Margaret of Milton by Elaine Owen

Author:Elaine Owen
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2020-04-29T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

“Higgins!” Thornton exclaimed, stopping in his tracks. Margaret stopped as well and she and Thornton faced each other.

“Yes, Higgins. I have not been able to see him even once since the wedding and I am afraid he will think I have forgotten him.”

“So that is who this basket is for.” He looked at the basket in his hand with distaste. He had not even thought to wonder about its contents until now.

“I am bringing him and the children food and other things they need.”

“Must you really visit him yourself?” he asked, irritated, before he could stop himself. “Wouldn’t it be enough to send Dixon with supplies?”

Margaret drew herself up to her most dignified stance. “You did say that I could continue my friendship with him even after our marriage,” she reminded him.

“Yes, but – “

“You do not have to accompany me,” Margaret said firmly. “I am quite capable of visiting him on my own, and you must have work waiting for you at the mill. I will not blame you if you decide to turn around now. I will be home well before dinner.” Her eyes flashed a challenge.

Thornton stood still for a moment, conflicted. Margaret said she would not blame him if he let her carry out her errand alone, but the defiant look on her face declared otherwise. If he did not go with her now he would ruin the progress they were making as a couple. Besides, the Princeton district, where Higgins lived, was no place for an unaccompanied lady. He would not allow Margaret to face the possibility of any harm, not while he could prevent it.

“We will go together,” he pronounced. Margaret’s eyes widened but she said nothing. She resumed her place at his side and they continued walking. This time her hand was not resting on his arm.

Thornton now noticed what he had been too absorbed to see around him before. They were on the outskirts of the poorest district of Milton, and the neighborhood had changed. The fine townhouses and row homes were gone; in their places were one- or two-story decrepit buildings with small doors and few windows. The streets narrowed, becoming darker as the light from the sun overhead was cut off. The sidewalk became rough and uneven, with great crumbling gaps in some areas.

Margaret and Thornton were beginning to draw attention from the residents of the district as they went on together. He guessed that the lower classes did not often see a man in a top hat walking in the Princeton district, especially not one holding an oversized wicker basket in one hand. It must have been an incongruous sight. Margaret, in her simple dress and shawl, did not stand out as much.

As they passed by an opening between two buildings Thornton’s attention was caught by a young mother and her daughter sitting on a narrow step. Their thin homespun clothes and gaunt appearance proclaimed them to be beggars. The child looked up at him hopefully as he drew even with her and held up a hand, palm open, mutely asking for coins.

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