Thornton lifts Margaret’s bowed head gently and even more gently, kisses her. The kiss becomes a little more insistent but she parts her lips and responds, instead of pulling back. All this, on the platform of a busy train station. The popularity of the BBC miniseries, North and South, based on Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel of the same title, probably owes much to this scene. Many have thought it one of the most romantic scenes ever to graze television. Some have argued that this scene would not have happened in Victorian times and with a character as “maidenly” as Margaret Hale.

I would argue the opposite—that yes, in fact, it could happen, from a psychological viewpoint. Read on at link

Sandy Welch(the series writer) brings this scenario in public view and out of the privacy of a room in Harley Street and suggests a passionate sexual contract between the characters.