Shadow in the North

Chapter Twenty-Three - A Damning Denial

Margaret found baring up for the sake of her father to be a great strain. Mr Hale was restless following the loss of his wife, and although he knew that Frederick would have got off from Liverpool without hours of leaving Outwood station, he could not rest easy for his son until that first letter arrived from Cadiz, informing his father and sister of his safe return. Mr Hale, who had taken to sitting idle in a chair for one half of the day, was - that evening - listless.

'Frederick ought to have left a note at Liverpool - just to let us know that he had secured his passage - I cannot bear the wait.'

'Surely,' said Isabel, in a calm and soothing tone befitting any ailing patient, 'if Frederick had been delayed, he would have written, and if he had been apprehended, we should have heard of it? I am certain all is well, but the waiting is - I agree - a trial.' Mr Hale could only nod absent-mindedly. He was not reassured, and yet his rational, thinking brain, could not refute the logic of his goddaughter's words.

'And he did get off safely?' asked Mr Hale, looking eagerly to his daughter.

'Yes, Papa.' Margaret was only glad that she had not said anything of Leonards having been working as a station porter, for even though Frederick had not come into direct contact with the man, she knew her father would suspect that he had been sighted; that Leonards would have made for the nearest naval office, or perhaps moved to send a wire. Again, Mr Hale nodded - not wholly convinced - and took himself from the drawing room. There he ascended the stairs, only to aimlessly stand before the bedrooms, opening and closing each door with no discernible purpose.

'When Frederick's letter comes, I am sure your Papa will be easier in his mind,' encouraged Isabel, seeing the lines of stress upon Margaret's young face. In truth, she looked quite ill. Margaret's complexion was pale, and she looked lacking in sleep. She had a tendency to tremble in her hands whenever Mr Hale was before her, at his lowest - as though the strain he carried was felt in her ten-fold - and Isabel was quite certain that she had heard crying from Margaret's bedroom when she retired of an evening. And yet she could not reach out to her friend, for Margaret was proud and determined, and had assumed a mantle of restrained sorrow, which she would uphold indefinitely, for the comfort of her father. 'I believe Mr Thornton had intended to call to-day; that will brighten your Papa, shall it not?' Margaret nodded gratefully.

'Indeed. I am certain that if Mr Bell did not have the gout and he had come, Papa would not be so anxious; even if only because he had an occupation - someone to talk the classics with, or someone to share in his fond memories.'

'Then Mr Thornton shall have to do for the time being, and Mr Bell when he can come,' agreed Isabel; her heart beating wildly - despite her clear expression - at the very thought of his coming.

He came; walked directly to Mr Hale, and took up his hands in a wordless gesture of comfort. His look was so tender, so full of compassionate understanding, that words were needless - the salve was given in only look and touch. Mr Hale settled in his chair, with a look of resigned contentment at the coming of his friend, and sat with a directness of eye that he had not possessed in the past week. Mr Thornton turned to Margaret and offered her a few low and consolatory words in that becoming, quiet way of his, and he saw, with his usual directness of gaze and quickness of mind, that she was struck low by the loss of her mother, and suffering under a heavy burden.

Surprised was he, to see the down-turned curve to her lip, for he had thought her some reason to hope - amongst all the grief - having seen her with the handsome gentleman at the Outward station, only those few brief days ago. He had supposed her to have a lover; someone to offer comfort and a promise for the future, and although he thought the timing of their walking out unseemly, and the lateness of the hour improper, he had determined, that for the sake of his friend, Mr Hale, and for the sake of Miss Hale's friend - his Isabel - that he would say nothing and try not to judge her - for despite all Isabel's asserted independence, he saw in her a feminine vulnerability and maidenly demeanour, which he felt sure would be mortified, if she was to learn of her friend's loose ways; and when the mother still lay unburied!