What You Wish For (21 page)

Of course in the book, that was the reason that he and Margaret finally admitted their love for each other, when she was able to ride to his rescue. Here though even if they had been in love, that was impossible, for Mr Hale was still alive and Mr Bell had not made Margaret his heir, so as such Margaret had no money to invest in the mill.

In the book she knew the speculation succeeded but here, since so many things had changed, there was no saying that the result of this speculation might not be different also. Should she try to convince Mr Thornton to invest, or should she leave well enough alone? It took her many sleepless nights wrestling with the possibilities before she finally came to a decision.

Though he thought about it for many days, Mr Thornton finally decided against making any grand plans to win Carrie back, because he knew her well enough to realise that schemes wouldn't work. The only way she would learn to trust him was if she spent time with him again, so that he could show her that he really was trustworthy.

Of course, that was the easy part. The hard part was convincing her to spend time with him at all!

Instead he had decided to put a recent idea into action.

For a few months now, Carrie's words,
'be the change you want to see'
had been on his mind and he had come up with a somewhat hare-brained scheme. He had thought it through from many angles and found it to be a very flawed plan indeed, nevertheless it kept plaguing him and finally he had decided to act.

As he made his way through Milton's slums, the conditions came as something of a shock to him. They shouldn't of course, for he had been here before, and yet somehow time always seemed to dim the horror until he was directly confronted with it again.

He walked up to former union leader, Nicholas Higgins's front door and knocked swiftly. Higgins looked surprised to see a Milton master at his door, probably more so since he had never worked for Thornton, but nevertheless he stepped back and invited him in.

Mr Thornton smiled slightly, for although they were considered enemies, northern hospitality still prevailed.

Although the home was small, he had done his best to keep it clean and homely. The stone floor looked to have been scrubbed to within an inch of its life and although the kitchen table, which took up most of the room downstairs, had clearly seen better days, Mr Thornton thought that he'd be happy to eat his dinner off it. A rather remarkable feat considering that there were eight young children in the house and one teenager.

“
Are they all yours?” Mr Thornton asked.

“
Not the younger ones but they're mine now,” Higgins explained. “A neighbour of ours were driven mad by the strike. He killed himself.”

“
And his wife?”

“
Soon followed her husband.” It was clear by his clipped tone that it wasn't a subject he wanted to go into in any great detail. “I take it Miss Preston sent you?”

“
Miss Preston? Why would she-?”

“
I've been looking for work and for obvious reasons, not having an easy time of it. She suggested I try you, said you were an honourable man and would hear me out.”

“
Did she?” Mr Thornton wasn't sure what to make of that. “You are still friendly with the Hales then?”

“
Aye. They may have a grand 'ouse now but they still welcome those they were friendly with afore.”

“
I would expect nothing less.”

“
So,” Nicholas gestured to the table, meaning for Mr Thornton to take a seat. “If Miss Preston didn't send you here, I must say I'm puzzled by your visit.”

“
Probably no more than I am by making it,” Mr Thornton answered as he sat down.

Although no one had asked her, the oldest child, the teenager, had begun making tea and now handed them both a mug and placed a pot between them.

“
I'm sorry, we've no milk or sugar,” the girl said, blushing at the thought of speaking directly to a mill master.

“
Black is fine,” he assured her, wanting to spare her embarrassment. “Thank you.”

“
So, what brings you here?” Higgins asked as he served the tea. It was very weak, and Mr Thornton guessed that the leaves had probably been reused many times.

“
I have questioned myself constantly on why it is I wish to speak with you, but I can find no reasonable answers, other than the fact that the current working conditions, the animosity between workers and masters, cannot continue.”

“
So you've come here to make peace?” Nicholas managed to sound both surprised and affronted. “Forgive me, but I thought you masters had already got your way.”

“
The workers have returned, that is true, but the bad feeling remains.”

“
And how do you propose to end it?” Nicholas asked.

“
I have no firm answers for you,” Mr Thornton answered honestly. “I have a few ideas but I was hoping that between us, we might be able to come up with some kind of workable plan.”

“
All the while you masters keep cutting pay and expecting us to lump it, there will never be peace between us. Prices rise almost daily and even reasonable sized families have trouble managing. Those with large families, widows and widowers and those with ill relatives, would starve were it not for the kindness of their neighbours, who can ill afford charity themselves.”

“
I did not come here for a sermon,” Mr Thornton said, irritated by his harsh words, though he tried very hard not to sound angry. “You make it sound like we enjoy cutting wages.”

“
Don't you? We don't see you taking a pay cut, you still keep your fancy houses and your fancy clothes and your-”

“
You shouldn't judge a book by its cover,” Mr Thornton snapped. “While it is true that some masters do live in luxury others, such as myself, merely have to keep up appearances. My fine clothes are none younger than three years old, and have been expertly darned many times by my mother. The only indulgence I have had since the market hit hard times has been the money I spend on my sister, though thankfully she will soon be someone else's responsibility.”

Higgins was inclined to snort and roll his eyes, but something in Mr Thornton's tone made him believe that the man spoke the truth.

“
If times really are that hard, why retain the maids in your home?”

“
I have considered firing some but like the workers in the mill, they have families to feed also. Which one should I fire? Jane, whose new husband drinks away most of her wages? Or Sarah, who lives with her widowed mother and supports her brothers and sisters? Or Cook perhaps, whose husband still cannot find employment after the strike and whose children are all too young to work?”

“
Aye,” Higgins conceded. “I see your point.”

“
And I see yours,” Mr Thornton agreed. “Believe me, I take no pride in my hands having to live somewhere like this.”

“
So what's to do?” Higgins asked.

“
That's why I'm here,” Mr Thornton said. “I'm hoping that between us we can find some solutions; ways to ease troubles for both workers and masters.”

“
Masters? You mean the others have agreed to this meeting?”

“
No,” Mr Thornton gave a wry smile. “But I am hoping that if we are successful, some of the others might follow my lead.”

Higgins nodded and considered Thornton for a while before speaking again.

“
Right. Well the way I see it, the biggest problem facing people is food. The prices get higher whilst the wages get lower.”

“
Well the best way to get a good deal on anything is to buy it wholesale,” Mr Thornton quickly answered. “Cooking for twenty is much cheaper than for one at a time.”

So the first practical step they decided upon was to try and open a canteen in the factory, so that food could be purchased wholesale and bought by the workers for a fraction of the cost, ensuring that all the hands had at least one good meal a day. Higgins had agreed to work out the costings and as they talked, Mr Thornton was somewhat surprised to realise what a keen mind Higgins had. He would have made a fair businessman, if he'd had the education or opportunity.

Higgins also agreed to work at Marlborough Mill, on the condition that he would give Mr Thornton fair warning if he found anything wrong, and on the understanding that he would be a kind of go-between for the master and the hands.

Although the workers were initially distrustful of the scheme, a week later the canteen opened and the workers quickly began to realise the bargain price of the meals on offer. Higgins daughter, Mary, prepared the food, usually something plentiful and simple like stew or casserole, and she baked fresh bread every morning. Before the week was out, some workers had begun asking if they might buy more than one meal and take the food home with them. Neither Mr Thornton nor Higgins could see any problem with that and by the third week, Mary found herself the boss of the kitchen, since she now had two young girls helping her each day.

The next issue that Higgins wanted to address was sick pay and as they shared lunch in the canteen one day, Higgins outlined his plan for the master. Mr Thornton was initially distrustful, assuming that Higgins wanted him to pay workers who couldn't work, but Higgins had already thought this through and had a very different scheme in mind.

“
Those who are willing will pay a small amount into a sick fund every week. Those who are taken ill and who have paid into the fund, can then receive a wage for up to twelve days out of every two years. In the event of a death, the widows could claim the sick pay for twelve weeks to help tide them over until sommat else can be worked out.”

“
And what if they have not taken their sick days?” Mr Thornton asked. “Is there not a danger that people will abuse it and take time off when they are not really ill?”

“
The sick wage would have to be lower than the normal wage, so not many would but if anyone does abuse the system, they're out,” Higgins explained.

“
And who would administer this?”

“
Well me to start, with help from a couple of t'lads.”

“
Well, if it's my permission you're after, you have it.”

“
Thank you, Master, but as nice as that is, we do need your help.”

“
If you are organising this amongst yourselves, I hardly see what use I could be. Indeed some workers would likely distrust the scheme if I were directly involved.”

“
You're not wrong on that score, Master.” Higgins flashed him a wry smile. “The thing is we need a bank account. As much faith as I have in my fellow man, there's very few of us that is above temptation under the right circumstances.”

“
And you don't think the bank would look very favourably on you wanting to open an account?”

“
Exactly. Some liberal-thinking gentlemen help the unions open their accounts, and I was hoping you'd do the same for us.”

Mr Thornton nodded, stood up and held his hand out to Higgins.

“
I will speak with Mr Latimer tomorrow. I am sure he will be amenable.”

“
Thank you, Master.” Higgins shook his hand and then returned to work.

Carrie heard all about Mr Thornton's schemes from Higgins when he came to see Mr Hale. He wasn't as frequent a visitor any more because he now had work again, but he tried to stop in on a Sunday if he could.

Carrie had been pleased as punch to hear that not only had John employed Higgins under his own steam, but that he also seemed to be trying to change the cotton industry and take better care of his workers.

Bernard Southard cared a lot about the plight of the working classes and, using his position as an M.P. he was doing his best to ease their plight. When he came to share tea with the family, he took a great deal of interest in what Mr Hale told him about the schemes going on at Marlborough Mills. Though he admitted that he couldn't legislate for such schemes, he was interested in ways he might be able to encourage other employers to adopt similar arrangements.

“
Perhaps you could offer a lower tax rate to those who implement similar systems,” Margaret suggested to him.

“
A wonderful idea,” he smiled warmly at her. “But I will have my work cut out for me in persuading others that reducing taxes is a good idea, but perhaps I might be able to do something along those lines. Perhaps I could make money used for such ventures tax deductible, but even that will be difficult.”

Mr Southard seemed to take a great deal of pleasure in talking with Margaret and always listened patiently to her suggestions, however naive they might be. Ever since he had met the Hales and Miss Preston at Mrs Thornton's dinner party, he had been a regular visitor at the house, but over the past few months his visits had started to become almost weekly.

Today he revealed that his intention in coming was to ask them to an opera that was being performed in his home town of Lampton the following evening. He used the pretext of having been let down and having tickets to spare but as Carrie observed him, she thought that this was an excuse to save his blushes should they refuse, and he simply wanted to spend more time with Margaret. He needn't have worried, for Margaret seemed just as taken with him as he was with her.

Carrie was about to decline so that he might be able to spend some time alone with Margaret, as she was sure he wanted but when Mr Hale accepted, she agreed to go also, in the hopes that she could divert Mr Hale at times and allow the couple some time together.