Question H

[Jonetta]

Rhys Winterborne is a complicated man. What do you make of him? Why was he so harsh with Helen who clearly liked him? Will he listen to Quincy?

[Phrynne]

I did not understand him and he was very rough at the end. I am waiting with interest to see how the author matches him with the gentle Helen.

[Anita]

I wondered why the author took so much of this book for Rhys and Helen. Rhys is a self-made man. Everything he has he obtained through hard work and determination. Harsh is the facade he has had to show to the world. I think Helen throws him off balance and he doesn't like it. I hope he will listen to Quincy, but this is a man who keeps his own counsel.

[Robin]

This guy works hard to get what he wants. He has built himself up from nothing and wants to be accepted as an equal by the peerage. I think he thought Helen would make a good, biddable wife who let him run everything. When she pushed him away after kissing her, he assumed she thought he was below her.

I think Quincy will act as his conscience and get Rhys back on the right track with Helen.

[Jonetta]

Rhys is smart, resourceful and hard working. However, none of those attributes makes any difference in being accepted by the peerage. He’s still not good enough to marry any of their daughters or be given entry into their private clubs. Rhys has a chip on his shoulder and is looking for any trace of a slight. He was doing fine with Helen until he misunderstood her reaction to him. He thought she was looking down on him.

I think Quincy is going to make a big difference in his life. He hired him because deep down he knew he needed his insights.

[Karen ♐]

I agree. I liked Rhys because he is really hard working. And I felt sorry for him that he wouldn't be accepted. I think Quincy will be the one who shows Rhys that he treated Helen wrongly.

[Sharon]

I saw Rhys Winterbornes all the time when I worked in health care.

Some of the best doctors never left Brooklyn, the ghetto, or wherever they started in life. They developed life-saving procedures, were written up in medical journals, etc. then as soon as they heard a comment interpreted as derogatory or what they thought was questioning their abilities, they lashed out. It was so hard to cast off the "you're not good enough" that they had heard their entire life.

I like Rhys too. There is more to him, and I believe Quincy will help.