I finished reading Dragonwyck by Anya Seton last night...I'd already seen the movie beforehand, I'm a fan of Vincent Price.
There's a character named Nicholas. It's not a secret that he turns his emotions and charm on and off whenever it benefits him to do so. His intentions are almost never pure, he seems incapable of caring about anyone, including his wife (Johanna OR Miranda, take your pick) and daughter. The only time he ever seems to care about Miranda's feelings is when he finds out she's going to have his son. Even then, he only makes sure she's happy because he wants an heir.
There are times when he'd be sweet and caring to Miranda, and when she'd reciprocate, he would laugh at her and instantly become cold. He did it only to humiliate her. He played with her emotions for his own amusement. She was a possession to him, there was never a moment from the time they got married when it seemed like he loved her.
This is consistent in his personality. He does not truly care about anyone. He is charismatic when he needs to be, and the second it no longer benefits him, he goes back to being cold and horrible.
The confusion comes from one part of the book, before Nicholas married Miranda. They went out for the day with Nicholas' daughter, and they were returning to Dragonwyck in a carriage. The farmers were revolting because they no longer wanted to pay rent to Nicholas (this takes place in 1844). They surrounded the carriage, took out a gun and fired a shot at it. At this point, Miranda throws herself at Nicholas, he embraces her and presses his lips against her hair. It almost seems as if he does have feelings for her, but as the rest of the book shows, he's incapable of feeling anything for anyone, and he certainly wouldn't have cared if she had been harmed.
It's a minor detail, but it still bothers me.
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