Question about the prologue

[Mara]

Have any of you figured out why Charles is described as being shifty and evasive when Joshua asks him about Elizabeth in the prologue? He's with Joshua in February who tells him Ross is alive in New York. It would be the following Spring when Francis' and Elizabeth's relationship forms, so it wouldn't have existed in February. Does Charles scheme to secure Elizabeth for Francis? Could it have been Charles who starts the rumor that Ross is dead?

[Ann, Owner (Absent)]

I had never thought of that, it certainly sounds like that though.
Maybe Joshua wanted to secure a 'good name' for at least one of the Poldark men before he died, if that meant assuming his own son wasn't going to return from America, it makes sense.

[Pandora]

No, it's not Joshua (Ross' father) who is being shifty, but Charles, Francis' father, and yes, I could see him trying to manipulate the situation in Francis' favor.

[Victoria]

I agree it was Uncle Charles who deliberately created the lie that Ross was killed in America and knowingly sabotaged Ross and Elizabeth’s “understanding.” On his death bed, Joshua told Charles that he had just received a letter from Ross that he had recovered and he was on his way home. Joshua also asked Chales several times about Elizabeth. Ross had asked about her and was counting on Elizabeth being here when he returned. Joshua thought it would be a good match and would settle Ross down. Charles left Joshua abruptly, obviously with a plan for Francis to settle him down. In the series it was a wonderful final opportunity for us all to enjoy the fine acting of Warren Clarke, he was extraordinary in the role of Poldark patriarch

[Mara]

Yes, the film Uncle Charles is much more endearing than the book Uncle Charles. Regarding the rumor Verity tells Ross, "I do not know how it came about, but I think it was the Paynters who stood most to gain." Then Ross replies, "Not more than Francis".
Here we see that Ross suspects something. Verity says, "No, but it was not he." After a moment Ross says, "That was not a pretty thought" Before I took that as Ross being ashamed of his suspicions. But now I view it as his awareness that they're probably true and that's what is "not a pretty thought". He's only wrong about the perpetrator. It was not Francis (we can believe Verity), it was Charles.

[Victoria]

Mara I agree you are right about Ross seeing the possible perpetrator as being his uncle. There is also a fatalistic bent to Ross's character in that he did not try to change Elizabeth's mind, it simply accepted it as DONE. He also does this many other times in the books...