New Scenes and Faces
- Before you know it, the Hales are only twenty miles from the northern English town of Milton. This is where Margaret and her mother separate from Mr. Hale for the sake of spending some relaxing time together while Mr. Hale makes sure the new house is set up for them.
- When they finally get to Milton, all they can see is factory smokestacks and giant clouds of black smoke hanging over the town. It all looks pretty grim compared to the beautiful, untouched nature of Helstone.
- Leaving Mrs. Hale at a hotel, Mr. Hale and Margaret go to check out some houses that they've looked up in the local newspaper ads. Truth be told, the two of them aren't impressed with any house they see. But they eventually have to settle on the least horrible one.
- Mr. Hale leaves their hotel to find the man who owns the house they're looking to rent. Margaret finds out that one of her father's acquaintances from Milton, a man named Mr. Thornton, has shown up to meet him. She decides to speak to the man until her dad comes back.
- Margaret acts with so much pride and stateliness that she intimidates Thornton. This is strange, since Thornton is way wealthier than her or her family. Thornton decides fairly quickly that he shouldn't have to put up with this kind of haughtiness.
- Just at this point, Mr. Hale returns and treats Thornton with enough respect to keep him around.
- Once Thornton leaves, Mr. Hale and Margaret return to Mrs. Hale and tell her about the house they've rented. They try to make the place sound better than it actually is.
- When they move into their new home, they find that all of the ugly wallpaper has been removed for them. The narrator informs us that the person behind this is Mr. Thornton, who has a lot of influence over the house's owner.