Belinda

Lady Delacour’s rapidly declining physical condition is brought to a head when she is involved in a carriage accident. Taking out a new carriage equipage, bought on borrowed money to show off to her neighbors, Lady Delacour is caught beneath the carriage when it flips over in the park. Rushed back to her chambers, she refuses any medical help, certain that her cancerous gunshot wound will be discovered. She pretends to her attentive maid, Marriott, that she is fine. Ever obedient to her lady, Marriott refuses Lord Delacour’s demand to be allowed into the bedchamber. Belinda, who already knows about the duel and about Lady Delacour’s fears that the wound has turned cancerous, is concerned over Lady Delacour’s condition. She stays up all night at the woman’s bedside. She urges the woman, now in nearly constant pain, to consult a reputable doctor known for his sagacity and his erudition, identified only as Doctor X.

Hervey’s friends, angered that he abandoned them so completely after the near-death episode at the Serpentine River, now conspire to damage their ex-friend’s reputation by circulating the vile rumor that Hervey has long and secretly kept a mysterious woman named Virginia St. Pierre as his mistress at his estate at Windsor, far from prying eyes. When one of the friends, a disreputable roué named Philip Baddeley, boldly (and foolishly) proposes marriage to Belinda, she turns him down politely but firmly. In retaliation, Baddeley tells both Belinda and Lady Delacour about Hervey’s purported mistress, as a way, he says, to protect them from Hervey’s immorality. Belinda hears the story but initially doubts its veracity until she by chance sees that a letter from Hervey contains a long lock of a woman’s hair. Deciding again that Hervey is a cad, she resolves not to have anything to do with him.

Belinda has not given up the idea of reuniting Lady Delacour with her estranged daughter, but she is not sure how. It happens that Lady Delacour’s faithful maid Marriott keeps a gorgeous blue macaw as a pet. The bird’s jangly caws, however, disturb Lady Delacour. She instructs Belinda to get rid of the nuisance. Belinda quietly heads to a nearby bird shop in hope of finding the macaw a nice home and, in turn, returning with a quieter pet. In a happy coincidence, Belinda meets Helena and one of the Percival children, who are there to purchase a macaw for their mother. When Belinda explains her predicament, Helena happily takes the blue macaw and even offers to send Lady Delacour some exotic gold fish to help calm her jangled nerves. Belinda, ever the optimist, hands over the bird and tells Helena the macaw is often considered an omen of good fortune. The trade-off works, and Lady Delacour, who is delighted by the novelty of the fish, agrees to meet Helena. Belinda’s plan appears to have succeeded. Mother and daughter finally meet and enjoy a long and fruitful conversation.

When Belinda attends an art exhibit, the talk of the gallery is a stunning portrait of Virginia St. Pierre, an intoxicating young woman posed in a manner that suggests a heroine from a popular romance novel. Baddeley, there to stir up trouble, whispers to Belinda that the woman in the portrait is Hervey’s mistress. Just moments later, Hervey, who is also at the exhibition, cautions Belinda about rumors circulating about her, that she is just biding her time until Lady Delacour’s death to marry the widower and claim the family money. Belinda knows the idea is absurd, but she is hurt by the gossip and fears such careless whispers might impact Lady Delacour’s already fragile health.

The rumor proves to be durable. Belinda even receives a lengthy note from her aunt cautioning her against making such a bold and obvious play for a widower who is not even a widower yet. Indeed, when Lady Delacour emphatically refuses to seek the medical counsel of Doctor X, preferring her own doctor, though he is rumored to be unlicensed and keeps her medicated on opiates, she evidences the depth of her growing distrust of Belinda. She accuses the innocent girl of the vilest kind of treachery and of scheming to take her husband. Addled by the medication and distraught over what she perceives as the mortal seriousness her own injury, Lady Delacour pulls a penknife on Belinda when the girl attempts to approach her to hold her and calm her down.

For Lady Delacour’s own good, fearing her presence would only make Lady Delacour worse, Belinda reluctantly agrees to go live with the Percivals, who offer to take her in at Oakley-park. The decision upsets Belinda. She promised Lady Delacour that she would never abandon her, but she does not see that she has a choice. When Lady Delacour hears the news from Marriott, she is sure it is some kind of ruse, that Belinda will never leave. But Belinda departs. Belinda is welcomed into the Percival home. Far from the Delacours’ toxic environment, Belinda experiences for the first time in London a loving and supportive family, a household at peace, free of malice, backstabbing, and bickering.

At the Percivals’ house, however, Belinda is introduced to Augustus Vincent, a wealthy twentysomething half-Creole plantation owner visiting from the West Indies. Belinda is immediately taken in by Vincent’s exotic speech, elegant manners, swarthy striking looks, and evident confidence. She enjoys his company and his friendship, but she feels nothing romantic. She has not quite gotten over Hervey. It is clear from their initial encounter, and simple casual chats in the Percival home, that Vincent is quite taken by Belinda and her grace, charm, and beauty. Lady Percival understands Belinda’s reluctance to commit to any relationship without feeling that spark of attraction. But gently, lovingly, she suggests to Belinda that over time she might come to love Vincent and that as a potential suitor, given his social status and his wealth, he would make a fine husband. Belinda ponders the difference between being in love and loving someone, a novel distinction for women of the time, given the strategies upper-class families routinely designed to engineer favorable matches for their daughters. For the first time, Belinda ponders what it means to be a woman in love. However, she bows to Lady Percival’s logic. Without much fanfare or excitement, she agrees to become engaged to Vincent on the chance that she may someday find herself in love.