Welcome to the third day of my book club readalong! We are currently reading Her Night with the Duke by Diana Quincy. Today, we’ll take a look at chapters 17 to 24. I hope you enjoy this format!
Since this is a readalong, there will definitely be spoilers ahead so make sure that you’ve either also read chapters 17 to 24, or you don’t intend on reading this book and are just curious, or you simply don’t care about spoilers haha.
Chapter 17
This chapter infuriated me. I was expecting her editor to dislike the fact that she’s a woman, but I was not ready for how bad his behavior was going to be. He kept telling her to calm down and not be so emotional. He also almost refused to talk about finances with her just because she’s a woman. And when she demanded to be paid more for her third volume, which she absolutely deserves, he was appalled and started threatening her! I didn’t pay much attention to the rest of the chapter as it was just Leela and Elliot arguing again about how Elliot wanted to be with Leela, but she pushes him towards Tori.
Chapter 18
The way Tori is talking about fighting for love in the beginning of this chapter really confirmed my thoughts about her being in love with Foster. The build up to the announcement really put me on edge. Just waiting for either Elliot or Tori to run away. And right when Elliot does the announcement, TORI DISAPPEARS!!!
Chapter 19
I’m glad we didn’t have to wait long to learn Tori hadn’t left alone. When her lady’s maid said she left with a young man, I literally screamed “SHE LEFT WITH FOSTER!! I KNEW IT!!” hahaha. I find it super funny how annoyed Elliot is at this situation. I get that it humiliated him, but now he doesn’t have to be stuck in a loveless marriage! He can be with Leela! I’m actually surprised that Edgar and Leela actually had a somewhat civilized conversation here.
Chapter 20
Leela is FINALLY trying to make contact with Elliot. I can’t believe she didn’t check on him sooner. I was actually surprised when Elliot returned her letter several days in a row. I get that he’s probably mad because she told Tori to chase love, when she was telling the complete opposite to him, but still. He should at least hear her out.
Chapter 21
I’m glad she went all the way to his estate in Parkwood. I’m mad at him that he still avoided her and basically tried to kick her out. I laughed so hard when she threw the golf ball at his face. It was so perfect. I was surprised he was able to have sex with her and then just leave like that. It was a really bad move on his part. It really frustrated me. How dumb can he be? He can finally be with her and he just tells her to never come back and walks away?!
Chapter 22
He goes back to his house without even making sure Leela is fine, then goes and takes a bath, and he’s surprised no one told him Leela was leaving?! What a damn idiot!! I can’t believe how his mood changes so quickly. He just left her there, with her skirts up, laying on the grass, after telling her he never wanted to see her again, then acts all surprised she doesn’t want to let him apologize?! I would’ve left him kneeling on the ground. But, of course, that wouldn’t be good for this kind of book, so instead they made up and had sex again.
Chapter 23
I’m glad they finally sat down to talk about their relationship. I’m a bit annoyed at Leela for not wanting to marry him, though. I understand she had a rough upbringing and her marriage with Edgar’s father showed her she could never fit in with the high society, but I’m sure Elliot would never force her to be someone she’s not. It would probably take him some time to adjust because he’s been so by the book to restore his family’s honor, but he’d get over it for her. I am happy, though, that she talked about her problems finding a new editor. I love that Elliot wanted to help her out immediately. I wonder if she’ll end up buying the paper mill herself.
Chapter 24
We finally got news from Tori! I’m sad that they’re having money problems because Foster can’t find a job and Edgar won’t help her out or at least give her her stuff, but I’m sure they’ll make it. Leela will find a way to help them.
Predictions
We are too early in the book for Leela and Elliot’s relationship to be perfect already. There definitely will be something going wrong soon. Since Tori mentioned Foster couldn’t find a job because everyone was scared to get on Elliot’s bad side, I think Leela is going to ask him to do something about it and that might cause some arguing. Or maybe we’ll see more of Edgar and he’ll be the one to cause trouble by threatening to put out in the open Leela and Elliot’s relationship to save his family’s reputation after what Tori did. I’m also kind of waiting for Leela to get pregnant, to be honest. She’s mentioned too many times that she’s barren for her not to get pregnant haha.
Schedule
December 16th: Chapters 25-32 (Chapter 32 being the epilogue)
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