North and South Chapter 12 - Morning Calls

In which Mrs. Thornton, pressed by her son John, makes a formal visit to the Hales, a modest yet respectable family recently settled in Milton, while delicately negotiating her own reservations and the differing dispositions of her children. The encounter reveals contrasting attitudes towards the industrial town and its social fabric, setting the scene for the subtle interplay of manners, hopes, and misunderstandings that mark their acquaintance.