Foretellings: Demelza - The Surprising Underdog Frontrunner Over Elizabeth

Following 'A Discovery Of Preference' 'Reassurances of First Choice' and third in the series so far ‘Poldark True Story Vs Adaption Fiction’ this is the fourth post in the series exploring whether Ross settled for Demelza while his heart, or half of it, may have been with Elizabeth after 'That May Incident'. This post will look at how there were early indications in Graham's narrative from soon after Ross married Demelza, that so far as who would dominate Ross's heart and be first choice above the other, that it was Demelza who was the front runner over Elizabeth. However the particular point is that this was from the start of their head to heads, soon after Ross married Demelza. This post will reference the many different ways this was indicated and therefore how these indications served as a foretelling for the inevitable head to head where Ross would finally have to make a choice between the two women and decide who he really loved and wanted. 

Crumbs of Foretelling 

Of course with Ross being rejected by the beautiful and much coveted Elizabeth at the start of the story, and with him in turn deciding before he loved her (Demelza), that he would marry his kitchen maid who was a miner's daughter, the natural presumption for most readers would be that Demelza was a more inferior second rate choice. However, in actual fact, readers had the opportunity to get a hint of Demelza as a frontrunner well before Ross’s realisation after his night with Elizabeth. Indeed, Graham’s writing should have prepared the reader quite far ahead of time before this relationship crisis. How so? Well, this was through Graham laying crumbs that Demelza had taken Ross’s heart in a way that subconsciously for Ross she was ahead of Elizabeth. As stated, and as of significance, this was at a very early stage before Ross’s infidelity with Elizabeth that May night. It is just that this was not, and would not be clear for Ross as a conscious belief until after his experience with Elizabeth jolted him to this. More importantly these crumbs pointed to Ross’s inner feelings, meaning that as evidenced throughout the story, being a man that went with his feelings rather than expectation and common sense, his eventual choice of Demelza would indeed be based on his feeling rather than convenience and practicalities.

Falling in Friendship (Ross and Demelza Poldark: The Love story-Pt1)

       

Art of  

'Verity no longer had the heart to come over and Demelza took her place.'

 Book one (Ross Poldark)

A Love Story Of The Happy Ever After

"I wanted to do a love story with a happy ending and that was it." 

Winston Graham about the fourth and the last book 'Warleggan' to evening Argos Weekend Magazine 2001

Normally a romance novel ends with the couple featured getting together and walking off into the horizon to live happily ever after. The magic of Poldark is that the coming together of Ross and Demelza was only just the beginning of the story. This is the first article in a series journeying through Ross and Demelza's love story and revisiting why it is so very epic and captivating. 

In respect of Winston Graham's first four books, which to begin with was his intended complete story, Winston Graham told 'Evening Argos Weekend magazine' in 2001 "I wanted to do a love story with a happy ending and that was it." In 1953 Warleggan was published as "The final Poldark novel." And so in his mind this fourth book was the end of the story. The ten pages to conclude it document Ross and Demelza's reconciliation after the fall out from his marital misdemeanour with Elizabeth Poldark. Demelza was declared by Ross as his one "true and real love". That is the 'happy ending'! Fortunately twenty years later and against his one time stated belief that long running book sagas were not appealing, Graham maintained that he was still so interested and intrigued by the Poldarks and what happened to them next. As a result readers were gifted with a further eight books and this means that they have been invited to share in the marital journey of Ross and Demelza spanning from June 1787 to December 1820. That is thirty three years in total, plus the years in their untold life and story after the last book that are consigned only to the readers imaginations. It is quite a rarity to experience a love story that goes on for that long and which remains as compelling as ever, though moving naturally through different phases and always remaining heartfelt in spirit. Of course there is still so much to the Poldark saga other than a love story. However at it's heart it is still essentially a story of a marriage and this marriage and love story is the centre of every other story around it.

It is true that the love story of Ross and Demelza is not a perfect love story like those to be found in the pages of a Mills and Boon or a bodice ripper regency book. It is an unconventional love story to begin with and the challenges and upsets along the way certainly make it an imperfect one. But nevertheless still just as romantic. If anything, perhaps this makes it more romantic for that very reason of the love still and always enduring and claiming the glory of a love that triumphs. In addition there are plenty of happy and loving moments to tip the balance far over the other way and to sell the dream. Naturally as we begin with the beginning we start with the birth of Ross and Demelza's relationship which started as strangers through to becoming great companions to each other and later much more.

Ross: The Knight in Shining Armour

It is a well known part of the Ross and Demelza love story that there was no mutual falling in love to begin with. Ross did not fall in love until some weeks after they were married and one might also say that the way they stumbled into each other's path was actually quite unromantic too. On Easter Tuesday, 13th April 1784, whilst at the Redruth fair Ross stepped in to save the rough ill dressed street urchin, Demelza, from getting hurt through her interventions to save her beloved dog from a dog fight. However, looking at the bigger picture there is somehow a rough romance in what Ross represented to Demelza at the time. Essentially he was a knight in shining armour figure for her. Of course that is always a fitting start for a love story. That is even if this was not presented in the most conventionally romantic way where Demelza looked more like a disney princess or a 'fair maiden'. But after defending her against her attackers and violently shooing them away, Ross's first interactions with Demelza was to pick her up and ask if she was hurt. Then he carried her away to safety. He offered her a drink, his handkerchief to clean her wound, a meal and a ride home. Upon hearing that she would be going home to a father who beat her up at least twice weekly, he offered her a life changing job as his kitchen maid, took her home to Nampara and later had a physical fight fending off her father to prevent her returning to that abusive home. When put like this that surely continues to fit the role of knight in shining armour. Just without any romantic feelings. Yet!

Marrying Ross Poldark: Demelza's Daring Gamble In the Shadow Of Elizabeth

 'If Ross had not wished to marry her she would not have fretted for something else: but his decision to make the union legal and permanent, his honouring her with his name, was a sort of golden crown to set upon her happiness.'

'Ross Poldark' Internal book 3 Chapter 1 part 2

On reflection, while Ross's proposal of marriage was an offer which it would have seemed was too good for Demelza to turn down, because of what could be referred to as Ross's 'baggage', it could have been considered a 'risky decision'. Demelza had agreed to marry a man that not only was well above her station but who as the readers were at that point led to believe, was in love with another woman. That woman had her stall set up by Winston Graham as the dream woman of the county. Indeed Elizabeth was written as a most beautiful woman who was Ross's unrequited first love and was also a gentlewoman. In being so Elizabeth was demure and patrician and of Ross's own class. As the excerpt heading this essay expresses, Demelza in her happy go lucky manner of floating through life moved through it with an admirable optimism which meant that while she relished and was illuminated by the opportunity to be Ross's wife, she did not desperately depend on this either. However, in Demelza's naivety she perhaps did not consider marriage to Ross Poldark as a 'daring' gamble or consider the long term implications and challenge that might form a cloud or tension over the marriage indefinitely. This is by virtue of it being a marriage in the shadow of Elizabeth. 

With Elizabeth being the woman Ross had intended to marry originally, accepting Ross's proposal of marriage was potentially Demelza stepping forward to fill Elizabeth's shoes. That would be in respect of the ideal Elizabeth presented and thus Demelza would be the alternative and the replacement at the same time. Putting Demelza's seemingly lowly credentials against Elizabeth's seemingly superior credentials, many, particularly of that time period would likely argue that Demelza was bound to be a woefully poor replacement for Elizabeth and that in time Ross would come to see this and perhaps resent Demelza for this. Then thoughts could be turned to why Demelza did not just stay in her place by marrying a miner or a fellow commoner, and why she instead took on the gamble of marrying Ross when she might always be in Elizabeth's shadow. This post explores the nature of the risk that Demelza took on and why the circumstances were such that she slipped in to this either obliviously or dismissive of it. 

A Blossoming Flower Desperately Seeking Romance (Ross and Demelza Poldark: The Love Story -Pt2)

Art of Vera Adexer (@veraAdxer_Art)

'Perhaps Ross would refuse to let her go. But there was no proper feeling for her on his part, not beyond a kindly interest.' 
Book One- Ross Poldark

As set out in the first part of the series of blogs looking at the Ross and Demelza love story (Falling in friendship), from their very first meeting in April 1784 they fell into a firm friendship with each other effortlessly. Over the course of three years Demelza, as narrated by Graham then became Ross's closest companion in Verity's absence. Despite as told to us in book twelve (Bella) having '..known long before she was seventeen whom she loved and would always love.', Demelza had never intended to do anything about this and certainly not to play the seductress with him. Not when knowing full well that he did not feel the same way. However with an author determined to bring them together, the next stage in their love story would mean that one or both of them would need to turn the tables on their companionship and bring about a romantic encounter. Also the lead up to this had to ensure that as well as there being some driving motive, regardless of Demelza's lack of confidence the success of such an encounter could be a possibility. Especially when looking back on their journey to piece together how this could have been possible. That person of the two would be Demelza and here we looked at what made her come to a point where she would take the gamble and suddenly feel a need to kick start what would become the beginning of the romantic part of her love story with Ross and also where it simultaneously became physical.

An eye for the blossoming of Demelza

Although Ross was not in love with Demelza it still needed to be plausible that he would even be tempted to sleep with her, let alone willing to do so in the end. After all if it was Prudie who came before him in a blue dress it just still would not have happened. There would surely be no temptation or will on Ross's part. The fact that his relationship with Demelza had moved on beyond friendship to companionship was already a significant foundation and starting point. So too was it that just beforehand Ross had begun to notice Demelza as a 'flowering maiden' rather than just a young girl who was formerly a street urchin. Not long after her arrival at Nampara three years before he had thought that 'She was not an ill-looking girl and had a good clear skin and a quick mobility of expression; her eyes were intelligent and very frank.' He had also thought that 'In another couple of years some young miner like Jim Carter would be courting her.' However three years forward he noted further changes.

In fact in April 1787, a month or so before Demelza decided to seduce him, when he was hosting a business meeting to discuss the preliminary works on the Wheal Leisure mine, Ross had noticed the gentlemen noticing Demelza. In stealing a look himself Ross saw that Demelza was now 'A well grown and developing girl, barely recognizable as the scrawny half starved urchin he had swilled under the pump three years ago.' The change in Demelza's overall look is also confirmed by her father. Upon seeing her to ask her to return home he took '...in the full change in her, the way she had advanced, matured, grown to a woman's shape.' Such was the change that his next thought was to ask if she was living in sin with Ross. Nevertheless despite this change it still did not occur to Ross to link himself with her romantically. Indeed the seduction of Ross by Demelza would quite literally turn everything on its head with regards to how he saw her. However it was a factor that before and within this seduction he had already begun not to see her as a street urchin but rather as a blossoming girl which he found to his surprise that he ultimately desired.

Reaching Out for Ross (Elizabeth: A Love for Ross Poldark Pt7)

The last blog looking at Elizabeth's love for Ross was 'The Real Love Triangle, The Powerful Rival' and was against a backdrop of her being a year into her marriage with Francis and feeling happy with thoughts that 'life is good'. In contrast at that point her thoughts of Ross were of feeling sorry for him. Graham did not make any such love for Ross so very apparent or absolutely without question. However, connected to her preoccupation with Geoffrey Charles, Francis was now feeling rejected by her. Graham narrated in conclusion that Francis was wrong to be jealous of Ross and that Geoffrey Charles was his more powerful rival. This is the seventh blog looking at Elizabeth's love or lack of love for Ross Poldark. Having previously told Ross to forget about her and essentially move on, she moved to a time when she now began to reach out for Ross. The question arising is whether this indicates that she was in love with Ross all along and only just then had finally decided to submit to this. 

Too Late to come to Ross 

Elizabeth reaches out to Ross when she visits him at Nampara a day after he happened to sleep with Demelza. There she had a realisation of something between them. Leaving abruptly she thinks "I can't come here again, she thought. After all this time, and now it's too late." It's this thought that arouses suspicion that Elizabeth intended to reconnect with Ross romantically but saw his involvement with Demelza as a barrier meaning it was 'too late' for this idea after all. The key to working out if this was her submitting to her love of him is to be surer of her purpose with this visit, why then and what exactly she was too late for.

A  visit that was an uncommon Occurrence

Elizabeth's visit to Nampara is nearly FOUR YEARS after her marriage to Francis. The real reason behind it is never stated. Guesses can be made and it does appear to be suspicious to begin with. Certainly this visit was unexpected and not a common occurrence. She told Ross she was just passing and they (at Trenwith) had not seen him in a month or so. Ross's response saying "Don't make excuses for your coming. Only for not having come before." reveals that though they saw each other she was not a regular visitor to him and quite possibly had not visited Nampara much at all over the four years. The awkwardness to this visit is evident. As Ross opened with small talk of what he had been doing we are told that "She was ill-at ease." Also that "They chatted for some minutes with a sort of anxious agreeableness." So there was no naturalness akin to what was passed off by her as a chance visit while passing by. The likelihood that over the years she had passed by at other times but did not stop suggests that her decision to randomly do so now was probably not casual but with a specific mission in mind.

The Magic of the 'Fall in Love' (Ross and Demelza Poldark: The Love Story -Pt5)

This is the fifth blog journeying through the Love story of Ross and Demelza Poldark. So far as documented in those earlier blogs we have seen them as strangers meeting and falling into friendship with each other as they seemed to offer each other something the other needed. Then there was Demelza under threat by her father to leave Nampara deciding on an romantic encounter with Ross. Next was the actual attempt by Demelza to seduce Ross with his mother's blue dress and a spirit of her at hand to open Ross's mind to Demelza so that the attempt ignited a 'raging desire' in Ross that brought them to be lovers in one night. The fourth blog 'Marry Demelza' explores the reasons why beyond Demelza dreams Ross' decided within two days of that night to make Demelza his wife. 

Without Demelza simply just becoming Ross's mistress (but instead his fiancé'), the way was paved and Ross's mind sought for a union between them by way of holy matrimony. However, with him not initially being in love with Demelza this blog focuses on what was yet to be another milestone in the love story. This is whereby their romantic union on 6th August 1787 was eventually legitimised with Ross falling in love with his wife just six weeks after they were married against the backdrop of what was a magically inspired moonlit night.   

A Flowering Couple

Digital art of Vera Adxer 

It is important to set the scene before Ross realised he was in love with Demelza. The foundations were positive and Graham documented that against the blackness Ross confessed her felt after returning to Cornwall to marry Elizabeth and finding she had made other plans, Demelza was a light to shoo away the dark. In short Demelza was illuminating. She had already brought him some amusement and good company to Ross as his best friend replacing Verity in this role for some years beforehand. But as his new wife, a woman still blossoming, she had far more to bring and this made it easy for Ross to fall in love quite soon after they married. It came from within her. From Demelza's perspective, having already declared to Ross 'I live only for you.', Ross's decision to marry her within two days of their special night was a 'Golden crown to her happiness..' This was a happiness that was way beyond just being able to stay at Nampara instead of having to return to her father. And after the actual wedding readers are told that even more thereafter 'her personality flowered overnight.' However, though Ross was pleased that he at least still found her desirable, and it was also quite positive that he acknowledged that 'If one overlooked her humble beginnings she was a not an unsuitable match for an impoverished farmer squire.' that thought of his was still hardly romantic. So at this stage in the love story we have a married couple with only one spouse truly in love. Of course in those days with marriages of convenience being the lay of the land, this was not such an uncommon or disastrous happening and for Ross 'There was no going back for him, even if he had wished it, which he found he did not.' It is at least a happy relief that he was not regretful about both his first night with Demelza and then his decision to marry her. But as readers that is surely not good enough. Mutual love is the goal!

Growing Into Each Other

The first phase of Ross and Demelza's married life had him and Demelza in different places emotionally. Demelza enjoyed her haze of happiness and being a dutiful wife to Ross who '...did what he said, no less eagerly, no less unquestioningly, and with a radiant good will to illuminate it all.' The language and imagery Graham used in describing Demelza including as 'flowering overnight' and 'illuminating it all' is where readers can see how Graham certainly continued this theme of her still bringing beauty and warmth to Ross's life. Whatever it was it was something good! Also it should reinforce to the reader that the help Demelza was afforded in her attempted seduction of Ross was indeed in a positive cause. As a reminder that is where Graham had written that Demelza's initial attempt to seduce Ross (her coquetry) had failed painfully but that 'nature was coming to her help.' As Demelza radiated like a sunshine and Graham wrote that  'As id to collaborate with Demelza's happiness, the summer was the warmest for many years... ' he continue not just to personify Demelza as light and sunshine but also to document a positive union with with her and nature and as if this development in the story having had Ross's mother's blessing, continued to have natures and perhaps the author's too. That said it is clear that this together with true happiness was still an alien concept to Ross. Although he was proving to be a considerate husband and to her surprise and relish was granting Demelza's wifely domestic requests, such as room changes to protect her precious flowerbeds, in the early weeks of his marriage he struggled with embracing, recognising or understanding the flowering of his marriage before his own eyes and how they were becoming more of a unit.

Before Ross fell in love with Demelza there are three references to Demelza having 'already grown in to his life' or simply that she was 'growing' more and more into it. In this repetition it is clear that Graham was conveying to the reader the naturalness and 'meant to be' nature of the union whilst also documenting Ross's sense of confusion and unease about the transition of two separate Demelzas into one. This was Demelza servant and friend Demelza of the day and then the stranger Demelza of the night with the pretty face and fresh body that 'he took and owned as a plaything of passion,..' (*First edition text of Ross Poldark). Graham reported that Ross was 'perturbed' by this and that he 'half despised' it. It was not until he began to see Demelza as a complete wife as one woman instead of two separate entities of stranger and a friend, that a shift in Ross occurred. This coincided with him realising he had fallen in love with her and what he feared, he should not have despised after all.

Love By The Light Of The Silvery Moon

And 'Everything was just right'

Many readers will take Ross's declaration of love on the night of the pilchard catch as the day (or night) when he fell in love with Demelza. He did too. This was in early August. Sixth of August to be precise. Therefore it was six weeks after they were married. Of course it is not an unlikely concept that just like Demelza grew into his life that Ross falling in love was also a gradual process for him rather than a feeling that simply developed in a moment on a boat with her. One could easily speculate that the process had begun earlier and just wormed its way to fruition and also to Ross's consciousness that evening. In a way that had to be so as he feel in love with Demelza, the wife as a person and that occur with the peeling away of character and the liking of this. Earlier when Ross had supper with Demelza he had noted that there was no difference between that evening and the evening when he first slept with her. However his further thoughts (or narration) were 'But something had changed. He was content.' When suggesting the idea of watching the pilchard catch to an excited Demelza 'He could not work up such excitement over the trip, but he could and did find pleasure in her pleasure.' 

jIndeed the idea of Ross resisting or rather being in disbelief of his own happiness and his feelings in Demelza is repeated even during his boat trip with her. 'He found, quite to his surprise, that he was happy. Not merely happy in Demelza's happiness but in himself. He could not think why.' It is a wonder how long it had been that he felt this way before identifying why and attributing this to Demelza. Yet at this point he also had a feeling that 'Everything was just right.' With this there is a sense of this being a far cry from his doomed relationship with Elizabeth where everything had been just so wrong (and continued to be). Again the idea of everything being 'just right' conjures this image of the stars aligning to bring this to being and this being the same as that 'nature' that had helped to bring them together on the blue dress night. Now Ross's feeling seemed to confirm that this was indeed for a cause that was to eventually feel 'just right' to him and perhaps was meant to be.

Ten Moons Of Romance (A Magical Scene For A Fall In Love)

There is no doubt that the pilchard catch date night, was to excuse the pun, a magical foreplay for Ross's first official realisation of love for Demelza and secondly his declaration of it to her. The stage was quite literally set for this romantic landmark in their relationship with plenty of romantic trimmings thrown in. Ross and Demelza in a boat alone together and having worn his mother's old dress on the night she sought to seduce him, Graham now had Demelza wearing Ross's old skin coat that belonged to him as a boy. Typically with all else seeming to align perfectly and everything being 'just right', just at Grace's blue dress fit Demelza well Graham tells us also that Ross's old coat also 'now just fitted her.' Their surroundings seemed to conspire to add to the magically charged night since 'The sea was calm tonight...' and there was a 'moonlit sky'. Then there were the cottage lights, lanterns on the beach, blue white waters of the cove and additional movie magic scenery where 'The moon lit up the scene with an unreal twilight.' In addition to that there was a kind of isolated intimacy in the scene of Ross and Demelza in the boat. It was like them being at a party full of people but with them feeling themselves to be the only two in the room. Or perhaps it is the reader that might feel this way for them as we are told that they rowed away in the boat and '..all the voices and human activity slowly faded...into a little confined murmur in the great night'. Whilst Ross said "Everyone is happy tonight.", he is noted to have said this 'half to himself'. So it is as if there was a slow dawning to him of understanding and embracing what he was feeling, and on this occasion the reason why.

Just in case there should be doubt that Graham was making this an epic night of romance for them, even before Ross and Demelza return to the beach to head home together, and before the description of the 'unreal twilight' there had been ten references to the moon or it's moonlight in this section of the book setting out their romantic night out. Ahead of this when Ross had first asked Demelza about taking the boat out to watch the pilchard catch he introduced the concept of the moon as one the reader would gradually see was of significance when he said "And the moon is up. What if we rowed round to Sawle and watched them putting down the tuck net." But thereafter the ten references are all from Graham in narration. He started by setting the scene and telling the reader that it was a warm still evening with the 'three-quarter moon' already high. Two paragraphs later he narrated that the jutting rocks from the cliffs between Nampara Cove and Sawle Bay stood in silhouette 'against a moonlit sky' and as if to remind the reader, two paragraphs later from that having described Ross and Demelza sitting in their boat watching the locals pulling in their catch in calm weather, he devoted a one paragraph to a single sentence saying 'And tonight there was a moon.'  

So in light of all those references in quick succession if there is one visual that Graham sought to imprint on the reader's mind about what this night of Ross falling in love with Demelza was like for them, at the very least it was that it was 'moonlit'. But not just that. He continued so that we were told it was lit by a 'cornish' and 'friendly' moon. Again, nature appeared to be on Ross and Demelza's side with its good will towards them. And then Graham is more forward in how the moon was an active participant adding to the magic of the night. Apart from where he made it a fantasy scene referring to the 'unreal twilight.' he at one point described that '...the moonlight seemed to convert the fish into heaps of coins....' and that later 'the the moon on it's downward path came near the coast line and picked out a silver stitching on the water'. Graham also intermingled other elements of wonder into the scene. For instance at the moment of anticipation there were cheers when the fish came, the water was described as bubbling and frothing about them as Graham wrote of the catch Ross and Demelza watched, saying 'It was the miracle of Galilee enacted over again in the light of the cornish moon...fish, as big as herrings, jumbled together in their thousands, jumping, wriggling, glinting....' As Graham wound the night down, he yet again highlighted the significance of the moon being such that it did not go unnoticed by Ross and Demelza. In fact he wrote that at a point they gave it their full attention stating that 'For a while neither of them made a move and they  watched the moon set.' As if to give the moon it's due it was only then that Ross and Demelza walked the beach hand in hand towards home. 

Indeed all this makes for a magical date and the perfect foreplay for when Ross took Demelza by surprise and lifted her out of the boat as if she were indeed his most precious and cherished woman. And then to kiss her! So if this was a movie, there might have been a few teary eyes and many a heart melted by the romance of it all.

A kiss like the first - A kiss of love

Demelza and Ross's kiss on the beach is not to be under played either. In a way Graham made this as significant as if it were a first kiss. This is through Demelza's thoughts. It occurred to her that 'He had never kissed her before except in passion.' Therefore it also served as another marker and advance notice of the shift in Ross before his looming declaration of love. This is because the kiss really did mark the first time he had kissed her as a spontaneous urge based on his feelings rather than just in the throws and heat of sexual arousal. And so instead of Graham referring to Ross seeing Demelza as his friend, servant and stranger, they had reached a milestone and yet also this other marker where as they walked the beach with an element of unity hand in hand Graham emphasises this idea stating that now 'They were a man and a woman, with no inequality between them.' Indeed something had changed and this time Ross was not 'perturbed' by this. Instead, and once again Graham wrote of Ross  'I am happy, he thought again.' and that '....now something is happening to me, to us, transmuting our shabby little love affair.' So for once he was able to identify the reason for his contentment and that it was to do with Demelza. He realised that his love affair with her was not at all shabby but instead meaningful and the cause of his happiness. Some twenty five years later Graham would confirm that Ross would continue to feel this when when in the 10th book The Miller's dance', he would write that Ross thought of how fortunate he was to '....have this woman whose nature is devoted to loving all life, appreciating the small things, seeking them out.......I follow behind her, knowing my happiness through her.'

It was not often in all of the Poldark books that moths were referred to other than as an annoyance. But following the moth drawn to the flame on Demelza's blue dress seduction night of Ross, and this seeming to be a parallel with his attraction to something he thought he should not be, here Graham now notes that as they approached the house following their romantic adventure 'Moths fluttered away to the stars....'. And so Graham adding the stars into the mix, along with the moon, is just another element to what he earlier referred to as a 'great night'. Even the moths had a magical destination and experience that night! This time, like Ross, the moths were drawn to something that was not at all dangerous to them but quite magical. 

"I'm happy"- "I love you"

The sense of oneness with Ross and Demelza is continued as with the 'air of conspirators' they climbed up the stairs to their room while laughing and where in a tender moment Ross kisses her again and declares "I love you and am your servant." With Ross having previously considered what he had with Demelza to be a 'shabby affair', tonight is the night where Graham writes that Ross found that what he had with her for him now '...carried the knowledge of beauty in its heart.' Ross's reference to himself as her servant is yet another confirmation of a significant change in the nature of this relationship. Although as stated above he had been a good husband and had already been submitting to some of her wifely requests, now fuelled by love, Ross was declaring a change to her that he would seek and dedicate himself to serve her as if he were her servant. A servant that would be meeting her needs rather than the one way dynamic of her being the only one duty bound at his beckon call to serve him. They now have a partnership. '...a man and a woman, with no inequality between them.' Graham confirmed this and here Ross embraced this idea himself.  In fact Ross's comment here, that he was a servant to Demelza was another way of saying what Demelza had first said to him before they married "I live only for you." They both were as in love and as committed to the other as the other was. Later in the story Graham would make a point of outsiders nothing the usual partnership of equality between Ross and Demelza that was untypical in that heavily patriarchal society.  

It is from this part of the story onwards where we are now engaged in a story of mutual love and whilst the blogs in this series will go on to look at their love in the real world, within their circle, in their time of strife and in facing marital temptations, the foundation established so far is heart warming and is surely designed to inspire the reader's support and goodwill going forward. But this foundation is yet to be built upon and strengthened by various test. The next blog 'The Greatest Love Above Any Other' focuses on this. It looks at how from this unexpected beginning and with the thread of nature, and the twist of fate and magic pulling them together, they go on to have a love where they mean more to each other than any other person. Naturally in this they would build a fortress that future obstacles might trouble, but ultimately not put asunder. 

(*) First edition Book one (Ross Poldark)

Ross and Demelza: The Love Story Pt1 (Falling in Friendship)
Ross and Demelza: The Love Story Pt2 (A Blossoming flower desperately seeking romance)
Ross and Demelza: The Love Story Pt3 (Seduction, a blue dress and a spirit of love)

Ross and Demelza: The Love Story Pt5 (The Greatest Love Above Any Other)
Ross and Demelza Poldark: A Stocking full of Love
Demelza Poldark: A Fall from Grace in a fall for Hugh Armitage

Ross Poldark's Fall From Grace (A Thin Line Between Lust And Hate Of Elizabeth)
A Love for Ross Poldark: Elizabeth Pt1 (keeping the faith)
A Love for Ross Poldark: Elizabeth Pt5 (Just a boy and girl attachment)

Elizabeth: A Competitive Spirit Against Demelza Poldark (A Love for Ross? Pt10)

Elizabeth wearing her special red dress for Ross in 'Demelza' and in 'Jeremy Poldark' was one of her early methods to entice and 'rebuild her ascendancy' over Ross. In the journey questioning her love or lack of love for him this post now covers her motives in this and if this was born out of love. A previous blog post 'Elizabeth: A Green-eyed Jealousy of Demelza Poldark' may relate closely as reference there is made to Elizabeth's confirmed feelings of jealousy towards Demelza. Graham narrated this was due to Demelza's 'success' and her 'blossoming'. However, jealousy and love do not necesarily go hand in hand so that jealousy does not necessarily prove the existence of a real love. This blog will consider another factor that might have been at play. A spirit of competition in Elizabeth. After so many years had passed did Elizabeth make her subtle moves to entice Ross because she was driven by an ardent and enduring love of him or instead because of a desire to beat Demelza and be the superior, most wanted and most admired one? 

Love On Hold?

Turning up at Nampara four years after rejecting Ross and seeming to want something romantic from him might suggest Elizabeth was genuine as she had sought this before she even knew about Ross and Demelza. However on the other hand, as explored in the previous post 'Reaching out for Ross', if she was always and only ever motivated by a true love for Ross why did it take four years? And why coincidentally only when her marriage to Francis was crumbling or maybe over by then?

Here it is feasible to consider that Elizabeth falling out of love and happiness with Francis enhanced the appeal of Ross. Before then in the full edition of 'Ross Poldark' Graham narrated Elizabeth feeling 'life is good' with Francis and that her quarrel with Ross had 'healed'. Narrating her pity for Ross in his loneliness there was no feeling expressed of her self pity due to her loving Ross back and being denied of him. Instead Graham wrote in the full edition of 'Demelza' that this night had been the 'peak of her happiness'. Where her happiness with Francis went downhill her interest in Ross renewed itself and went up hill so that where for years she had not sought him out, then she suddenly did. Perhaps if this was not for love of him, it was for her to feel loved by someone else, if not her husband. 

Just A Boy And Girl Attachment (Elizabeth: A Love for Ross Poldark -Pt5)

'I wished that we should be close friends. Until today I believed that we could. But-if you are like this I can't see you again. Not ever."
Elizabeth Poldark (Book -Ross Poldark)

This is now the fifth blog which looks at this issue of Elizabeth's love or lack of this for Ross Poldark by focussing on a specific section of the book or incident which would help to decipher where Elizabeth really stood on loving Ross. So far these blogs have looked at her failure to wait for Ross to return from the war while knowing that he was still alive and deciding with her own mind that she wanted to marry Francis. As explored in the last blog, during her wedding day encounter with him she offered Ross no real consolation for his woes but did ask him to meet her needs and to offer her his good will and happiness for him. 

All Elizabeth's treatment of Ross so far seemed to have veered to the unloving rather than the loving. This is indeed a reminder of the reference to 'Elizabeth, the loved but the unloving, the Galatea who never woke.' That is taken from book three (Jeremy Poldark) but here in this blog we are looking at Elizabeth's third encounter with Ross in book one (Ross Poldark). It presents as a head to head confrontation following Ross's outburst to her about his disappointment in how she had let him down. The encounter proves to be quite revealing in respect of Elizabeth and the more emotive language used by her here provides more to decipher if there was a loving or unloving instinct towards him by her.

A Long Awaited But Feeble & Irritated Explanation

It was about six months after Elizabeth's wedding that Ross got a chance to have this third encounter with Elizabeth following his return to Cornwall. This one was by chance as he had intended to see uncle Charles for legal advice about keeping new girl on the scene Demelza in order to be his scullery maid but without having her father's consent. It would be this meeting where Elizabeth would finally lose her composure and where she would finally say something of substance about her reasons for marrying another man. With uncle Charles not being home she still asked Ross in to the Trenwith estate. Presumably she was hoping to have a friendly chat. As Ross had faced Elizabeth and her dismissiveness previously and was probably still stewing about her unexplained betrayal, on this occasion he was not so friendly. After stating his intended business with uncle Charles in a manner that was to the point and lacking in warmth, crying tears she told him that he was being 'Viciously bitter'. In the circumstances where her only explanation to him so far for breaking a promise to marry him, and which he had relied on for two years, was just a vague comment that 'We were so young.', Elizabeth's accusation against that backdrop was probably rather harsh and disproportionate. His polite but curt standoffishness as opposed to maintaining a bubbly demeanour was quite understandable. Nevertheless it was this comment which seemed to unleashed Ross's inner resentment and provoked him into an outpouring of his feelings about her broken marriage promise. 

Ross Poldark: Moving On From Elizabeth

"Before I found you, when I came home from America things looked black for me. You know why, because I'd hoped to Marry Elizabeth and returned to find her with other plans. That winter it was Verity alone who saved me ....."

Ross to Demelza  'Ross Poldark' Internal  Book 3 Chapter 3 

As the extract above refers to, Ross was in a dark place when after the American war he returned to Cornwall in 1783. His long held dream was shattered to pieces when confronted with the betrayal of his first love, Elizabeth, who having agreed to marry him on his return had failed to 'keep the faith' or rather to prove her love of him and wait. Instead Elizabeth got engaged to, and later married his cousin Francis Poldark. Indeed things seemed to look black to Ross for a long time thereafter. He was essentially in a state of depression living a celibate life for years during which Winston Graham wrote that one of Ross's usual occupations was '....reading and drinking himself to bed.' A post to follow called 'Marrying Demelza (Ross's Satisfying Decision)' covers that life changing development in his life where Ross decided to marry Demelza. She, being a character that Winston Graham referred to as a 'vital' character that would alter the course of his life and whom Ross would eventually secure with, what Graham stated was a 'happy ending'. That post will cover Ross's reasons for marrying Demelza and why it was her that he chose. However there is important pretext that contributed to making marrying Demelza a viable consideration for Ross at the time. One of the reasons was that Ross was ready from an emotional point of view to marry in summer 1787, where he had not been beforehand.  He was ready to move on from Elizabeth and also from wallowing over her. 

Love For Better Or Worse (Ross and Demelza Poldark: The Love Story Pt7)

Art work of @veraAdxer_Art

If it is true that the greatest love stories are those that bring the reader (or viewer) on a complete emotional rollercoaster with the couple, then the love story of Ross and Demelza Poldark should be in this league too. The last blog 'Love To Cherish, Forgive and Forget' documented how their love had an almost divine quality to it in their ability to forgive each other for the disappointments they caused to each other over the years. Also in addition to that, this nature was found in their not holding on to past wrongs and though they may have been upset and bitter at circumstances, it was also found in their ability to eventually move forward without any underlying bitterness directed towards the other. At the end of 'The Angry Tide' they spoke of keeping on with 'living, learning and most of all, loving each other' but this seventh blog in their love story series looks at just how they truly demonstrated this credo and continued to always beat the odds stacked against them to bring them down. So as well as enjoying the good times they were able get through the bad and remain in love throughout. Where other marriages might have collapsed under the pressure (and some did), theirs stood its ground in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, in good and in bad and always for better and for worse. 

An Unbreakable Blue Print 

To start with it is not hard to see that Graham laid down the blue print of a partnership in Ross and Demelza that would become unbreakable and therefore would then be able to weather the 'worst' parts of their life and love together and yet to remain still standing. After all, the start of their relationship actually began during the worst periods of their lives and through their connection they brought each other through that to better times. This was simply by the impact they had on the other. The 'Falling in Friendship' blog documented that from the start they were each other's saviour in some respect. From friendship grew a love with the rare nature of being true and steadfast. The first half of the well known bible passage on love from 1 Corinthians 13 was cited in the previous blog on forgiveness as it reflected qualities in Ross and Demelza's love which made them able to handle their disappointments of each other in a loving way and as if their love was real. The remaining half is that 'Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstances. Love never ends..' (1 Corinthians 13:7-8a) Going on to look at how or why Ross and Demelza were able to get through their bad times together it seems that this passage holds the answer. Simply because theirs was a love that was the real love described there.

Seduction, A Blue Dress and a Spirit of Love (Ross and Demelza Poldark: The Love Story- Pt3)

Art of Vera Adexer (@veraAdxer_Art)

In this third blog of the Ross and Demelza Love story series, a significant point has been reached in their relationship which is to essentially move it with the equivalent speed of nought to a hundred, in sixty seconds. The previous blogs look at how they first fell into friendship with each other and then what brought Demelza to make a desperate decision to try and seduce Ross. It's a soft and gentle beginning of their love story so far, but now, (and to excuse the pun) is the climax of the first book as we see how their romantic connection is finally achieved. It is Demelza's well timed discovery of a blue dress with its enchanting appeal to her, together with her seduction plan and a spirit of love, that all combine together to incite, secure and seal the deal. In all this there appears to be this notion of a predetermining force and to begin with it is the blue dress that seemed to reach out to Demelza and which ultimately played such a key role in bringing this romantic union to the fore.

A Fascinating Discovery

Just like the spare room and the magical world in the story of 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' by C.S Lewis, there was initially an element of mystique and fantasy for Demelza in respect of the library room of Nampara. Similarly, like the Narnia children, in exploring the house about a year after coming to Nampara, Demelza stumbled across the library as if it were an out of the way discovery. She found that from the great bed box which she had slept in on her first night at Nampara '..the second door in that bedroom led through into the library.' We are told that with 'fear and fascination' she was pulled in the direction of the room and that '...once inside the room she was never tired of returning to it'. Like the Narnia children her fascination overpowered her fear and she became completely enchanted with this forbidden quarter of Nampara and all its contents while Ross was unaware that she was visiting regularly.