Shadow in the North

Chapter Eleven - A Warning for the Future

The evening of the twenty-first arrived and Mrs Hale, able to recline upon an easy chair, looked admiringly at her daughter, bedecked in a sumptuous white silk gown, ornamented with a string of coral about her slender neck. The warm glow of the coral only served to enhance the redness of her lips and promote her pale, ivory skin, contrasting against her crown of glossy raven hair. Indeed, Mrs Hale - excitable at something to break up the monotony of life in Milton as an invalid - felt, in that moment (whether it was true or not), that Margaret had never looked so very beautiful. Isabel, she acknowledged, had never been seen to such advantage, either. For in her teal dress, the distasteful browning of her skin, instead looked a splendid gold, and she could fancy - though she attributed it to a coming fever - that she verily glistened when the light danced upon her skin.

'You look very well, Isabel,' offered Mrs Hale weakly, but with a kindly smile. 'Although you have no ornament. You ought to have an ornament!' And the thought took hold in her mind and she began to fret, turning anxiously to Margaret. 'Do you have a piece - a simple piece - that might be loaned to Isabel?'

'But I have the very thing!' exclaimed Mr Bell, announcing his own arrival. He had called past Crampton to collect the party in his hired carriage, and brought with him a purchase he had surreptitiously made whilst Isabel had been speaking with Mr Thornton. He pulled from his breast pocket a black velvet pouch and handed it to an anxious Isabel. Nervous fingers tugged apprehensively at the drawstring, as she attempted to reason his bestowing upon her, yet another gift. The bag parted, and a pendant of turquoise fell into her palm, a gasp escaping her lips. She had never been made a gift of jewellery; she had thought it the domain of a lover; the actions of a man who would woo, but Mr Bell - old enough to be her father - had bestowed upon her the sole piece of jewellery she had ever been given as a gift.

'You are too kind, sir!' replied Isabel, at length, slowly shaking her head. 'I cannot accept it. It is too much.' For it was no trifling piece. Certainly not gaudy or ostentatious, but of a fine quality and no doubt, a handsome price.

'Nonsense!' cried Mr Bell. 'A dress with no finishing touch? I would be remiss in my charge of seeing you outfitted if I did not offer you some small piece of jewellery to complement it.' Mrs Hale nodded vigorously in agreement. Margaret - sensing that Isabel was discomfited by Mr Bell's attentions - said only that it would suit her very well, and that she would expect no less from the man who was her godfather and Papa's oldest friend. He does this for Margaret's sake; to spare her green dress and preserve her own collection of necklaces and brooches, Isabel told herself, forcing a smile of acceptance.

'Then I am very grateful,' replied she; saved from further expressions of gratitude by the entrance of Mr Hale, who informed the party that he dare not be late and risk slighting his favourite pupil, and that they must depart at once.

The Hale party were the first guests to arrive, and were - to Fanny's mind - unfashionably punctual. Mr Thornton was delayed on some last minute matter of business, and so it fell to the Thornton ladies to entertain their guests; none of whom having anything in common with the other. Indeed, Mrs Thornton did not have any fondness for Mr Bell - whom she had known for many years - thinking him an idle man who sought to spend his time reading and speaking instead of earning a wage with sweat and vigour. She secretly resented his ownership of the mill property, believing that her son - for all his efforts and endeavours - deserved the title of owner, rather than simply, tenant. Mr Hale, she thought rather a bore, and found she had nothing on which she could converse with him, for he was incapable of grasping the nature of trade and the battle the Masters fought against the hands, resorting always to a stance supported by some religious doctrine. Miss Hale, she noticed, looked very well, but she held herself proud and had that disdainful jutting of her chin which irked Mrs Thornton so, and left her ill-inclined to engage the young lady in polite conversation. Miss Darrow, she thought looked extremely well - never better - and that instantly made her cautious, for she had a suspicion that her son might be partial to the strange young lady, and surely, if he could admire her in a dowdy grey dress, in rich silk - which complemented her colouring so very well - his admiration could only increase.