Welcome to the second 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 9 to 16. 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 9 to 16, or you don’t intend on reading this book and are just curious, or you simply don’t care about spoilers haha.
Chapter 9
Tori brings Leela with her to go golfing with Elliot and Foster. But, of course, Tori decides to hit the ball as hard as she can and launches it in the forest. Elliot sends Foster after it, but Tori worries he’s going to get lost so she goes after him, leaving our two forbidden lovers alone together. This super sweet and funny moment springs up where Elliot helps Leela position herself to hit the ball, but Leela goes and asks if her legs are parted enough and Elliot can’t even see her legs because of her dress. It cracked me up.
Chapter 10
I love how, by respecting protocol, Elliot mistakenly insulted Lady Helene, Edgar and Tori’s aunt. Because Helene and Edgar don’t want to acknowledge Leela as part of the family, Helene had been taking on the role as hostess in the house, even though Leela is still supposed to be the hostess since she’s still Countess of Devon until Edgar marries. Elliot didn’t know about that situation, so he escorted Leela into the dining room, as per protocol, and Helene was not happy about it! Leela immediately stepped into the hostess’s shoes so as to not make it seem even more weird, but she definitely was not at ease with what he had just done.
Chapter 11
After learning Elliot would be staying at the Devon house for longer than she thought, Leela decided to finally move into Parkwood, the home built specifically for the previous count’s widows. While she’s moving around furniture, a couple comes in and immediately starts treating her as if she’s a servant. Leela learns Edgar had intended to rent out Parkwood to these people, so she informs them who she is and lets them know that Parkwood is not for rent. And, of course, Edgar isn’t happy about what she did and barges in to scream at her. Leela finally defends herself and demands her part of the estate’s profits for the past two years.
Chapter 12
Elliot decides to visit her and they finally sit down to have a civilized conversation about the situation they’re in. Well, if we ignore the fact that Elliot suggested that Leela was sleeping with her step-son, which, by the way, is the most disgusting thing he could’ve said. They both agree they have feelings for each other, but must ignore those feelings for Tori’s sake. Leela then leaves Elliot and goes to her room… where she masturbates to the thought of him. For some reason, I never thought ladies in this era did that. I don’t know why. But, also, good job on ignoring your feelings for the guy!
Chapter 13
Tori, Leela and Elliot go for a walk in a nearby village. Elliot wanted to bring only Tori to get to know her, but Tori insisted on bringing Leela. Their walk is cut short when they come across a group forcing dogs to fight a bull. Tori begs Elliot to save the dogs, and he does. It would’ve been a very lovely scene, if it wasn’t for the fact that we know perfectly well Elliot doesn’t see Tori in a romantic manner. Then they took a ride in a narrow boat through a canal. There, Leela learns about Elliot and Tori’s engagement. Turns out, after they had returned from the village, he proposed to her and she said yes. While going through a dark tunnel, Elliot sits next to Leela and grabs her hand. He tells her he proposed to Tori for her, which is weird haha. At least he says he’ll do everything to make sure Tori doesn’t regret her choice.
Chapter 14
Leela gets a visit from the whole gang. Helene, Edgar, Elliot and Mr and Mrs Paget. They wanted to visit Parkwood. When Helene decides she wants to show a secret compartment in the desk Leela had been using to write her next book, Leela grabs her papers in a hurry. While everyone is distracted by Helene showing off the secret compartment, she goes into the study to put her papers away. Elliot follows her and learns she’s the writer of the famous Travels in Arabia book. He steps a little too close to her and, wouldn’t you know it, that’s when Edgar decides to come in. He definitely knows something’s up.
Chapter 15
Leela goes to see Mr. Sherman, her late husband’s solicitor, to inquire about her dower rights. She learns her dear husband didn’t leave her the normal dower rights. Instead, he gave her Parkwood and four of their most profitable farms. With this news, she hires Mr. Sherman as her solicitor and goes back to her house, where Edgar is waiting for her. He decides to propose a deal. She sleeps with him so she can stay in Parkwood. I KNEW IT!! I KNEW he would try to force himself on her! Luckily, Leela got hold of her blade and cut his cheek. She told him the jig was up. That she knew what was hers and that he needed to get out of HER house. I’m so happy she can finally put him back in his place! And extremely happy he didn’t get to go far in his attempt.
Chapter 16
Tori and Leela visit Elliot’s house in town. While Tori is looking at all the books in Elliot’s library with Foster, Leela and Elliot are left alone, again. He asks about Edgar’s cut, and Leela tells him what happened. Of course he immediately wants to kill him, but she reminds him how suspicious that would look. While she’s in town, Leela takes this opportunity to bring her manuscript for her next book to her editor, in person. He has never seen her before. They’d only exchanged letters, so he doesn’t know she’s a woman!
Predictions
I’m not entirely sure what could happen next. I’m guessing her editor is going to be quite shocked to see she’s a woman. It could go two ways. He decides to drop her, or he continues to work with her with the condition that her identity stays hidden. I don’t know enough to lean towards one option more than the other. As for Leela and Elliot’s relationship, it can only go for the worse. They’ll get more opportunities to be alone and it’s going to get harder and harder to hide their feelings. I’m also not entirely convinced Edgar is done with Leela. I’m pretty sure he’s going to try to blackmail her with her feelings for Elliot. His meddling isn’t over. I also still think Tori and Foster will end up together. They had a cute moment of bonding in Elliot's library.
Schedule
December 9th: Chapters 17-24
December 16th: Chapters 25-32 (Chapter 32 being the epilogue)
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