As a result they were both sound asleep long after the cock crowed. And they took a bit of good-natured chiding later on…Marie-Louise to Margaret and Jason and Jeffrey to Hunter…but on the whole everyone was pleased by the newfound closeness between the two. Margaret felt that her life had begun again; she was reborn through the eyes of Hunter Maguire. He had taken to wife a woman who had thought to remain always alone, and he had rebuilt her confidence and her desire to live life to the fullest. He told her she was special, and she felt special. He told her she was loved, and she felt loved. He told her she was a sweet innocent and she believed him. And, wonder of wonders, he told her she was beautiful, and she felt beautiful. The small scar below her cheek and the much larger, more worrisome scars inside her began to fade under his persistence. Margaret Downing Maguire began to break free. She set her anger and resentment aside and began to learn from others the way to truly live, love and share.
