How we cite our quotes: (Volume.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
[A]lthough it was below the expectations which many of Edith's acquaintances had formed for her, a young and pretty heiress. But Mrs. Shaw said that her only child should marry for love—and sighed emphatically, as if love had not been her motive for marrying the general. (1.1.4)
Mrs. Shaw regrets the fact that when she was younger, she married for wealth and status instead of for love. Now she hopes that her daughter Edith will marry out of love, although she's worried that Edith picked a man based on status.
Quote #2
"Margaret," said he, looking into her eyes, which met his with their open, straight look, expressive of the utmost faith and reluctance to give pain, "Do you"—he was going to say—"love anyone else?" But it seemed as if this question would be an insult to the pure serenity of those eyes. (1.3.50)
After getting rejected by Margaret, Henry Lennox wants to know if she is in love with any other man. It's a fairly natural thing to ask, although it's not clear whether Henry wants to hear a yes or a no. In any case, he doesn't bother asking… the question is just too hard to ask.
Quote #3
"Margaret, don't despise me; I have a heart, notwithstanding all this good-for-nothing way of talking. As a proof of it, I believe I love you more than ever—if I do not hate you—for the disdain with which you have listened to me during this last half-hour. Goodbye Margaret—Margaret!" (1.3.63)
Henry Lennox might be a practical guy, but love can turn anyone into a poet. In this case, he bids Margaret farewell and prepares to wander the Earth, cold and lonely, for the rest of his heartbroken life. Or, you know, something like that.
Quote #4
Mr. Thornton saw her beautiful eyes lifted to her father, full of light, half-laughter and half-love, as this bit of pantomime went on between the two, unobserved, as they fancied, by any. (1.10.2)
Seeing Margaret exchange a look of love with her father makes John Thornton slightly jealous. At this point in the book, he hasn't yet admitted to himself that he loves her. But here, you can already see some unconscious traces of it.
Quote #5
"There are three people I love: it's missus, Master Frederick, and her." (1.16.53)
The servant Dixon is a loyal woman, and she loves her employers as if they were family. After all, it's not that hard when your employers treat you well and respect you as a human being. Plus Dixon has history on her side, since she's been with Mrs. Hale since before the woman married Mr. Hale.
Quote #6
Her daughter left her after dinner, sitting in her easy chair, with her hand lying in her husband's, who looked more worn and suffering than she by far. (1.21.40)
It's hard to tell who's dying, Mrs. Hale or her husband. By the looks of things, Mrs. Hale's illness has taken more out of her husband than out of her. But all in all, this image of them holding hands is really sweet, since it's the only moment of true tenderness we see between the two of them, and it reminds us just how much they love one another. We're getting a little misty-eyed.
Quote #7
"Oh, my Margaret—my Margaret! no one can tell what you are to me! Dead—cold as you lie there, you are the only woman I ever loved! Oh, Margaret—Margaret!" (1.22.55)
After Margaret takes a rock in the head to protect him from an angry mob, Mr. Thornton is worried that she has been killed. It's at this moment that he realizes he truly loves her and will do anything to be with her. Little does he know that the rock only grazed Margaret's noggin, and that she's fine.
Quote #8
"How dared he say that he would love her still, even though she shook him off with contempt?" (1.25.1)
After she rejects Mr. Thornton's marriage proposal, Margaret feels offended by the fact that the guy promised to keep loving her forever no matter what. Many people would find this gesture romantic, but Margaret actually finds it offensive.
Quote #9
"I think I love [my baby] a great deal better than my husband, who is getting stout, and grumpy—what he calls 'busy.'" (2.4.2)
The shine of marriage is quickly wearing off for Edith Shaw. So she puts all of her frustrated love into her baby, since she finds her husband getting grumpier and pudgier with every new day of marriage.
Quote #10
Although he hated Margaret at times, when he thought of that gentle familiar attitude and all the attendant circumstances, he had a restless desire to renew her picture in his mind—a longing for the very atmosphere she breathed. (2.8.22)
Even though Margaret totally frustrates him at times, John Thornton still dreams of just being near her and breathing the same air that she does. That's real love, folks, triumphing no matter what differences might separate Margaret and Thornton.