2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #1 discussion

The story ended with Sebastian's paternity in question. Do you think Amanda will honor her father's demand and fear his threat? Is her resentment of Sebastian justified?

I think if Sebastian were to die childless then Amanda's son would inherit. So she may well pop up again!

Her son is damaged. I can see her being resentful of Sebastian's station but her hatred is misplaced. I think Bayard inherited faulty genes from both sides of the family.

This is a great question Jonetta! Since I have read all the books in the series to-date, I'll just say the question of Sebastian's paternity will continue to play an important part in this series.

I don't think I trust Amanda as far as the proverb goes: as far as I could throw her.

To some extent Amanda's attitude could be justified. Remember in this period of history she either had to marry well or be a pensioner to her father and later her brother. This was of course negated by her marriage. But all through her childhood Sebastian would have been feted as the heir, with education and freedoms that were denied her by simply being a woman. I didn't like her but I could see how these little seeds from childhood could grow into full blown resentment.

Not answering because I know what happens.

Loriidae wrote: "But all through her childhood Sebastian would have been feted as the heir, with education and freedoms that were denied her by simply being a woman. ."

Actually, while this is usually true for female offspring, it is not the case with Sebastian and Amanda,

First of all, Amanda is much older than Sebastian and was a teenager when he was born. Moreover, there were two older brothers in line before Sebastian but they died and he only became the heir when he was an adult.

Amanda's hatred is not due to Sebastian's position as son and heir. It goes deeper than that.

That's right I had forgotten about the two older brothers.

Lauren wrote: "Amanda's hatred is not due to Sebastian's position as son and heir. It goes deeper than that...."

That was my thinking...it goes deeper. I'm speculating now that her hatred is all tangled up with her feelings about her mother's adultery and believing Sebastian to be the offspring of one of her lovers. It's probably exacerbated by him now being the direct heir. This woman clearly has layered issues.

I agree with the trend of the answers to this question, and I'll be reading this thread with a lot of interest in future books.

We're halfway to Feb 1 now!

Yeah, her hatred has an air of irrationality about it.

Charlene wrote: "I don't think I trust Amanda as far as the proverb goes: as far as I could throw her."

I agree Charlene I do not trust Amanda at all and find her very conniving. She does seem to resent Sebastian.