How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
This was odd justice in the eyes of those who still blinked in the fierce light projected from the tribunal—a light in which neither parent figured in the least as a happy example to youth and innocence. (Preface.2)
This sentence appears in the second paragraph of James's novel, which already predicts that it's going to be a challenge for Maisie to hang onto her innocence. The law administers "odd justice," which is just James's funny way of saying injustice. And James's point here is that injustice poses a threat to innocence, making it hard for the innocent to flourish when even the law sets a bad example.
Quote #2
[…] not for any good they could do her, but for the harm they could, with her unconscious aid, do to each other. (Preface.5)
The fact that Maisie is "unconscious" of the harm her parents intend to do to each other shows just how innocent this little girl is.
Quote #3
Her first term was with her father, who spared her only in not letting her have the wild letters addressed to her by her mother: he confined himself to holding them up at her and shaking them, while he showed his teeth, and then amusing her by the way he chucked them, across the room, bang into the fire. (I.2)
Daddy Beale helps preserve his daughter's innocence only by not allowing her to read the letters her mom sends her. Nice work, Dad. He doesn't think about what kind of experience she's gaining by seeing her dad set fire to those very same letters.