Summary

In “Cloverpoint Castle: 1805,” Chapter I, Lady Selwyn’s interest “in Moorish and Oriental art” began around the time of her honeymoon (184). She was therefore thrilled by her husband’s gift of the automaton after the siege.

Since Colonel Selwyn’s death, his former aide-de-camp Rum has attended to Lady Selwyn’s care. The two also have a secret sexual relationship. Protective of Lady Selwyn, or Agnes, Rum is skeptical when Jehanne and Abbas arrive. He guesses Jehanne is not “a woman of means” and Abbas is not a valet (187). He studies Jehanne’s behavior while giving her a tour of the castle and Agnes’s collection.

When Jehanne faints during the tour, Agnes insists she stay at the castle and rest. Rum is unsettled by Jehanne’s and Abbas’s “sudden and mutual ease” (195).

Rum and Agnes have a postcoital conversation about their...