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petroniaFinished book 2 and re-scanned through book 1. I left all my comments in the other posts so I'll talk about... Oonagh I guess? Who I am glad got out of her awful situation, even if it apparently took a two-part intervention by Lymond and O'LiamRoe. They/the narrative assumes she's bound by sunk costs and what I'd call false consciousness, rather than entrapment within a cycle of abuse per se. Though where you draw that line... I didn't expect Lymond to sleep with her. XD; Mind you - speaking of Angélique - she would have done exactly that, and with exactly that set of motives. Which puzzled me all the more, because (other than being possessed of unearthly beauty, intelligence, willpower, and sexual allure) Angélique and Lymond are very different people. It made me wonder what went on with d'Enghien and Henri's sister et al XD; not out of prurience, but because I now LACKED DATA. There's something to be said for modern fanfiction's propensity for turning sex scenes into play-by-plays of psychological revelation and resolution, without any of the flowery fill-in-blanks stuff.
The equivalent intervention in book 1 would be... Agnes Herries, I suppose, who holds a mirror to us all. My CLAMP-rotted sensibilities found the whole setup with the Master of Maxwell adorable, even though looked at another way, it is horrific. Like most of Lymond's schemes. (Interestingly, this is a trait of Alec's in Swordspoint - the underhanded arranging of breathing space for young ladies, if not outright settei-inappropriate self-determination - though Kushner arrived at it independently, I think.) But srsly: as soon as I realized Lymond had been dungeoned in Maxwell-Herries territory I started laughing and couldn't stop. Just picturing how rescuing him would make Agnes Herries' DECADE.
Other notes, not bringing relevant quotes here, just conclusions:
The flashpoint of tension that was music in the Culter household. Richard can't be much more than five years older than Lymond (though not less than two), so unless Sybilla had children who died, she married much older than usual for the period. Counting Eloise, Lymond's familial composition is a match for Lord Peter Wimsey's.
On this re-read, I realized Richard assumed Lymond was sleeping with Will Scott. orz His father doesn't, small mercies, and the rest is lawyer talk. Will Scott himself seems largely oblivious. I don't know when Lymond had time to acquire this reputation while still in Scotland, frankly. But putting together the conversational evidence of the two books, Richard had long since slotted Lymond's proclivities into the column "Things I am Equable(tm) about", which is why Lymond feels safe tweaking him. I mean, everyone involved can wield a sword in combat, so there is no issue really.
I also wrote out a chronology of Lymond's prequel adventures, because I hadn't been paying attention - I was like, oh it will be explained if/when it becomes important! Then I had the horrible thought that no, Dunnett's stated all the data once, she's assuming I proceed with conclusions duly drawn. XD; Thus.
1542: Lymond is taken prisoner (and wounded, it would appear) at Solway Moss. He spends three days in the Tower. All the other Scottish nobles take an oath to Henry VIII with their fingers crossed behind their backs, and get sent home. Given the same 10-day period, Lymond inexplicably ends up boarding with the Douglas (and meets Margaret?), embroils himself in intrigue, overhears English plans he shouldn't, probably sleeps with Margaret, and is given a MANOR by Henry in order to shut him up / tie him to England / mitigate Margaret-being-Margaret. Margaret, not being mitigated enough, instigates the fake letter incident so that Lymond can't go home. Then Lymond is bundled off to Calais, ostensibly to avoid vengeful Scottish hotheads, essentially to be handed over to France (definitely Henry; Margaret may get a teeny bit of benefit of the doubt on this).
NB: I thought while reading book 2 that this manor was Sevigny, but that one's French. Now, like Richard, I have no idea how Lymond came to acquireChloe Sevigny. He may actually still own a manor in England, if no one's remembered to take it away from him. These nobles are rather on the order of multinational conglomerates. Also, Lymond is approx nine years old at this point.
1543-1544: Lymond rows for France (though not, I gather, in winter). March, Lennox notes him (...recognizes Y/N? I have a feeling that if Lymond meant "recognized" he would have said so) while travelling from France to Scotland; September, return trip with gold for Marie de Guise. Sometime during either/both of these trips Lymond figures out that Lennox is set to defect to England, which argues he wasn't chained to the bench the entire time. The months get a bit muddled here, but probably early '44 Lymond convinces Lennox to free him and take him... home, in fact (Lennox's, not Lymond's). Lennox defects to England in May '44, and shortly before (or after) Lymond defects from him, taking a portion of the gold which he then returns to the Dowager through various means. Meanwhile, Lennox marries Margaret Douglas, AND THEY NEVER HAVE A REAL CONVERSATION ABOUT LYMOND EVER. Or maybe they do!
NB: Geebus, how dodgy is this Lennox episode when written out? And I thought he hated Lymond because he was all up in his wife's bidness. I honestly don't know what Lymond expected Will Scott to understand of his conversation with Margaret.
1545: Lennox didn't tell anyone about Lymond or the missing gold, which informational gap Lymond proceeds to build on by offering Wharton his services, then leading the English forces into a trap. Wharton puts an English price on Lymond's head, and Lymond heads for the Continent.
1545-1547: Lymond puts together his mercenaries. Buckles swash all the way out to, like, Poland(?), then makes his way back.
1547 summer: proper beginning of book 1, which ends in August 1548.
...It's got the bones of a h/c classic Dunnett plotted out in tedious detail then got bored of writing in the proper order of events. XD;
AND NOW I'M GOING TO FINISH WATCHING MADOKA, F'REALS.
(Behind on Doctor Who again! I will never catch up.)
The equivalent intervention in book 1 would be... Agnes Herries, I suppose, who holds a mirror to us all. My CLAMP-rotted sensibilities found the whole setup with the Master of Maxwell adorable, even though looked at another way, it is horrific. Like most of Lymond's schemes. (Interestingly, this is a trait of Alec's in Swordspoint - the underhanded arranging of breathing space for young ladies, if not outright settei-inappropriate self-determination - though Kushner arrived at it independently, I think.) But srsly: as soon as I realized Lymond had been dungeoned in Maxwell-Herries territory I started laughing and couldn't stop. Just picturing how rescuing him would make Agnes Herries' DECADE.
Other notes, not bringing relevant quotes here, just conclusions:
The flashpoint of tension that was music in the Culter household. Richard can't be much more than five years older than Lymond (though not less than two), so unless Sybilla had children who died, she married much older than usual for the period. Counting Eloise, Lymond's familial composition is a match for Lord Peter Wimsey's.
On this re-read, I realized Richard assumed Lymond was sleeping with Will Scott. orz His father doesn't, small mercies, and the rest is lawyer talk. Will Scott himself seems largely oblivious. I don't know when Lymond had time to acquire this reputation while still in Scotland, frankly. But putting together the conversational evidence of the two books, Richard had long since slotted Lymond's proclivities into the column "Things I am Equable(tm) about", which is why Lymond feels safe tweaking him. I mean, everyone involved can wield a sword in combat, so there is no issue really.
I also wrote out a chronology of Lymond's prequel adventures, because I hadn't been paying attention - I was like, oh it will be explained if/when it becomes important! Then I had the horrible thought that no, Dunnett's stated all the data once, she's assuming I proceed with conclusions duly drawn. XD; Thus.
1542: Lymond is taken prisoner (and wounded, it would appear) at Solway Moss. He spends three days in the Tower. All the other Scottish nobles take an oath to Henry VIII with their fingers crossed behind their backs, and get sent home. Given the same 10-day period, Lymond inexplicably ends up boarding with the Douglas (and meets Margaret?), embroils himself in intrigue, overhears English plans he shouldn't, probably sleeps with Margaret, and is given a MANOR by Henry in order to shut him up / tie him to England / mitigate Margaret-being-Margaret. Margaret, not being mitigated enough, instigates the fake letter incident so that Lymond can't go home. Then Lymond is bundled off to Calais, ostensibly to avoid vengeful Scottish hotheads, essentially to be handed over to France (definitely Henry; Margaret may get a teeny bit of benefit of the doubt on this).
NB: I thought while reading book 2 that this manor was Sevigny, but that one's French. Now, like Richard, I have no idea how Lymond came to acquire
1543-1544: Lymond rows for France (though not, I gather, in winter). March, Lennox notes him (...recognizes Y/N? I have a feeling that if Lymond meant "recognized" he would have said so) while travelling from France to Scotland; September, return trip with gold for Marie de Guise. Sometime during either/both of these trips Lymond figures out that Lennox is set to defect to England, which argues he wasn't chained to the bench the entire time. The months get a bit muddled here, but probably early '44 Lymond convinces Lennox to free him and take him... home, in fact (Lennox's, not Lymond's). Lennox defects to England in May '44, and shortly before (or after) Lymond defects from him, taking a portion of the gold which he then returns to the Dowager through various means. Meanwhile, Lennox marries Margaret Douglas, AND THEY NEVER HAVE A REAL CONVERSATION ABOUT LYMOND EVER. Or maybe they do!
NB: Geebus, how dodgy is this Lennox episode when written out? And I thought he hated Lymond because he was all up in his wife's bidness. I honestly don't know what Lymond expected Will Scott to understand of his conversation with Margaret.
1545: Lennox didn't tell anyone about Lymond or the missing gold, which informational gap Lymond proceeds to build on by offering Wharton his services, then leading the English forces into a trap. Wharton puts an English price on Lymond's head, and Lymond heads for the Continent.
1545-1547: Lymond puts together his mercenaries. Buckles swash all the way out to, like, Poland(?), then makes his way back.
1547 summer: proper beginning of book 1, which ends in August 1548.
...It's got the bones of a h/c classic Dunnett plotted out in tedious detail then got bored of writing in the proper order of events. XD;
AND NOW I'M GOING TO FINISH WATCHING MADOKA, F'REALS.
(Behind on Doctor Who again! I will never catch up.)
