Chapters 6-10 discussion (spoilers in updates)......................
"You're just another thrill-seeking society hussy."
Did I mention our hero's feefees are hurt? 'Cause they are hurt. He's angry over her not recognizing him, makes him feel like she hasn't thought about him once since they parted 10yrs ago, and he's going off the only knowledge he has of her since those years, which are gossipy newspaper articles. He bouncing back and forth a bit much and this aspect could definitely be refined.
He was glad Trevor had barred him from the Leiland mansion… and Venice.
Another alluding that something went down that neither the reader or Venice knows about. I wish in the prologue could have given us this scene, as a reader I would have liked to know. But I'm a nosy a**.
"Ten years ago I was drafted into the union army, sweetheart."
Well, there's our American Civil War mention. I guess it has been brought up with soldiers looking for work, too. I feel like there is some story that has happened off screen that I wish we could have read to solidify these characters more.
"I'll tell you what I mean! You promised you'd always, always, be my friend and then you left, disappeared without a word, not one word, in ten years!" She had taken a step closer and Noble found he'd backed up.
Well, there's that emotion and evidence of feeling that Noble was looking for. I liked how this read because Noble has been feeling pretty justified with his angry and selfish with it and him backing up shows his shock and hopefully leads to him relaxing towards Venice.
"You are so! You sweep in here without so much as a by-your-leave, kiss me, and then start shouting at me because I didn't recognize you!"
"That is not why—"
"How could I have recognized you! You're six inches taller, sixty pounds heavier, and—" she reached up and grabbed his ponytail, "—you have hair!" She gave it a sharp yank.
"Ouch!"
She put her hands on her hips. "And, I might point out, you didn't recognize me either!"
He had begun to feel a bit sheepish, uncomfortably aware that her accusations were justified. But the reminder of her wanton behavior rekindled his righteous indignation. "I would have recognized you if you hadn't been hiding in the shadows, whispering throaty come-ons to me."
A muscle jumped in her cheek. "Well," she said stiffly, "I may have acted impetuously in whistling at your ridiculous masculine posturing earlier today, but I certainly wasn't whistling out the window a few minutes ago."
"Ridiculous masculine—!" Noble sputtered. "You seemed to like it all right when you were sighing from your balcony. In fact I thought you were gonna throw yourself off the damn—"
"You awful man! The way you're acting, one would suppose I'd set this dratted place on fire myself, just to lure you out of whatever hole you've spent the night in, for the extremely dubious pleasure of being slobbered on by you!"
She pulled his hair! I wonder if the cover artist read this scene! Lol. I love this scene, it's light, they're expressing and getting some emotion out, and it showcases their back and forth by play. It's like watching a dance. This moment also reminded me of The Songbird's Seduction which I thought had a similar beat as this moment.
It was a male-dominated world and women— even rich, privileged women such as herself—had been given a completely unsatisfactory arsenal with which to compete. A woman would have to be a fool or a saint not to use every weapon at her disposal. Venice didn't claim to be either.
I feel wishy-washy on Venice but then I try to remind myself that she is twenty-three. She shows maturity and immaturity, which at that age, is probably a battle for a lot of us.
"It wasn't like that," Venice said. "Mr. McCaneaghy is not at all what I expected."
"Better?" Katie asked in an awed voice.
Katie thinks Venice had sex with Noble, so the awed "Better" is hilarious. Katie is a secondary character that I could probably read a novella about.
We get more alluding with Venice thinking back to her father telling her that Noble had dropped out of Yale stating that he just didn't have the fortitude to complete his degree. We know that Noble was drafted into the Union Army and then returned to complete his degree.
When Venice receives a letter from her uncle she decides that she must trek out to him to find his ledgers that document the financials of the spur line and town. She offers to pay Noble to guide but does it because she thinks he is poor and could use the money. She's naive, idealistic, and rich girl to save the world about it all and this of course makes Noble bristle to where he rejects her. But our old pal Reed (aka Thorny) says he'll take her and this makes Noble bristle more because he still feels protective over Venice and obviously cares for her.
To the side we still have Venice throwing the town a party, which kind of makes sense, I guess, the mercantile bros sending her Frankenstein fossils which is scaring her, and Reed trying to worm his way into a marriage with Venice. It's shy of feeling frenzied but definitely unrefined.
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