In Consequence: A Retelling of North and South (46 page)

A lightheaded excitement kept her keenly alert to every sight and sound, but as they drew nearer to the crowd of parked carriages and the stream of people entering the church, her muscles tightened. It would be no trifling affair to marry the Master of Marlborough Mills. Church bells pealed to announce the occasion and her stomach felt leaden with sudden trepidation to appear before so many gathered strangers. A lingering apprehension gripped her that she might not be a worthy bride to one of Milton’s most respected sons.

Her father squeezed her hand, which lifted her spirits, and her mother’s happy smiles at the grand outlay warmed her heart even as a tinge of sadness endeavored to enter her mind. She cast it firmly out, resolved to enjoy the day to its fullest.

Edith and Fanny, dressed in white confections of silk and tulle with blue ribbons, descended the granite stairs to meet the bride while Capt. Lennox, the second groomsman, escorted Mrs. Hale into the church.

Fanny jerked her chin toward a group of laborers, dressed in their best clothes, clambering up the steps to see the Master marry. “Mother wished to discourage them from coming, but John said they had as much right to come as anyone as long
as the invited guests had their seats,” she apologized with a slight sneer for her brother’s casual attitude at such a time!

Margaret was pleased to hear his fair judgment, remembering their banter upon this very subject a week ago.  She looked up to observe the poorer men and women who had come to the spectacle of her wedding. “I’m sure they mean no dishonor. I think it rather a fine thing that they are
curious to see the Master wed.”

Inside the church, Watson’s easy banter fell on deaf ears as Mr. Thornton waited near the altar for the wedding to start. Every palpitation of his heart beat in anticipation of the fulfillment of her promise.

He had once thought marriage a pleasant convenience or luxury for other men, who had not the concentration and self-sacrificing diligence that had driven him to success. How swiftly his former purpose had been reduced to dust when the Fates placed before him this fiery girl from the South! He now knew he lived to hear the sound of her voice, to receive her tender looks, and to feel her arms clasped around his neck. He could no longer bear life without her.

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 hi
s 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 res
pond 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 happiness 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 w
as 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 a
ltered 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.