"Nothing?" Nora at last found words for her scorn. "Nothing? A good wife— the best of wives. Safely delivered of a fine, healthy son. A job at six hundred offered—and ten times the prospects. Nothing! The only place you've gotten nothing, Mr. Thornton, is right down the middle of your back!"
"Nothing!" Walter repeated, just as if she had not spoken. He turned directly to John. "And you—what did you take?"
He did not wait for an answer but, with a cry of despair, stood and walked away down the field. He collected Hermes, but he still had not mounted by the time he passed from their view along the lane.
"Eay," Nora turned to John. "You never did, did you? Not you and Arabella!"
He smiled at her in gentle scorn. "Please!" he said.
She grinned happily and looked again at the dispirited Thornton now almost out of sight. "He'd best stay clear of his child or the father will likely catch nappy rash and die of it."
John laughed richly and lay back on the rug; but the laughter overcame him and he had to sit up again. "Eay, Nora! Nora!" he said. "Tha'rt…tha'rt a bloody rock! A fastness! A mountain in my land! How could I ever have thought of a life without thee!"
She leaned her head on his shoulder. The lowering sun crept in under the lowest branches and dappled them with its golden warmth. "I'm glad it's out in the light of day," she said.
"I…suspected it," he said, not wanting to tell her of the nicks in the edge of the coin that made its provenance certain.
She misread the hesitation in his voice as a reluctance to confess something quite different. She smiled and leaned on him more heavily. "You've not been… not jealous!" she said.
He sniffed.
"Nay!" she went on.
She looked quickly up at him, read the uncertainty on his face, and leaned against him once more; she was wriggling with delight. "You have been!" she said.
"'Appen," he admitted.
"Eay love! You've no more sense than…nay! Jealous! Thee!" She tickled his ribs. "Come on then. There's none to disturb us now. Give us a green mantle. Or the blankets and cushions are still on the gravestone. Let's give yon Nick Everett another warming!"
But John did not move, except to put an arm around her and hold her still. "Nay!" he answered. "Poor bugger. Yon Nick Everett, he must be amazed at what the world's come to; him lying deep down there and nowt but frigging and childbirth six foot above!"
"Come on!" she urged.
"No!" He was firm now. "We shall sit here and we shall do the one thing we've not had time for all this twelve month."
"What?" she asked.
"Sweet nothing," he said.
End
Reading Group Guide
1. Were you surprised by Nora's trust in unfamiliar men? She has sex with Thornton without even asking his name, bent on receiving the less than five pounds offered to her, and she thrusts herself into Lord John's bed, knowing that he's the leader of a gang of navvies and quite possibly a dangerous man. Does this faith in strangers make Nora naïve, or do you think she recognizes the danger and ignores it? Would you be so trusting with strangers if you found yourself in her position?
2. Prendergast tells John that "There's no fortune to be made without chicanery, and all the world knows it." Do you agree with him? Is there really no honest fortune to be made in the world?
3. John changes when he is appointed contractor of the Summit Tunnel. His attitude toward the men becomes a little less friendly and he becomes a watchdog for idleness. He even organizes a strike in order to crush it and send the ringleaders to prison. Does this change inevitably come with greater power and responsibility, or do you think John's newfound power corrupts him? Is John's primary goal still the restructuring of labor practices in Britain, or do you think his new status has poisoned his initial motivation?
4. Arabella is horrified when her husband touches her breast on their wedding night. She has no idea that married couples have sex. She thinks babies are miraculously given by God as blessings to His faithful servants. Although her "lower nature" eventually prevails, she refuses
to have sex again with her husband until her father assures her that it's okay. What was your reaction to Arabella's ignorance? Do you feel sorry for Walter, who had to wait for his father-in-law's approval to have sex with his wife?
5. At eighteen, both Nora and Arabella are married to men devoted to the Summit Tunnel contract. How are their marriages similar? How are they different? How does physical love and sex play a role in each marriage?
6. The role of women is repeatedly questioned by the men in this book. The navvies are superstitious of women in the drift, Dr. Fisher tells Walter that men must enlighten women about morality, and Mr. Redmayne is shocked to learn that Nora manages the tommy shop by herself. Do you think Nora is bothered by this social climate, or does she thrive as a result of the challenge? How does John feel about Nora's behavior and people's reactions?
7. Despite his rank as a navvy ganger, John asserts an air of authority and education to those around him and everyone respects him, even those men who go on strike against him. What qualities do you think make John such a good leader? Do you think he would assert the same authority if he didn't have such an imposing physical presence?
8. John tells Nora that pride is a commodity like any other and has its price. Do you agree with him? Under what conditions is it worth it to sacrifice pride in order to achieve something? Are there any circumstances in which one should hold on to one's pride at all costs?
9. John and Nora risk their reputations and their fortune several times in order to advance their interests. Do you think their actions are brave, or are they just foolish?
10. Nora tells Thornton that her father repeatedly molested her once her mother was dead. She doesn't mention this again until she thinks herself pregnant by John and remembers her past stillbirths and miscarriages. How do you think this previous sexual abuse affected Nora's decisions and actions?
11. John is a caring, hardworking, and respected boss. He takes care of his men, pays them fairly, refuses to swindle them out of their hard-earned money, and takes pride in their work. However, he is an opportunist, constantly thinking of ways he can make use of people and situations to suit his plans. Do you consider John a heroic figure? Although he claims his primary aim is to help the working man, do you think the wealth that comes with Summit Tunnel makes him less heroic? Is he still striving on behalf of the working man after he becomes rich?
12. When John is forced to fire several of his workers, he feels that he is betraying them, yet he refuses to forgo some of his profits in order to keep them on, insisting that this would hinder his prospects of growing the firm large enough to hire even more men in the future. Is this decision really motivated by John's hope to help more men in the long run, or do you think he is thinking of his financial self-interest? Would you have made the same decision in his position?
13. Nora is shocked that her brawny husband fears her. She is even more surprised when she learns from Mrs. Metcalfe that the entire community fears her as well. She is unaware of her ferocity, rather seeing herself as the powerless waif of months past. Have you ever been completely shocked by someone's opinion of you, thinking yourself quite the opposite? Were you pleased, or were you offended?
14. After giving the poor beggar child's abusive mother a shilling with which to clothe her, Nora feels like she rewarded this cruel woman for exploiting her child. She tells John that people must stop giving to the beggars, or else this cruelty will continue. John responds that many children would die as a result. Thornton later asserts that charity actually creates poverty. Which side of the argument do you support? Do handouts help anyone in the long-run, or do they just perpetuate the cycle of begging and cruelty? Has society progressed at all in regards to the homeless and poverty-stricken?
15. Lady Henshaw explains to Nora that it is her blood that makes her one of Lady Henshaw's sort. Despite her eighteen years of destitution, Nora is worthy of Lady Henshaw's compa
ny because of her late great-grandfather's
status. Do the other characters value people in the same way? Is family blood more important than hard work and success in determining a person's worth? How have the standards of a person's value changed?
16. Nora tells John that "there's only two sorts of people in this world. Us, and competitors." Do you think she takes her work too seriously? Does she really see the world in these black-and-white terms?
17. Does Walter truly love Arabella? He claims that he loves her and enjoys her company, yet he repeatedly cheats on her with several women. He even admits to himself that he loves Nelly and Sophie, and he tells Nora that he's thought of their tryst every day for the past year. Can love exist when one partner continually deceives the other?
18. When Arabella asks Nora to explain poverty to her, Nora says, "Unhappiness is in the person. Not the purse." Do you think she truly believes this statement? Was she really that happy before she found John and started making a fortune with him?
19. As the book ends, Walter dejectedly walks away from John and Nora, feeling duped and humiliated, tears streaming down his face. Did you feel any sympathy for him, or does he deserve his fate? Did Nora treat him fairly?
20. Moral irony is at the center of many dealings throughout this novel. For example, the only board member to realize John's forged scheme is the priest, yet instead of doing the moral thing and exposing John's lies, Prendergast deals himself into the plot, hoping to reap a decent profit. Similarly, Walter and Arabella wait until they're married to consummate their love, yet Arabella is completely ignorant of what is required of her; Walter, meanwhile, has a tryst with a neighbor's maid during their honeymoon. What effect do you think this irony has on the text? How do the characters respond to it? What message does the book convey about morality?
About the Author
Malcom Macdonald is the author of 30 novels, including the bestselling Stevenson Family Saga, Rose of Nancemellin, and Hell Hath No Fury. He was born in England in 1932 and currently lives in Ireland.
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