Does Pauline know?
May. 10th, 2011 05:42 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
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This has come up briefly in past discussions, but I thought it might be interesting to go into it at somewhat greater length.
Pauline seems more perceptive than most of Bertie's fiancées. She could tell that he was glad to be out of their engagement, while he thought he was upset about it (and as for that, why did he propose in the first place?). She doesn't operate under the delusion that he's still in love with her. She asks Bertie "'Don't you worship the way [Chuffy's] hair fluffs up behind?'" And then there's her feeling perfectly safe being in his bed and wearing his pajamas. This leads me to wonder if she'd sensed something about his inclinations.
What tipped her off that he didn't really want to marry her? Do you think she could tell that Bertie was into men*? If she doesn't know about that, did she simply assume he had feelings for someone else? Was she just really oblivious about how her being in his bed would appear?
And what about the other ladies? I think Aunt Dahlia and Angela are the likeliest to know or suspect, but I'm not sure if they actually do.
*Not so much that she believed he was gay and only faking interest in women, but that maybe he liked men as well.
Pauline seems more perceptive than most of Bertie's fiancées. She could tell that he was glad to be out of their engagement, while he thought he was upset about it (and as for that, why did he propose in the first place?). She doesn't operate under the delusion that he's still in love with her. She asks Bertie "'Don't you worship the way [Chuffy's] hair fluffs up behind?'" And then there's her feeling perfectly safe being in his bed and wearing his pajamas. This leads me to wonder if she'd sensed something about his inclinations.
What tipped her off that he didn't really want to marry her? Do you think she could tell that Bertie was into men*? If she doesn't know about that, did she simply assume he had feelings for someone else? Was she just really oblivious about how her being in his bed would appear?
And what about the other ladies? I think Aunt Dahlia and Angela are the likeliest to know or suspect, but I'm not sure if they actually do.
*Not so much that she believed he was gay and only faking interest in women, but that maybe he liked men as well.