Question L

[Jonetta]

Argent accidentally kills the solicitor. How did that scene impact your opinion of him, if at all?

[Anita]

Ooops! He barely leashed his anger and his feelings got away from him. It brought home that he is a very dangerous man.

[Karen ♐]

I agree, Anita. This really showed how dangerous he is.

[Sandra]

I agree - I think the author used this scene to remind everyone that he is a dangerous man. He has a hard time reeling in his rage & emotions and no one should forget it.

[Lauren]

Christopher garroted the solicitor so I'm not sure I would classify that as an accident, lol!

I think the killed him because he posed an ongoing threat to Millie. He had to ensure than no more contracts would be placed on her life and once he was knocked into the wall (that was an accident), Christopher just finished it off.

I agree with everyone that it also reinforces the fact that he is a killer. He reminds me of Anne Stuart's anti-heroes in this regard - he is not a misunderstood good guy at heart.

[Jonetta]

The comparison to Stuart’s heroes is rather perfect. Argent is who he is and doesn’t shy away from that. He’s a mercenary for hire and is good at it. It was interesting following his thinking during the interaction with the solicitor.

Lauren, I thought the solicitor was a goner after the “accident” and he finished him off because he was dying anyway.

[Charlene]

In the details, I agree that Argent killed the solicitor because he was going to die soon.

In the larger view, I think Argent miscalculated that the solicitor was the only one putting out contracts on Millie's life, which became obvious when the tensions mounted in her encounter with those two related couples, and when the mutilator showed up and we knew he was the one who killed Millie's friend those years ago, leaving only her womb and glove to be found.

This really made me sick to realize who she was up against. Then to find another woman was the force behind the contract on her was indescribable.

[Lauren]

Charlene wrote: "Then to find another woman was the force behind the contract on her was indescribable."

Yes, this really compounds the offense.

I cannot imagine what it must have been like for women like Lady Thurston. In a time period where a woman's identity and worth were defined by her ability to bear heirs, the lack of children, and a son in particular, would have had a profound affect on her psyche. Its not surprising that she went off the deep end after her husband told her he was going to divorce her and marry one of his mistresses so he could have a legitimate heir.

[Charlene]

Agreed. As much as I read Regencies and others, I cannot imagine changing places with the women. For all the HEAs out there, the real world was much less enlightened than we'd like to imagine in our daydreams, er -- book readings!