How we cite our quotes: (Volume.Book.Chapter.Line)
Quote #4
"[Aunt Maud] wants me to choose. Very well, I will choose. I'll wash my hands of her for you to just that tune." (1.1.1.71)
At the beginning of the book, we learn that Aunt Maud has commanded Kate never to see her father again. Kate, however, is ready to walk away from all of Maud's money in order to be with her father. She does this in spite of the fact that Lionel Croy treats her like dirt and totally rejects her affection. His treatment of her will leave lasting emotional scars that help explain Kate's selfish, cynical behavior throughout the rest of the book.
Quote #5
Mrs. Lowder was her only 'real' aunt, not the wife of an uncle, and had been thereby, both in ancient days and when the greater trouble came, the person, of all persons, properly to make some sign. (1.1.2.2)
Aunt Maud is Kate's only "real" aunt, meaning that she is a direct blood relative. And according to the narrator, this makes her the right person to offer help to Kate when her core family implodes because of her jerky Daddy-O. Here, the book is suggesting that in Edwardian England, blood ties are taken super-seriously.
Quote #6
"The tune," she exclaimed, "to which we're a failure as a family!" (1.2.1.23).
Kate has no illusions. She knows that she comes from a broken home. She opens herself up emotionally in order to tell Merton this, because deep down, she feels like she needs to give a reason for why she is the way she is—bossy, cynical, and defensive. Whether or not you accept her past as an excuse for her present is up to you.