was startled. I did not know that you care for me in that way. I have always thought of you as a friend; and, please, I would rather go on thinking of you so.<br><br> I don 9t like to be spoken to as you have been doing. I cannot answer you as you want me to do, and yet I should feel so sorry if I vexed you. 9 8Margaret, 9 said he, looking into her eyes, which met his with their open, straight look, expressive of the utmost good faith and reluctance to give pain, 8Do you 9 4 he was going to say 4 8love anyone else? 9 But it seemed as if this question would be an insult to the pure serenity of those eyes. 8Forgive me!<br><br> I have been too abrupt. I am punished. Only let me hope.<br><br> Give me the poor comfort of telling me you have never seen anyone whom you could 4 9 Again a pause. He could not end his sentence. Margaret reproached herself acutely as the cause of his distress.<br><br> 8Ah! if you had but never got this fancy into your head! It was such a pleasure to think of you as a friend. 9 8But I may hope, may I not, Margaret, that some time you will think of me as a lover?<br><br> Not yet, I see 4 there is no hurry 4 but some time 4 9 She was silent for a minute or two, trying to discover the truth as it was in her own heart before replying, then she said: 8I have never thought of 4 you, but as a friend. I like to think of you so; but I am sure I could never think of you as anything else. Pray let us both forget that all this 9 ( 8disagreeable, 9 she was going to say, but stopped short) 8conversation has taken place. 9 He paused before he replied.<br><br> Then, in his habitual coldness of tone, he answered: 8Of course, as your feelings are so decided, and as this conversation has been so evidently unpleasant to you, it had better not be remembered. That is all very fine in theory, that plan of forgetting whatever is painful, but it will be somewhat difficult for me, at least, to carry it into execution. 9 8You are vexed, 9 said she, sadly; 8yet how can I help it? 9 She looked so truly grieved as she said this, that he struggled for Language indicates contrary emotions 3 Margaret 9s strength of character in overcoming emotion prepares for her role in the novel. Her physical actions demonstrates that Lennox 9s attentions are unwelcome Vocabulary indicates the unexpectedness and forcefulness of Lennox 9s action and speech and suggests Margaret 9s discomfort The nature of Margaret 9s speech indicates the firmness of her refusal, but also compassion for Lennox The description of Margaret 9s eyes is the narrator 9s but it is implied that it is Lennox 9s perception, stressing her qualities of honesty Lennox 9s insistence characterises him as a conventional lover (the number of pauses in his speech also indicate this), but also shows his insensitivity to Margaret 9s refusal Margaret 9s care and consideration is again emphasised 3 and her tact, despite her own discomfort Lennox 9s language takes on a bitter, almost sarcastic tone, distancing him from reader sympathy Gaskell again emphasises Margaret 9s compassion a moment with his real disappointment, and then answered more cheerfully, but still with a little hardness in his tone: 8You should make allowances for the mortification, not only of a lover, Margaret, but of a man not given to romance in general 4 prudent, worldly, as some people call me 4 who has been carried out of his usual habits by the force of a passion 4 well, we will say no more of that; but in the one outlet which he has formed for the deeper and better feelings of his nature, he meets with rejection and repulse.<br><br> I shall have to console myself with scorning my own folly. A struggling barrister to think of matrimony! 9 Margaret could not answer this. Lennox 9s final speech is dominated by self pity, as if he has been foolishly tempted from his 8prudent 9 ways by 8passion 9.<br><br> Margaret 9s inability to answer is open to interpretation. Is it because of the ustness of Lennox 9s comments, or because she recognises their unjustness? The passage comes from the early stages of the novel, set in the South, before Margaret moves to Milton Northern with her parents.<br><br> The rejection of a proposal in Chapter 3 demonstrates the kind of novel Gaskell is not writing 3 a society romantic novel. Margaret 9s decisiveness and compassion are both made evident here, traits of her characterisation which will be important as the novel progresses. It also calls to mind the contrast between Lennox, the London lawyer, and Thornton, the Milton manufacturer, whose proposal of marriage Margaret does accept near the end of the novel.<br><br> She accepts him because he has changed his own nature in response to Margaret 9s rational mind and her compassion, which lead to her understanding of the situation in Milton.

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