How we cite our quotes: (Volume.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Margaret used to tramp along by her father's side, crushing down the fern with a cruel glee, as she felt it yield under her light foot, and send up the fragrance peculiar to it […] reveling in the sunshine, and the herbs and flowers it called forth. (1.2.5)
Margaret loves the sweet fragrances and warm feeling of nature. There's something sinister, though, in the way she crushes flowers with "cruel glee." The phrasing suggests that even though Margaret loves nature, she loves it as something she can use in whatever way gives her pleasure.
Quote #2
[With] the soft violence of the west wind behind her, as she crossed some heath, she seemed to be borne onwards, as lightly and easily as the fallen leaf that was wafted along by the autumnal breeze. (1.2.14)
Margaret feels totally at peace with nature, even though nature sometimes pushes her with "soft violence." Letting nature take control makes Margaret feel like she's nothing more than a falling leaf, which is a welcome alternative to all the responsibility she has around the Hale house.
Quote #3
On such evenings Margaret was apt to stop talking rather abruptly, and listen to the drip-drip of the rain upon the leads of the little bow-window. (1.2.15)
Margaret usually thinks deeply about what she says. But nature has a way of silencing her and making her meditate on its beauty. In this case, Margaret stops talking suddenly to listen to the rain dripping on her window. She's a proud woman, but she can't resist nature's charms.