Henry is not the only one who has gotten his hopes up over Margaret's request; when he arrives the next morning for their meeting, Edith tiptoes about, keeping everyone away who might interrupt their tete-a-tete. She is obviously hoping that leaving Henry and Margaret alone together will result in his proposing and being accepted. When Henry finally emerges from the drawing room, Edith pops out from wherever she's been keeping watch and hopefully enquires if it's all settled. Henry replies shortly that no, it's not settled, and it never will be so Edith can just give it up. Crestfallen, Edith wails that it would have been so nice for everyone: Margaret is so good with the children, and now Edith is afraid she'll go off to Spain. Henry says drily that he will try to keep the care of Edith's children in mind when he chooses a wife, but it will not be Margaret because she wouldn't have him. Edith asks exasperatedly what they've been talking about all this time, then, and Henry says she wouldn't understand: they were discussing investments, leases, and land value. Edith considers this to have been a complete waste of their time, and Henry tells her that he's coming back the following day and so will Mr. Thornton. Edith blankly asks why, and Henry says that Thornton is Margaret's tenant and wishes to give up his lease. He turns away as he says this and leaves soon after. The next day, Mr. Thornton arrives on time for his appointment but there is no sign of Henry Lennox. Margaret delays going into the drawing room to meet with John, hoping Henry will make an appearance but after nearly an hour, it's clear that he's not coming. She enters the room to meet Mr. Thornton, hurriedly apologising and saying that she wishes Henry was there to help her. John offers to go to Lennox's office and try to find him, but Margaret says no, she'll manage. She begins by telling him how sorry she will be to lose him as a tenant, and mentions that Henry told her that the economy was due for an upturn. Mr. Thornton says quietly that Henry, a successful lawyer, doesn't know what it's like to find oneself no longer young and to lose all that one had, nothing remaining except the bitter memory of what had been. Margaret says that Henry only meant that there was every chance that Mr. Thornton could recover his losses and become once again a successful mill owner. She asks John to let her speak uninterrupted and nervously shuffles through her papers, pulling out a proposal which she drew up the day before with Henry. She explains to Mr. Thornton that she wishes to invest the sum of 18 thousand pounds in Marlborough Mills. She says that currently the funds are lying unused in the bank at 2 1/2 % interest and Henry assures her that such an investment will give a much better return on her money. As she goes on, Margaret becomes more assured in her speech, determined to convince Mr. Thornton that this is a matter of business, in which the advantage would be mostly on her side. At this point, John does interrupt her, repeating her name in a hoarse, passionate tone. Margaret meets his eyes briefly then turns away, covering her face with her hands. John kneels down beside her and says her name once more, telling her that, if she doesn't respond, he shall claim her for his own "in some strange presumptuous way," but that she can send him away if she wants him to go. Still not looking at him, Margaret turns back and leans her head against his shoulder, and he embraces her. She quietly murmurs that she's not good enough, and John tells her that this statement mocks his own deep feelings of unworthiness. He places Margaret's arms around his neck, recalling the day of the riot when she threw herself on him to protect him. He then takes out his pocketbook in which he has some pressed flowers. Margaret recognises them as roses from Helstone and asks when he was there; John tells her that, at his worst time, when his business was failing and he believed that he had lost her, he wished to see where Margaret had become the person she is. She asks him to give her the dried flowers and he tells her that she must pay him for them... there is a long silence. After this, Margaret whispers that she doesn't know what she's going to tell Aunt Shaw. John says that he'l talk to her, but Margaret says she'll do it, but can't imagine what her aunt will say. John says that she'll probably exclaim, "That man!" Margaret tells him to hush, or she'll do an impression of what's likely to be his mother's indignant tones, saying "That woman!" (The End.)
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