Wrought Iron and Gold
- Mr. Thornton leaves his house for the Hales'. When he arrives, he immediately notices how modest the Hales' income must be.
- While drinking tea with the Hales, Thornton feels jealous over how wonderfully Margaret and her father get along. He wishes that Margaret would treat him as nicely as she does her father. We can already see the first sprout of his attraction to Margaret growing.
- Margaret drifts off into her own thoughts as Mr. Thornton chats with Mr. Hale about something from their last meeting. Mr. Hale, remember, is teaching Thornton classic literature.
- During this meeting, Margaret realizes that she likes the look of Thornton's smile.
- Mr. Thornton gets on a rant about a factory machine called the steam hammer, which was apparently invented by a great man in Milton. Thornton says he's very proud to be from a town where captains of industry can invent such useful things. He says it's much better than living in the south of England, with nothing but poetry and old money to live on.
- Margaret perks up at this and tells Thornton he doesn't know what he's talking about. She admits that there might not be as much industry in the south. But there isn't as much poverty and crushing despair either—and let's not forget the smoke.
- Thornton admits that this is true. But he reminds Margaret that she doesn't know the north of England like he does.
- Thornton gives a rundown of how the industrial revolution has completely changed life in England. People who used to be servants were able to go into business and make huge fortunes for themselves.
- Margaret, being from the south, thinks that it's undignified to measure everything according to dollars and cents the way Thornton does.
- Thornton also admits that when the Industrial Revolution first started and factories opened, the masters totally abused the workers. But as the demand for labor increased, the balance of power evened out a little. At least according to Thornton. He still feels a lot of resentment when English parliament tries to pass an act forcing employers to treat their workers better. Thornton thinks he can handle this himself.
- Deep down, Thornton is an up-by-your-bootstraps kind of guy. He thinks that poor people are poor because they don't have the talent or work ethic to raise themselves up in the world.
- Margaret thinks this is a terrible attitude and doesn't mind telling Thornton so.
- Thornton tells the Hales his personal story of raising himself out of dismal poverty through hard work.
- Thornton also admits to Mr. Hale that reading the classics has never helped him in any practical sense. He just likes feeling knowledgeable. Mr. Hale disagrees and says that knowing authors like Homer has a lot of practical value.
- After this, Mr. Thornton gets up to leaves. He shakes Mr. Hale's hand and offers the same for Margaret. But she's not used to shaking hands and just answers with a bow. Mr. Thornton walks off grumbling about how stuck-up she is.