When Pride and Misunderstanding Collide — North and South

The chapter shifts between Thornton's private emotional state, his management of the inquiry into Leonards' death, and his relationship with his mother. He defends Margaret to his mother in terms that credit her with more moral independence than his mother wants to grant, despite having every reason to think poorly of her at this moment. Thornton has quietly killed the inquiry into Leonards' death by using his magistrate's authority to suppress investigation. The act is both honourable and compromising: he has protected Margaret at the cost of his own integrity. He receives no thanks for it because she does not know he did it. Meanwhile the narrator discloses the fantasy Thornton cannot act on: he wishes he could confront her, hear her admit the truth, and forgive her. He imagines a scene of moral reckoning that would restore them to each other. Instead, he waits for Higgins, who has promised to return, and the chapter closes on his reflection that five hours is a long time for a man who has nothing to do but hope and then fear.