeting hesitancy and self-doubt — vanished as she met his searing gaze. The full force of the meaning of this occasion, and the depth of emotion he placed upon it, was apparent in one glance.

  He had never appeared as stunning to her as he did now. He was dressed in a formal black frock coat with a deep burgundy waistcoat that contrasted strikingly with the crisp white of his shirt and tie. Her knees weakened to recognize her attraction to his handsomely drawn features and the commanding masculine power of his presence.

  From the moment the organ had sounded its signal strains, he had watched her approach with steadfast fascination, his eyes enslaved to her as they had been and would forever be.

  Never had he been more aware of her beauty and innocence as now, when she approached him in white satin and lace. The essence of all this regalia distilled into an astounding truth: she would stand today before God and man to willingly give herself to him.

  As he looked into her eyes, a flood of joy so profound washed over him that was as sharp as an aching pain. He felt the solemn responsibility of this gift keenly and doubted his worthiness to give her all that she would need to remain happily at his side.

  He had long understood the great capacity to love that she held within. He knew that whatever man would be worthy enough to win her heart would receive it not in part or measured effort, but with all the power of her being. He had suffered acutely when he had believed he would never be that man.

  It was still incredible to him that she had chosen him — that he should clasp hold of this part of heaven here on earth. He longed to reach out and take her hand so that he might feel the solid form of her flesh and know that it was not all a dream.

  So involved in his strong emotions was he that Mr. Thornton was suddenly aware that the service had begun. The vicar smiled at the display of affection apparent between the couple before him as he gave his familiar homily on holy matrimony.

  When the time came to ask the congregation if any impediment was known to prevent this marriage, a solemn silence ensued throughout the vast church.

  It was broken by the vicar’s question of intent to marry, to which the groom answered with a resounding, “I will.”

  Mr. Thornton watched his beloved’s face in breathless awe as she hearkened to the vicar’s similar inquiry and breathed aloud her promise to love, honor, and obey him in dulcet tones that made his body tremble.

  “Who giveth this woman to be married to this man?”

  Mr. Hale proudly stepped forward to answer and gave his daughter’s hand to the vicar with a nod of profound trust to the grateful groom.

  At the vicar’s direction, Mr. Thornton reached out to offer his hand, and marveled at the profound feeling of satisfaction that welled up inside him as the slight hand of the woman he loved slipped into his strong grasp.

  Margaret looked up into his loving eyes as she placed her hand in his. She knew she had found her perfect home.

  As their spoken vows echoed throughout the stone church, the depth of the meaning of those vows resounded within each. Wholly apart from the surrounding crowd, their eyes communicated with one another in sacred sincerity of the words that promised them to each other ‘till death do us part.’

  One more pledge remained. As Mr. Thornton slipped a gold band on her finger and repeated his troth, Margaret felt her body respond tremblingly to the deep resonance of his voice.

  With this ring, I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

  Searching her face, he saw her eyes brim with tears and used every fiber of self-control to refrain from gathering her into his arms.

  Hannah’s impassive face, although yet unsmiling, softened at the sound of her son’s conviction and the look of innocent trust glowing on the girl’s face. She swallowed to remember a similar scene long, long ago.

  The vicar joined their hands together and began his solemn peroration. “Those whom God had joined together, let no man put asunder. Forasmuch as John and Margaret have consented together in holy wedlock….”

  All else faded into dim oblivion. They two, alone, existed as they stared at their clasped hands and then into each other’s eyes in incredulous wonder at the sacred bond being created between them. Their lives would be bound together for as long as they moved and breathed in this earthly existence.

  “…. I pronounce that they be man and wife together, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”

  They shared a smile of utter delight at this formal declaration and then patiently endured the prayers and blessings that followed until at last they signed their names in the registry and, exchanging beaming smiles at their accomplishment, linked arms to sweep down the aisle as husband and wife.

  Emerging through the open doors into the daylight, the elated groom pulled his bride to him with one sweeping motion of his arm and kissed her soundly.

  The first followers to appear caught sight of the couple’s firm embrace. Edith and her husband smiled at their jubilation. Mrs. Thornton was discomforted by their open display, but was moved by the look of pure joy upon her son’s face.

  Edith kissed her cousin, exclaiming for her happiness and then settled by her side as her mother did the same. Mrs. Hale emerged from the church in radiant pleasure to have witnessed such a grand wedding for her daughter. She clung to her husband’s arm as she descended the stairs, her weakness betraying her, but arrived to proudly embrace her new son-in-law and her daughter with tears in her eyes. Margaret’s heart lifted to see her mother’s jubilant face and tucked the vision away in the store of treasured memories she would keep from this day.

  Mr. Hale found it difficult to utter his heartfelt congratulations without disintegrating into tears as he shook the hand of the only man he believed he could entrust with his daughter’s happiness, and gave his precious girl a kiss to wish her all good things for the future.

  Margaret’s heart brimmed with gratitude as she embraced her parents for all they had given her and for the unspeakable joy she felt in being able to share this wonderful day with them. She bade them goodbye until after the wedding-breakfast, for it had been decided long ago that it would be too exhausting for her mother to attend the festive event, however much she would have desired to attend.

  Margaret marveled at the pleasant appearance of her mother-in-law as the often grim-looking matron approached in fair attire, her countenance lightened with a smile of satisfaction. While Mr. Thornton bent to receive his mother’s embrace and proud commendation, Margaret waited apprehensively for the reserved woman’s blessing.

  “I wish you every happ
iness in this marriage,” the older woman conveyed to her new daughter-in-law with a polite smile and kiss. “Care for my son,” she pleaded in lowered tones while the groom was occupied in receiving another guest. “He has given you his heart.” She searched the girl’s face to see how much she comprehended its worth.

  “And my heart is wholly his,” Margaret countered with spirit, lifting her chin in defiance of any doubt. “I could not do otherwise than to devote myself to his happiness,” she answered more softly to the woman who had so faithfully cared for him during many hard years.

  Hannah nodded her approval, heartened by the new bride’s staunch reply, but was still uncertain whether the Southern girl was ready to stand fast by his side through the coming years and possible hardships. It was difficult to dismiss the memory of Margaret’s impudence in refuting her son’s logic at the dinner party, nor could she shake the conviction that the girl had sent her son to face a riotous mob. Only time would tell if her adoration was lasting and true.

  A little girl in the simple garb of the laboring class rushed up to the bride to silently offer a single wildflower. Margaret bent down to accept it with gentle thanks and a glorious smile, sending the lass racing back to her mother in excitement. Mr. Thornton was enchanted with the exchange, his mind inevitably turning to the very pleasant contemplation of their own children.

  Just before the newlyweds were hastened to their carriage, Margaret spied Nicholas and Mary among the crowd spilling from the church.

  “Nicholas!” she called out with a modicum of refinement, as she stepped toward her friend without a further thought. The groom followed in her wake with amusement, proud of her freedom in abandoning the imposing strictures of class.

  The Master and his wife shook hands with the former union leader and received hearty congratulations and well wishes from Higgins and his daughter as others looked on, which only encouraged the affirmation of the rumor that had spread throughout the town. Mr. Thornton had indeed been conquered by love and his convictions altered by the mere smiles of a Southern girl.

  The bride carefully pulled a white rose from her bouquet and handed it to Mary with a request that it be laid on Bessy’s grave. Mary nodded as tears gathered in her eyes.

  Upon being whisked away to the Thornton home, the newly married couple spent the first hours of their marriage in a blur of social celebration. Standing by her husband’s side in the great, open room bursting with enormous vases of flowers, Margaret was dazed to take part in receiving the formal congratulations of a great number of Milton’s most respected persons which included her husband’s fellow magistrates and manufacturers, bankers, the mayor, and other notable citizens. Margaret felt a warm blush and rushing thrill at every enunciation of her new name — Mrs. Thornton — from the tongues of strangers making their first acquaintance with the Master’s new wife.

  Mr. Thornton beamed happily at every offered felicitation and felt a swell of elation and pride to hear her bear his name.

  Soon the room was filled with the murmur of voices and clinking china as guests helped themselves to the array of sumptuous refreshments served in shining silver dishes: galantines, stewed oysters, cold game, ices, and all manner of confectionaries. Margaret recalled little of the following hour, swept away by the dizzying thought of her new status as a married wife and dazzled at the notion of being seated in the elegant surroundings of her new home. She smiled to be woken from her bewildered state by the occasional squeeze of her hand by her husband when he believed such a gesture would be undetected. His touch infused her with the warmth of shared secrecy, instantly recalling her to the strong bond of their deep affection.

  When the tiered cake had been cut and the guests were busily engaged in their own portion, Mr. Thornton whispered to his bride that he would slip away to change into his traveling attire so that they could make their departure. Edith and Maxwell engaged the bride in conversation as soon as he left the room, but Margaret listened distractedly as butterflies fluttered in her belly at her husband’s announcement. She felt the pang of his absence as if she had never before been parted from him.

  He soon returned and, making hasty good-byes to all in attendance, ushered his wife toward the door.

  Hannah Thornton clung to her son for one last parting moment as she wished the couple farewell. She prayed he would return as happy as he now appeared to be, although her heart nearly burst with sorrow at this sundering of the familiar closeness they had shared. She would hold her tears until she was alone.

  Fanny and several other guests took great pleasure in showering rice upon the newlyweds as soon as they emerged outside and made their way to the waiting carriage.

  Seated beside her husband inside the coach, Margaret waved final farewells and smiled at the clusters of curious onlookers gathered outside the mill gates along Marlborough Street. She felt like royalty and glowed inwardly at the perfect beauty and joy of the day.

  “Are you happy?” the new husband inquired of his bride. Her every movement and expression told him that she was, but he longed to hear it from her lips.

  She turned to him in some surprise. “Yes.” She could scarcely speak the joy she felt. “Very much so,” she answered, regarding him with loving eyes.

  The last hour of social restraint had been almost unbearable. He could no longer resist kissing her. Willing to risk the possibility of being seen through the coach windows in broad daylight, he lifted her face to his to bestow on her a tender demonstration of his own elation that they were wed.

  She closed her eyes to blissfully receive his ministrations. Utterly gentle, yet somehow electric, his kisses were magical, tingling through every nerve in her body and awakening it to strange new sensations which only his touch could ignite.

  He pulled away carefully from the spell of her compliant mouth, his face hovering close to hers. Fluttering her eyes open to stare into the darkening intensity of his deep blue eyes, she discerned that her kiss must stir a similar effect within him.

  They spent the remaining minutes in glorious contentment clasping hands, their fingers intimately entwined.

  Upon their arrival at his bride’s former residence, Mr. Thornton would once have bounded up the stairs, but instead took proud care to assist his bride in her voluminous gown.

  Her parents were sitting in the front parlor. Fresh embraces and handshakes were shared with hearts both exultant and filled with the sweet sorrow of painful parting. Mrs. Hale was worn and tired, but her eyes sparkled with wistful satisfaction, which gave Margaret cause to breathe a prayer of thanks.

  Boxes of food from the bounty of the wedding breakfast were delivered to the kitchen and the bride’s trunk loaded onto the coach, while Margaret repaired to her room to change her garments.

  Mr. Thornton endeavored to answer all of Mrs. Hale’s inquiries as to the grand fete, expending every effort to contain the bounding zeal that made sitting still a rigorous strain. From the time he set foot in the familiar Crampton home, he could not erase the upward turn at the corners of his mouth, jubilant that the time he had long awaited was near at hand. He informed his in-laws of the destination of their wedding trip, as yet undisclosed to Margaret, and promised they would return in a matter of days.

  He halted his speech when Margaret appeared just inside the doorway. She wore a new merino ensemble of dove gray, which he believed she wore as elegantly as any satin gown. White ruffled lace peeked from her sleeves and along the high neckline of her closely fitted jacket. She bowed her head demurely under his ardent gaze, which merely roused within him fierce adoration of her feminine loveliness and grace. He rose to his feet and she lifted her eyes to his with hopeful trust.

  His heart leapt at this supreme moment: when she would look to him as her sole protector and guide, and come away with him to be his lover and companion — his own true wife.

  Final fond farewells were exchanged and Mr. Hale followed the couple to the door to watch with aching heart and lightened soul as his daughter gave him one last
cheerful wave before the carriage took her away.

  Settled snugly together in the closed compartment, Margaret lifted a beaming face of jubilant accomplishment to her new husband and received a lingering kiss in reward.

  “Will you come with me to Scarborough, Mrs. Thornton?” he asked in the throaty urgency of his Darkshire accent, his own face beaming with an exulting happiness to call her by his name at last.

  “Is that where we are going? I’ve never been there,” she replied in faltering tones, feeling her body weaken at the sensual sound of his voice. She smiled at his delight in trying her new name on his lips.

  “I wished to go somewhere I had not yet seen.”

  His boyish eagerness tugged at her heart. “I will gladly go wherever you choose. Everything will be new for us from now on, will it not?” she asked. Her eyes danced in expectant joy for his reply.

  “It will,” he answered with a radiant smile. His world would never be the same again. He bent to press his lips to hers, tasting in her kiss the promised bliss of a lifetime of love.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The newlyweds arrived at Milton station filled with the exuberance of traveling alone together as husband and wife. If their attire gave no indication of the morning’s events, anyone with a perceptive eye could guess that the couple at the ticket counter were newly married, for not a moment passed when they were not in some way attached to the other by an affectionate grasp or touch, and as they waited for their train to arrive, the fond glances and smiles exchanged by the tall, imposing man and the young beauty at his side revealed their elation.

  Once they were seated comfortably in their compartment, Mr. Thornton and his wife were content to enjoy the time in closed quarters in relative silence.