Mrs. Hale Timeline and Summary

Mrs. Hale stays home during her niece Edith's wedding because she doesn't have anything good to wear. Yup, that's our first impression of her.
Mrs. Hale complains a lot about how modest her family life in Helstone village is. She totally loses it, though, when she finds out that the family will have to move to the northern town of Milton.
Once in Milton, Mrs. Hale experiences health problems. At first we might think she's just exaggerating. But we start to believe her once a doctor shows up and tells her she'll soon die.
While she's on her sickbed, Mrs. Hale asks to see Mrs. Thornton from Milton and makes her promise to give motherly advice to Margaret (Mrs. Hale's daughter) once Mrs. Hale has died.
The last thing Mrs. Hale wants before dying is to see her exiled son, Frederick. Margaret Hale writes to him and smuggles him back into the country so he can be at her side when she dies.
After Frederick is gone, Mrs. Hale dies.