rome

the woman paying a dowry for the farm girl in what doesn't break, matilda going to The Dinner hoping to find a spouse, ending up tied to Delilah. breaking it off once and then accepting her again in a "fair partnership" (as delilah puts it). laudna finding imogen when they're both so so lonely, them keeping each other grounded, keeping each other tethered.

and laudnas marriages tethers having ties to her deaths. dying for someone else twice. how twice a purple woman brings her back from death. both these bonds tying each other by their life forces. the rope burn and the ring mark being reminders of either "ownership" or "belonging". one tether invalidating the other.

a noose is a leash is a collar is a tether is a ring is a noose