What was Clayton thinking?

[Jessica]

The eternal question:

Why in heavens name did Clayton allow Margaret Merryton to hang on his arm? This thought keeps me up at night.

Is it because in the guise of Mr Westland he couldn't give her a ducal set down that would leave her mortified and, for once, thankfully speechless?

I just can't figure it out. One thing I DO know is that he saw right through her. I just can't fathom why he tolerated her.

I just don't get it y'all....

[Nazifa Jan]

Haha, we all do hate Margaret.
In my opinion, it's because he thought of her too insignificant, so he didn't even bother. Plus, JM wrote it in that way to develop the story further with the 'first misunderstanding'.

[didem]

I, too, believe that she was too insignificant. What I can't get is why did he believe her?

[Nazifa Jan]

To answer why he believed Margaret is, in my opinion, love makes you blind. He was in love with Whitney yet he feared losing her thus making him act like how he did.

[Jessica]

Okay, so maybe he was so intrigued with her, and so focused on winning her, that Paul could have been hanging on his arm and he wouldn't have noticed? lmao. I can buy that. lol

As for why he believed her....Hmm...Maybe the shock of what she said jolted him, and he reacted swiftly without thinking the matter through. I remember when I first read W,ML (many, many moons ago), as soon as I read that part I thought "Uh-oh, this is going to be BAD." And sure enough, Margaret's inner viper came out to play, and she was practically frothing with vileness. I imagine at the time such a topic was not at all the thing for a polite young woman to speak of at dinner parties (or anywhere for that matter), so it was unthinkable to him that she could say that if it weren't true....Or maybe she just had the face of an angel and was a very convincing actress. ha ha...

Hmmm...I am intrigued with this topic now.

-- Jessica

[didem]

Well, still... He shouldn't have believed her. He saw right through Margaret right? So what really happened there?
Margaret was a vile girl, and he knew it. The only opinion I can believe here is that "the shock of what she said jolted him and he reacted swiftly without thinking the matter through."

Then he feels so guilty that he believes Whitney wouldn't want to see him ever again? Really? He just took her virginity. He made her unmarriagable. Even if she didn't want to see him she would have married him after the first shock passed. He was an arrogant man, Clayton, I mean the man JM describes him to be, would have believed that she had no other choice. So even though Clayton and Whitney are my favorite hero and heroine, I still cannot believe the misunderstandings between the two...

[Jessica]

I agree -- he TOTALLY shouldn't have believed her. But I am glad he did, because the scenes that follow and their mutual misery had me positively dying with angst. Clayton was definitely rash (not to mention his trust issues). And hearing that lie about Whitney would be enough to drive such a man (who was utterly besotted with her) to the brink of madness. I don't think he was like that in other realms of his life, but I like to think that because he DID love her so much, she brought out the best *and* worst in him, and that contributed to the extemity of his reaction. But still I adore him.

And yes! The scenes that follow when he thinks she'll hate him (and ok, well, she does at the time) and never want to see him again!! Aaaah so sad! Maybe the brutal extent of his error changed something inside of him. Before he had wanted her, and was determined to have her at any cost, but after he did such a terrible thing to her, he sort of thought that she deserved better than him. *sniff* So he set her free to be with Paul, whom he thought she truly loved. Like Emily said, he had to love her to distraction to be willing to do that for--to do what he thought would make her happy even though it killed him to do so. OMG it is so sad.

Clayton was definitely an ass sometimes, but OMG, y'all, I love him. <3 <3 <3

[Nazifa Jan]

I think what happened, at the end, made their relationship strong. Clayton learned to trust Whitney. Whitney learned to forgive. And us readers learned to become obsessive fans. Lol XD

[Jessica]

I totally agree. I am so glad JM wrote that into the last half of the book. I think I remember her saying one time that the agent or publisher wanted her to shorten it since long historicals weren't at all the thing. And she didn't want to shorten it because that would've meant ending the book shortly after Whitney goes to Claymore to humble herself and get him back. (I may be getting parts of this wrong but I think that was the gist of it. She could tell it better clearly. lol.) I am SO GLAD she didn't agree to do it. I think we needed to see Clay finally resolve his trust issues and trust Whitney completely. It just wouldn't have been the same without it.

[Nazifa Jan]

Even if the book was 1000 pages, I wouldn't have minded. Come on, a 1000 pages of JM's writing! So awesome!

And she wrapped up WML really nicely. A beautiful fairytale ending.

[didem]

I wouldn't have minded either. As I said under another topic, I am just discussing some stuff that I cannot believe happened. I am not saying it's a bad move for the book.I am just saying. I tend to criticize a lot of things. Doesn't mean I don't love the book. I worship that book. I read it many many times
It's just that, Whitney has the power over me to make me spit fire, because it's Clayton we're talking about here The man of my dreams... So, when Whitney made mistakes I truly wanted to kill her. But at the same time I loved her so much, when Clay made a mistake I totally lost it

[Nazifa Jan]

Woah, my friends call me a critic. They should meet you, didem. [ I don't mean it in a bad way ]

"It's just that, Whitney has the power over me to make me spit fire, because it's Clayton we're talking about here The man of my dreams... So, when Whitney made mistakes I truly wanted to kill her. But at the same time I loved her so much, when Clay made a mistake I totally lost it."

You seem to be in a love-hate relationship with Whitney and Clayton.

[didem]

Nope, no hate I just get angry time to time, but it passes very quickly

[Nazifa Jan]

Good, good.

[Jessica]

Ha! I feel the same way! I do so love discussing the little things that make me crazy... (Don't get me started on Charles Fielding. Argh! He makes me SO MAD!) But that doesn't mean I don't like those parts of the book. ha ha. I think a book SHOULD drive readers to the point of wanting to throttle a character once in a while. It's what makes me love them. The whole gamut of emotions. lol.

Er, I hope JM realizes that when we discuss such things. lol.