#chapter review

Modri thinks that doesn't make sense, but then the actor brings the young Indian woman forward to take a turn, even though she doesn't really want to.

Her spin lands on "Dream." She lights a cigar and stands it up like incense.

Turns out her story might be the most interesting so far, at least for our earl and Sebastian (as well as us readers). If her appearance and last name seem familiar, it's because she's related to Agni. (Coincidence, I think not!) I love how she gives the queen side eye and refers to her by her title in India.

Sebastian seems more interested in her story, and hopefully he recalls Agni's original name, but maybe not just yet. Still, he's the one asking her why she came all this way. We know who this elder brother must be, though she has no idea how much he changes after leaving home.

At this point, Sebastian and our earl must realize who she's talking about, which would explain Sebastian repeating "fucking asshole" as a question; it's not so much who she's speaking in front of but who she's speaking about.

I don't know why, but I'm delighted by her choice of words. Her fellow actor makes a ridiculous excuse, as her English vocabulary seems extensive, and she's not even using a noticeable accent here. Victoria doesn't seem the least bit offended by the cuss words, and it's amusing how shocked our earl is by her acceptance, even expectation, there would be some curse words. However, I think it's important for our earl to learn the queen has more sides to her than how she generally appears to the public and how she acts in more private settings with our earl. In both cases, she's typically proper yet a bit eccentric. Here, she might be about to show even more of her other side....

So, the Iyer family disowns him, and he ends up leaving home. For whatever reason, she didn't want to lose contact with him, so she goes searching for him. A tip leads her to GB, and I'm wondering who gave her that tip and why. She got there not knowing English, and she didn't have access to unlimited funds, so she ends up broke. Before she can become seagull food, she's found and taken in by Darius and his theater troupe...

...which she calls a scam. 😂 I think I like this Shara character a lot. Intelligent and foul-mouthed. 🤣

I think he mostly wants their shows to touch wallets everywhere they go, and Sharada ("Shara") knows it.

I'm not sure what to think of Victoria's reaction. If she's still pretending she's just a countess, it should be quite obvious to her that they all know who she really is... unless she (or John) would prefer that Modri not realize it.

Then we have all the other guests of the hotel -- the ones in the room, of course -- recognizing who she is and getting very flustered/afraid/etc. because she's there.

These are probably Sebastian's thoughts regarding Modri. He's noticing that Modri is the only person who was seated and didn't stand up when Victoria walked into the room. Even if it were some other woman entering the room, all the men would be expected to stand, as a matter of courtesy.

Then Modri shows how un-knowledgeable he really is by demanding that she introduce/identify herself.

She explains that, at Nectar Springs, she's just a widow going down memory lane regarding her dearly departed husband, Prince Albert. One charm on her jewelry shows a miniature image of Albert. Another charm is a heart with the year he died, which is 1861. (He was only 42.)

Apparently, she really did sometimes go by the title "Countess of Balmoral". However, there's nothing incognito about her appearance here, while there's always something incognito about John Brown in this series. Unlike the queen, he never removes his reflective riding goggles, at least not that we've been allowed to witness... yet.

Meanwhile, Fairchild is also a bit flustered, but he takes a gulp of air and then restates his policy that guests at the hotel are welcome to exercise their "freedom" during their stays.

The chapter seems to mostly be about John Brown and the oddly spoiled white horse that often accompanies John, even when Victoria isn't riding it.

In the cover/title page art, John is looking away (or giving us side eye, since we can't see his eyes through those glasses/goggles), and Victoria might be looking at us, but we still can't tell, since she's wearing the same riding goggles that John wears... but the horse has turned its head to look at us. It also appears to be smiling.

I'm quite sure that John isn't human... and I'm not too sure that horse is just a horse.

The tag line "her majesty's favorite" could refer to the horse, but dialogue in this chapter suggests it's also about John Brown, since his official station in life is quite lowly, but he's treated as a high-ranking servant. Like... why are her actual butlers not there?

This chapter mentions the scandal surrounding them in historical context -- that people suspected (and still suspect today) that after Albert died, Victoria took John Brown as a lover. It's even vaguely mentioned here that she might have married John Brown in secret. This is also a rumor in real life.