Somewhere in the World

Chapter 17

Chapter 17 

 

Lovell, Massachusetts

January—October 1862

 

Margaret Hale married John Thornton on a snowy day in early February. Mr. Thornton had business that required him to travel out of town during the month of January, so the date was delayed by a month. He was anxious to be wed, Margaret less so. Having accepted his proposal, she was by turns certain she had made the right decision and wracked with uncertainty that they were making a mistake. She feared he would regret this hasty marriage after a time, and that the gossip would not dissipate but would be directed toward him as well as her. Already, she had heard several whispers about poor, deluded Mr. Thornton, wedding a woman of questionable character.

Nevertheless, the one time she attempted to raise these concerns, he brushed them away and refused to listen to her protestations. Had she shown reluctance on her own part, he would have withdrawn his offer. However, in the few discussions they had had, it became clear to him that her heart did not belong to any other man, so he had hope that she would grow to care for him. After several attempts to voice her fears that he was making a mistake, considering all of the women in Lovell who would be all too willing to become his bride, Margaret acquiesced and the topic was mentioned no more. John Thornton was a realist; he did not think Margaret Hale would ever love him passionately. However, he did hope that her feelings of friendship would deepen so that they would become dear and intimate friends as well as husband and wife.

The day of the wedding, Margaret arose early. The ceremony was to take place at ten in the morning, so she breakfasted and retired to her room so that Dixon might arrange her hair and help her dress. She had selected a warm wool gown and pelisse in shades of mossy green, and a brown velvet bonnet. Her primary concern was staying warm in the frigid church, but she knew the gown and pelisse were becoming, and she wanted to appear at her best for her husband-to-be.

At fifteen minutes before the hour of ten, she departed the small house she had called home for two years for the last time as an unmarried woman. The ceremony was to be small, as none of their family could travel up from the South, and Mr. Thornton had no desire to make their wedding a spectacle before the prying eyes of those who had spoken of Margaret’s shame with such malicious glee. The only guests besides immediate family who awaited them in the church were Nicholas, Bess, and Mary Higgins; Isaac, Jessamy, and Tansy; Mr. Bell; and Dixon, who was seated by her mother.

At the church, Margaret stood outside of the sanctuary, her heart lodged in her throat. A pulse hammered wildly at the base of her neck, and her palms were damp. She felt as icy as the stone walls that surrounded her, and struggled against nausea. Her father had left her alone so that he might seat her mother in the church, and returned with the tidings that the Thornton family was present, and the minister was ready to begin the ceremony. When he clasped his daughter’s hand to place it in the crook of his elbow, he startled. “My child, you are positively freezing. Are you nervous?”