North and South Chapter 21 - The Dark Night

In which Margaret and her father return from a social gathering to face a grave family illness that casts a sombre and tender shadow over their lives, their hopes tempered only by the careful attentions of a wise physician. Meanwhile, as Margaret ventures forth on a necessary errand, she encounters the restless stirrings of discontent among the townsfolk, a murmuring tempest that subtly presages deeper unrest.