![]() ![]() I recall being angry with Simon, thinking that he deliberately hid the truth from Daphne. After reading the recap, I now remember what happened, but am still hazy about my reaction to it on first reading. It’s been years since I read The Duke and I but remember liking it, and being excited that it was part of a series. LinnieGayl: It’s funny, when I read that Daphne was the first choice for this new series I was puzzled: I honestly couldn’t remember what Daphne had done that was so awful. So AAR, what do you think? Is Daphne Winsome or Loathsome? Simon and Daphne are known as “most besotted couple” in the ton and they adore their kids. He was asleep, and probably still more than a little bit drunk, and she could do whatever she wanted with him.ĭaphne had aroused him in his sleep, taken advantage of him while he was still slightly intoxicated, and held him to her while he poured his seed into her.īy the novel’s end, Simon has not only forgiven Daphne, he is grateful to her for pushing him to get past his anger at his awful father (He vowed to never have children to spite his dad.) and is happily trying to make beautiful babies with her. She makes a decision.ĭaphne felt the strangest, most intoxicating surge of power. She does and, an hour later realizes Simon is sporting an erection despite being asleep and inebriated. When he comes home, he begs Daphne to stay with him as he falls asleep. Simon goes out and gets thoroughly soused. She is furious and, after accusing him of taking advantage of her procreative stupidity, she locks her bedroom door against him. However, a few weeks into her marriage, a candid chat with the housekeeper at Simon’s ancestral home suddenly makes it clear to her that Simon is choosing not to have children. Thus, when she begins having a passionate sex life with her husband, she has no idea that his use of the withdrawal method, has anything to do with the childless future he said they’d have. Her pre-wedding day chat with her mother, though hilarious, fails to educate her. She says to him, “ You’re worth it.“ĭaphne, like many a girl of her era, is clueless about sex. “You need to understand that.”ĭespite this, Daphne, who loves him, tells him she wants to wed him. “I cannot have children,” he repeated cruelly. “How do you know?” she interrupted, her voice flat and unnaturally loud. You will never hold a baby in your arms and know it is yours, that you created it in love. “If you marry me, you will never have children. He knew his words would be brutal, but he saw no other way to force her understanding. And it was almost the truth.ĭaphne’s lips parted, but other than that, there was no indication that she’d even heard him. Simon reluctantly agrees but makes it clear to Daphne that he will never have children. ![]() This causes her brother to challenge Simon to a duel which Daphne stops–right before the men begin–and begs Simon to marry her. Despite knowing that, Daphne lures Simon into the gardens where he compromises her. When Simon and Daphne meet as adults, Simon makes it crystal clear to Daphne he has no intention of ever marrying anyone. Well, if you haven’t read the book and want to be surprised, stop reading now. And yet there are many who feel she is at the very least morally iffy and at the worst morally despicable. She is a warm friend and a loyal and devoted sibling. Quinn’s heroines, self-deprecating, smart, and kind. (She is not the most prolific of her siblings– her brother Gregory ultimately has nine children.) Daphne is, like most of Ms. Daphne certainly ends up with the life of her dreams: She marries one of her older brother Anthony’s best friends, a handsome Duke named Simon with whom she has five children. ![]() Daphne’s story, The Duke and I, is the first in Julia Quinn’s wildly popular Bridgerton series. For me, a good heroine is one who deserves the Happily Ever After she gets.ĭaphne is the oldest girl and third child of Violet and (the deceased) Edmund Bridgerton. We at AAR have defined elsewhere what each thinks are the characteristics of a good heroine. (I was rooting for Dreamgirl or Disaster but was outvoted.) Like its counterpart, Dreamboat or Douchebag, this column will look at well-known heroines and ask the pointed question: Winsome or Loathsome? We will reserve our critique for heroines who are not universally loved or who are known for behaving badly at some point in their stories. Welcome to our new column, Winsome or Loathsome. Given the phenomenal interest in Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series, we thought it would be fun to republish this! ![]()
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