#warleggan

So with all that (the above), I think what was going on in Ross's mind was indeed anger and fuelling the sex was both lust and frustration as well. Any love, respect and admiration that he had had for Elizabeth were suspended in these moments in the bedroom scene and replaced with these more overpowering emotions.

Also I have two theories that I believe work together for what was in Ross's brain. I feel that amongst all those distracting and disabling emotions Ross lost his sound 'reason' and also in the moment his actions were an impulsive 'violent solution'.

I feel he lost his good reason because Graham later narrated that when Ross had gone to see Elizabeth that night '....there had been no time for calculated motives or reasoned intentions. REASON CAME AFTER AND REASON WAS STILL OUT OF ITS DEPTH.'  Years later in 'The Angry Tide' Ross told Demelza that him recklessly going to look in on the Warleggan party at Trenwith (where he bumped into Elizabeth outside while George was inside), was  ".....a single act - of unreason.." and that she had to face that he was  "...not always a reasonable man." I do think that was in moments of anger especially and that reminds me that the first violence he ever did against George was when George taunted him that Francis had betrayed him for '30 pieces of silver' by giving him the names of the men funding the Carnemore copper company. Graham wrote that Ross felt an 'un-controllable fury' and he could not remember having lost his temper that way before in all his life. You can then imagine that adding anger and hatred of George with anger and a feeling of betrayal by Elizabeth, that his violence might equal or top the previous violence on George from before.

For the second theory- When Demelza tried to stop Ross going back to Trenwith to challenge George over his gamekeepers shooting at Garrick and Demelza consequently ending up with a dog bite, Ross did comment that  "Violent solutions seem to be the only ones that come natural to me at present." The word 'solution' there is the interesting and operative word. Also when Elizabeth met him three years later at the Sawle Church Graveyard she said to him "If your purpose in what you did was destruction then you altogether succeeded."  I think it is significant that she had this feeling (rather than feeling his purpose and the experience was a romantic and loving one to her), and I do feel that Ross partly in his 'unreason' thought that he would be 'stopping' the marriage if he 'took her by force'.

Why would the author make Ross such a horrible person?

Did he? Or was he just providing a real and flawed aspect and horrendous incident in the life of a person who otherwise was generally a good man? It is definitely true that Ross was horrible in that moment (or for that night), but because he is the protagonist and had previously stood for good causes, had good principles and even done heroic and honourable things, I believe that most readers will be emotionally invested in the full breadth of his character before and after this incident and can still have good will for him. Especially as he returns to some good form afterwards. So I think many will take the view that he was a good man who did a horrible thing rather than a horrible man that did a horrible thing like Reverend Whitworth was. Arguably whilst one could argue that Ross was out of his normal mind with what he did and it was a really bad (disgustingly violent) one off episode, they could not say that for the Reverend.

I also feel that Graham wanted to have the climax (excuse the pun) and resolution to the Demelza-Ross- Elizabeth love triangle through Ross sleeping with Elizabeth but with this not being both a premeditated and a romantic and loving experience. That would be unnatural for Ross and readers would lose good will for him in the premeditation. It would also greatly undermine and disrespect the special love for Demelza that he had carefully built up and that Graham had documented. This would be more so than if it had happened to sleep with Elizabeth without any premeditation and instead it had been due to an unforeseen and impulsive negative reaction to a burst of overwhelming anger.

years later, george would watch you at balls

dancing with many different men and exchanging polite smiles

he’d try to cut in

and you’d roll your eyes because you knew exactly what he was doing

george tried to impress you with his incoming money

but you paid no attention

and couldn’t care less

when you started to see potential suitors

he targeted them specifically

so no one else could have you

but his big move was coming to your house

he started to befriend francis and verity

putting past quarrels aside

and that was the thing that won you over

after that, you spent more time with him

laughing in small rooms away from the crowd

indulging in each other’s wildest dreams

his of becoming the richest and most powerful man in cornwall

and yours of traveling the world and writing stories

everyone could sense that you two were close

and as lady of the house, agatha allowed you to marry

you were so happy but for george it was unlike anything

he dedicated his whole life to making sure you were always happy

consistently buying the fanciest jewelry and the nicest dresses

anything to show you that he loved you most of all

and although both ross and francis had an initial aversion to the partnership…

they learned to accept it

for you