Dear friends of Fly High, especially you who like me love Mrs Gaskell's North and South, are you ready for a great couple of posts? Have you ever wondered what Margaret and John's married life could be like? Maybe you can have a glimpse on their happiness. How? Today and next Wednesday November 23 I'll have the honour to publish here on my blog two very confidential pages from Margaret Hale's - well Thornton's - Secret Diary. The first page, the one you are going to read today, was written soon after her honeymoon with John. I know, I know, I too envy her a lot. What a lucky young woman! I'll leave you to her words. For our eyes only. Oh! And by the way,
1. There's a giveaway linked to this series of posts. Read the details below.
2. If you've got questions for Margaret, please, leave them here in your comments. She's ready to answer.
Monday - May 28, 1852
I can hardly believe our week in Helstone has now past. The wedding was just as I have always wanted, simple but beautiful, and the days spent at the cottage were full of such bliss and harmony as I have never known.
Edith had told me that it could be pleasant to receive a husband’s attentions, and I was naturally nervous to discover that intimacy between husband and wife which seemed so mysterious. Nothing could have prepared me, however, for the astonishing power and beauty of it all – to feel so connected to another that you move and breathe as one. John was infinitely tender with me, and I felt enveloped in his love every moment.
I know he also treasured our time together away from everything and everyone else. I’m quite convinced he would have been happy to spend the whole of our holiday in that pleasant room upstairs! But I saw, too, that he was fast becoming fond of the leisurely pace of life in the country. It was so wonderful to enjoy the outdoors and do just as we pleased every day.
Although he did not want to leave, I know he would not be able to abide in such a place for too long. He belongs in Milton, where he may put to good use all his intelligence, ambition and fair principles. I am pleased, though, that he now loves Helstone as much as I. He has even suggested that we might return every year. Oh, I do hope so! But I will not place my hopes too high, as I know that he may not be able to take such a holiday every year.
And now I write here in my private sitting room as mistress of Marlborough Mills! It feels so very strange to live in this grand but austere house. Mrs. Thornton was very kind in showing me the house today. I hope we will learn to work together, as I wish so very much to make everything pleasant for John when he returns from the mill.
It does not feel like home here quite yet, but that is to be expected, as it is my first full day here. I will feel much more content when John comes home. I’m certain I was spoiled this past week with his constant presence and am trying to patiently bear the hours we are apart. Perhaps it is just so with all newly married brides, but I feel I may be especially stricken, for I can scarcely describe how deeply I am in love with him. He is the best of men. If only father and mother could have seen how happy I am!
Trudy Brasure is a hopeless romantic and a history enthusiast with a penchant for the Victorian Era. She enjoys steeping her imagination into the past to create stories that entrance the heart as well as capture the essence of the age. She writes most often in the morning, before her three children awake and homeschooling begins.
The author began her own personal romance story with a whirlwind courtship. Her married life started in a picturesque colonial town on the coast of Massachusetts. She now resides in California, where she and her family endeavor to enjoy the beauty of nature whenever possible.
Visit her website at www.aheartformilton.com
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