*A few spoilers from earlier in the season.*
We’ve skipped over quite a bit of season 2 here—Peter Davison mostly appears toward the beginning and toward the end. As such, there’s a fair amount to catch up on here. I’ll stick as much as possible to what’s happening in this episode, just touching on the highlights of relevant info from past episodes.
No surprise, Anne is as busy as ever. She’s contemplating new ways to stop scroungers from stealing her coal, she’s looking into building an inn on some of her unused land, and she’s in the thick of some contentious local politics. Amid all this hustle and bustle, Miss Walker is feeling more ignored than ever—a cruel joke about her and Anne was printed in the paper, and Miss Walker is starting to fear she’s upended her entire life for something that Anne isn’t even serious about. She also learns some surprising news about her sister’s inheritance.
Anne’s business dealings are interesting, because she’s obviously ambitious and determined, and she’s always prepared to educate herself on the particulars she needs to know, but that doesn’t necessarily add up to sound decisions. She seems to be perpetually biting off more than she can chew, seeking professional advice while blithely ignoring any words of caution directed her way. She knows how intelligent she is, but that can sometimes put her in a position where 1) she assumes she knows better than her advisors and 2) she thinks she’s too shrewd to be cheated.
The public joke against Anne and Miss Walker occurred in the last episode, but the fallout continues here: someone had a fake marriage announcement printed in the paper, “mistaking” Anne for a man and claiming that “he” just wed Miss Walker. Anne puts on a show of indifference about the mockery in public, although she’s privately incensed. She sees it as someone trying to intimidate her, and she demands, “How dare anyone speak to me about intimidation?” Meanwhile, Miss Walker is deeply humiliated, and she doesn’t feel able to put on a brave face about it like Anne does.
This is further compounded by her creeping doubts about the depth of Anne’s feelings. A quarrel begins between them over what Miss Walker views as a dismissive reference to her in one of Anne’s letters. Miss Walker may think she isn’t strong, but she holds Anne to account here, not letting her off the hook. “‘I’m sorry if you think—’ I hate that, that’s what men say!” she argues. “‘I’m sorry if you’re so stupid that you’ve misunderstood.’” And so, when her family start trying to meddle (what else is new?), Miss Walker is perhaps a little more ready to hear what they have to say.
Mr. Priestley is attached to this plot, although we don’t see him doing this directly. While other members of Miss Walker’s family work their influence on her in person or through letters, Mr. Priestley is only guilty of attempted influence this time around—he comes to Shibden Hall to see Miss Walker, but she’s out and he runs into Anne instead. Anne purrs, “Well then, you’ve missed her, and you’ve caught me. That probably wasn’t the plan at all, was it?”
Davison does a nice job playing this absolute wet noodle of a man. Mr. Priestley is completely cowed in Anne’s presence, barely managing more than a frightened hat-tip.
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