Poldark: Series Five

[QNPoohBear]

I'm well into Bella Poldark
Not much is happening but OMG there's a serial killer on the loose in Cornwall! (view spoiler)[Demelza felt someone following her walking home alone from the Paynters (elderly and decrepit) once dark night. Being a miner's daughter, she had enough presence of mind to realize she may be in danger and ran to the engine house of Wheal Grace. Luckily some of the men were in and she asked one to escort her home and asked for someone to go get Clowance at a neighbor's and bring her home. My heart was in my throat! The killer smokes a cigar and that's the only clue. Valentine is suspect but he claims to have 2 witnesses who swear he was in Ireland at the time of the most important death. (hide spoiler)]

Geoffrey Charles (view spoiler)[has brought his Spanish bride home to Trenwith. Amadora is shy around the neighbors. She doesn't speak much English and she's Catholic. That makes her suspect among the Wesleyans. She's expecting again and hopefully this one will be a boy. GC doesn't care but he thinks it might be good to perpetuate the Poldark name at Trenwith. Uh yeah! Don't let Valentine inherit! Valentine has a son, George. (hide spoiler)]

Ross (view spoiler)[Since Jeremy's death at Waterloo, Ross has been craving conversation with a young man, or so Demelza says. Their younger son, Harry, is too young and a bit slow on the uptake but not half-witted or slow-witted, just affable. Valentine thinks Ross is his buddy now and tries to interest Ross in some shady business deal smuggling tin to Ireland. Ross declines. Demelza is uneasy about this friendship. Ross is feeling a bit cagey again and D worries he'll get into trouble. I think he'll go back into Parliament. Reform hasn't happened and the divide between rich and poor has gotten wider. Ross felt the need to "kick up a trace" at a Christmas party at Trenwith. Ross kissed GC's Portuguese mother-in-law and flirted with and danced with George's wife. Not to piss off George but just because. Demelza was not too thrilled but she told Clowance that except for two grave instances, they have always loved each other and their marriage is secure. (That apparently doesn't mean she was annoyed with his behavior causing gossip). (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[Horrid Valentine seduced/had an affair with (depending on who you ask) a young gentrywoman believed by all to be simple. Agneta Trenegloss is the daughter of Ruth Teague (the young lady who had the hots for Ross) and John Trenegloss (who admired Demelza that first Christmas party long ago and more recently proposed swapping bed partners with Ross). Agneta didn't understand the affair was to be discreet. She perused Valentine, even to his own house, wanting to be with him. After he dismissed her, he made himself scarce, knowing he was in hot water with his wife.

Then Agneta disappeared and her body was found 4 days later with her throat slit. Everyone blames Valentine but he swears she wasn't as simple as she seemed. She knew how to get what she wanted and that was a man "between the legs." He has two witnesses swearing he was in Ireland at the time. His wife doesn't believe his alibi and proceeds to leave him and take the child, little Georgie. She has no money, he spent it, but she does have property she hid from him so she'll go live with her cousin and stepdaughters. Legally, Valentine can get her back or get the kid back but he seems hell bent on consorting with rakes and women of easy virtue. Poor Elizabeth must be rolling over in her grave! Ross needs to tell him so. He won't listen to George. (hide spoiler)]

[QNPoohBear]

I skimmed to the end of Bella
(view spoiler)[OMG I'm traumatized!
The good news is Ross, Demelza and the rest of the children survive and the girls find happiness with devoted partners, although I think Bella's choice is risky.

Clowance has 2 suitors: one a brave hero of Waterloo who had a nervous breakdown in the West Indies and killed a man. He's tense, terse and has PTSD but he seems like a good man, intelligent and loyal. He's part Cornish so that's a plus. Then there's a wealthy young bachelor who fell in love with Clowance when they first met. She wasn't into him because she was in lust with that rogue Steven Carrington. (Did I mention how much I dislike him?) Edward is comfortably situated with a home on his brother's estate, some money, a loving older brother with two heirs, an aunt who is hard of hearing, his own fortune, a nice apartment in London. He worships Clowance and is willing to do whatever it takes to marry her. My head is saying YES marry him! He's a catch! Buuuuttt.... my heart is saying no. He's a great guy but Clowance is not the type of girl who needs to be worshiped or kept in material comfort. She loves Cornwall. It's in her soul, her blood. She loves to gallop across the moors and she's involved in the miners' lives and in giving alms to Jud and Prudie (who are still alive and decrepit). My personal feeling is that Ross should leave HER Nampara. Henry is an unknown-he's too young and spoiled. They're too comfortable ... Clowance hasn't known the hardships Jeremy experienced but she understands and knows her parents' stories. So which one does she choose? She chooses Edward Fitzmaurice, the gentleman.

Bella, now almost 18, heads to London to become a trained singer. Her boyfriend, Christopher, is pushing to marry her so he can help further her career and keep her safe from other men. When he was introduced as a soldier in GC's regiment, I didn't like him. He was reckless, arrogant and cheeky. I don't like how he fell in love with Bella when she was only 13. There's trouble in paradise because Christopher has too much a fondness for white wine and sweet liquor without eating anything. Bella also discovers he's a member of a club connected to a house of ill repute and he has on occasion partaken of services offered there. The excuse is... he's trying to be a gentleman and not pressure Bella into giving up her virtue.

However, she gives it up anyway, not to Christopher but to a "Frenchie" who whisks her off to Rouen, France to star in The Barber of Seville. It was a spur of the moment, sort of adrenaline thing but it was consensual. Maurice doesn't believe in marriage but for Bella, he says he would commit and be faithful. I doubt that.

Ross arrives a day too late to rescue his daughter from a rakish Frenchman. He confronts her not angrily but matter of factly. He and Demelza, ironically, believe in waiting for marriage. He's not mad though, just concerned about his baby girl if she's with child and neither suitor chooses to marry her. She's not but she is gravely ill. With... diphtheria! D is naturally concerned because Julia died of the same disease (morbid throat). Bella is older and it sounds like adults have a greater chance of survival. However, Bella loses her beautiful singing voice. blah blah... music is her passion, all she wants to do is sing. She's a bit dejected. Skimming farther ahead, she chooses a career as an actress and even horrifies but impresses her parents by appearing as Romeo on stage and in public. Their baby girl can ACT! She also learns to sing in a lower register than her original mezzo soprano and hopes her voice returns. Happily ever after for HER.

Now, for the Warleggans.

OMG George nearly died! His horse shied and tossed George who rolled into a old mining pit with no one around. Luckily he didn't drown but there was no way out. When he didn't return home in time his wife sent a search party. He still wasn't found but his horse returned with documents stating where George had gone so Lady Harriet took her hounds and some men searching again and finally found George around 2 am with broken ribs, a sprained ankle and very cranky.

I was shocked when Ross decided to go call upon George at home! It seems Valentine is in some trouble and could end up in prison. Ross is concerned because V is Elizabeth's son. Ross later reveals to Demelza that he feels guilty because of what he did to Elizabeth. Little too late for that bud. Ross proposes their two banks buy out V's failing mine that could probably yield something soon if they keep it open. George should put up most of the money to keep his name from becoming a scandal. George reluctantly agrees!!!

V's wife took the child and left him. He's been behaving badly and rakish. Clowance and Bella are shocked. The ONE good thing he does is rescue an ape from an organ grinder. The ape (gorilla?) was a baby and grows quickly into a bored, angry, confused adult MALE. Valentine looks upon the ape as his protgee, perhaps putting his fatherly feelings into the animal. He does a bad bad thing and teaches the ape to smoke cigars and drink wine. He thinks he'll bring the ape to Africa some day and find a mate for it.

V's wife is broke and needs money. George, needing an heir, agrees to help for the sake of her son ONLY if she agrees to his rules for the boy's education. She agrees, Valentine finds out they're back and steals his son. Ross comes over to try to talk sense into Valentine and snippy George is there to discuss business. The cat's out of the bag and V knows his two dads are trying to help him. He doesn't want George's help.

Sadly, the ape sets the house on fire while escaping his compound and exploring the dining room. This is where the story gets upsetting. Everyone gets out of the house but Valentine has to go find his ape and Ross has to go back in and find Valentine. The house is burning, the smoke is getting thick, Ross is about to run out of air when V appears calling "Father! Father! V found Butto, the ape, dead in the dining room but he (V) escaped through a side door. Ross is about to pass out from smoke inhalation when he feels someone grab him and pull him out of the house. He's taken to Trenwith, ironically to Elizabeth's bedroom where he TOOK HER AGAINST HER WILL (yes the narrator says this, emphasis is mine-told you he did a bad bad thing). Ross is burned and coughing a lot. he nearly died. V is missing and discovered dead in the dining room holding the hand of the ape. Ross can't figure out how and whether he was hallucinating.

I'm so traumatized right now. V was turning over a new leaf. All he wanted was unconditional love and he never got it. Tragic.

Back at Nampara, Ross finally gets around to telling D he sunk their life savings 3 thousand pounds into another failing mine to help another widow's son. (He could care less about V's wife, just the kid). D is mad and their relationship is rocky again. She loves him and he loves her, they have a solid marriage but he does some really dumb stuff that hurts her. The mine will eventually yield enough to pay back his money. curtain fades on the Poldarks. (hide spoiler)]

GC (view spoiler)[and his wife have two daughters. No idea who will inherit Trenwith. Hopefully they will eventually have a son. We know it's entailed on the male line because Verity is older than Francis. GC doesn't seem to care and Ross doesn't seem to care either. The house is full of ghosts. They hired Demelza's niece, daughter of brother Luke, as nursemaid and she fell in love with and married Ross's godson Ben Carter who finally got over his infatuation with Clowance. (hide spoiler)]

Demelza (view spoiler)[Nearly gets raped and murdered by a serial killer. She was staying at home on bonfire night with a migraine when Ross and the younger son (and nursemaid) went to see the fireworks. Ross promised to go get her in time for the fireworks finale. He delayed because he was having a good time so he was going to ask the maid but she was enthralled and he realized it was the only time this girl may ever see such a spectacle. He was on his way home to be meet by Dr. Enys and Clowance's friend Philip Prideaux.

The serial killer turned out to be Jeremy's friend Paul! Paul claims he hates women. He's bitter and disillusioned with life. Two of his three sister died from TB and the third is ill with the disease and will eventually die. He committed a capital offense to help save his family and his father drank away all the money. His wife is now also dying from scofula, which apparently is TB outside the body. Paul thinks women are predisposed to die and he's just helping them on the way. He was truly sick in the head and an evil man. He went on thrill killings because he got a perverse sexual thrill from them. He was even willing to rape and murder Demelza - slit her throat. She fought him and help arrived in time but it was very scary and disturbing. She won't tell Ross exactly what the conversation entailed. She says she always felt uneasy about this young man, never liked him and felt he was a bad influence on her son. What she had actually thought way back when the family moved to the neighborhood was that they weren't good enough to associate with her children and Demelza is NOT a snob. When Demelza encountered the serial killer the first time she smelled cigar and that implied someone wealthy but she didn't know who.

Dr. Enys wants to testify at Paul's trial. Several years ago Steven Carrington and Paul Kellow went on a boat buying mission to Falmouth or Portsmouth or somewhere and got attacked by a press gang. Fighting off the press gang, Paul was hit in the head. The men went to Dr. Enys to patch up their injuries. Dr. Enys had also been treating Paul for migraines. Dr. Enys believes Paul is suffering from brain injuries from being hit on the head. I'm not sure I buy that because Demelza's instincts are usually correct. (hide spoiler)]

That concludes our saga. I'm sad to say goodbye to the Poldarks. I enjoyed meeting them. I wish I could visit Cornwall.

[QNPoohBear]

Geoffrey Charles (view spoiler)[His wife is expecting baby #3 but we never learn if it's a boy or girl. Let's say this one's a boy to continue the Poldark name at Trenwith (hide spoiler)]