Bookpossum, the snide remarks keep coming and many are laugh-out-loud funny. That's why I am enjoying this book. Your last comment made me think of a quote once Lord Rufford realizes that Miss Trefoil is in serious pursuit of him:
Quote:
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He was being hunted and run down, and, with the instinct of all animals that are hunted, he prepared himself for escape.
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Arabella's job is to find the best husband that will help her achieve maximum "idleness" as Mrs. Masters would put it.
All that business of constantly adapting to what she thinks the man wants in a woman and putting on such performances for him and everyone else in their society has got to be very weary. I think at one point she says she has been at it for 6 years! But she must keep going to win her prize. It's not about love. It's about country estates, London homes in the right neighborhoods, titles, servants, etc. The contrast with middle-class Mary, who is not in love and cannot accept a "good match" that her family/friends support with a man who wants to marry her for her sweetness of character, is quite apparent.
Desertblues, wine is used as a tool in one of the chapters about 50% through. I think you'll like that chapter because the American Senator features prominently in it. It inspired me to pour a glass as I was reading. Although my California vintage could hardly compare to a world-class French Bordeaux, even 150 years later.