So this is a plot that smacked me in the face while I was driving alone between towns today. I don't know if there's anything similar on here. There probably is. Anyway, please enjoy and let me know what you think. This story will revolve around the events depicted in the mini-series.

Disclaimer: I don't own North and South or it's characters.

xxx

Dearest Mr Bell,

You may not remember me as well as I do you, but I hope that you will forgive my forwardness in writing to you. As father may have told you, he and mother have decided to move north, and I worry for them. You may also know that I am no longer in their care and cannot go with them, regardless of how much I may wish to.

I know that you and father have always been close friends, and I can only ask. I can only beg you to watch over him and my mother whilst they are nearby. I fear that they may struggle with the busy life of an industrial town. Oh, how I wish I could go with them.

I would appreciate if you did not mention my writing to you to father. I know it would only make him feel helpless. I hope that you are fairing well.

Yours faithfully,

Margaret Lennox

Margaret Hale had the reputation of being a beautiful, kind woman. Since a young age, any who met her would soon learn of and come to appreciate her intelligence and unconditional thoughtfulness when it came to others. She was a model of feminine sensibility, whilst simultaneously preserving her youthful cheerfulness.

But she was Margaret Hale no more.

Henry Lennox was a pleasant enough man, with brains but very little wit. Many young ladies had expressed their interest in him throughout his life, but Henry had eyes for no one but Margaret Hale, the cousin of Edith, his brother's wife. She had never directly expressed interest in him as others had before, but he knew her to be a subtle creature, and read her actions as he saw them.

After his brother's wedding, when Margaret and her parents had returned to their home, he planned a visit, where he would bare his feelings to Margaret and ask her to be his wife.

When Henry Lennox asked Margaret to marry him, she was instantaneously taken aback. She had thought little of marriage, but she knew how pleased her parents would be to see her secure, especially after Fredrick. Bearing this in mind and how happy it would make both their families, she agreed and they were married before the season was out.

Several months later, Margaret had lost some of her flare and appeared quiet and distracted to those around her. Edith tried desperately to make her happier, but when even the news of Edith's pregnancy couldn't rouse more than a small smile and murmur of congratulations, it was decided that Margaret would go to her parents in the north.

Pleased by the idea, Margaret had been surprised that Henry had agreed to the scheme so readily. Although, he was such a busy man that she suspected that he would hardly notice her absence. The charm of Margaret Hale had worn off for Henry soon after they left for their honeymoon and ever since, he had been strangely distant. He only really talked to her in company and it was Margaret's shameful secret that the marriage was yet to be consummated.

Margaret put Henry's feelings down to a lack of emotional maturity. He had gotten what he wanted before he realised that it wasn't what he wanted at all. And it was true. Margaret would admit it to herself that a stupider wife would have suited him better, and a more feeling husband would have suited her very well.

Still, as she sat aboard a northbound train, Margaret felt a familiar sense of excitement and wonder fill her at the thought of visiting a new place and seeing her parents once more. 'Perhaps I could visit again soon after I return to London,' she mused, then chided herself for wishing to be anywhere but in London where she belonged.

As the fields and farmland disappeared and was replaced by harsh, cold buildings and the air grew visibly foggier, Margaret wondered just what sort of place her parents had moved to. What sort of people could live in such a place?

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So? What do you think? Intriguing enough to catch your attention? I hope so! I will update when I get time.