Chapter IV, “A Lesson Upon The Eleventh Commandment—‘Parents Obey Your Children’,” centers on the family council Louisa convenes in her white-and-gold Albert Gate boudoir to finalize the engagement. Louisa excludes her younger sisters Margaret and Emily, deeming them too indiscreet, and Lord Shotover avoids attending, still wary of Louisa’s coldness since the debt scandal. The council consists only of Louisa, her sister Alicia Winterbotham, Ludovic Quayle, and Lord Fallowfeild. Louisa and Alicia argue the match is ideal: Richard is wealthy, charming, and universally popular, and the union will provide financial stability for the entire Quayle family after Shotover’s debts drained their resources. They dismiss concerns about Richard’s deformity, insisting everyone gets used to it immediately, and that holding it against him is unchristian. Fallowfeild is hesitant, feeling he should have been consulted before the engagement was arranged, and worried the match is not right for his beloved youngest daughter. Ludovic defends Richard, calling him a heroic, lovable friend, but admits privately to himself that Constance is too young and simple to ever fully understand Richard’s complex, tormented nature. The discussion grows heated, with Louisa and Alicia pressuring Fallowfeild to agree, reminding him that Shotover’s selfishness has already cost the family dearly, and that Constance’s marriage to Richard will secure her future and benefit her siblings. Just as Fallowfeild is wavering, a servant announces Richard Calmady is waiting in the smoking room to see him.
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