Miss Scarlet and the past
Mar. 3rd, 2026 07:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessMiss Scarlet and the Duke - 3.2 Arabella
Opened with our two leads going out for dinner at a fancy ‘Victorian’ restaurant, either pretending to be married for kicks or, no, it was for a case. William wanted to investigate the restaurant because it seemed to be the centre of a crime spree. Eliza almost immediately got distracted when she recognised a childhood frenemy, Arabella, who turned out to be a widow these days and the owner of the restaurant these days – the clue was in the name. The whole episode/case would involve Eliza struggling with her feelings about the past and how badly Arabella had treated her.
When they left, William was drawn away by an attempted robbery, but that turned out to be a distraction, as a man nicked Eliza’s mother’s brooch. As she wasn’t particularly meekly letting him do so, she got pushed down to the floor, which meant a fuss. They admitted to Arabella that they weren’t really married and that William was a police officer, Arabella insisted on taking Eliza home and sucking up to Ivy, from Eliza’s grumpy perspective.
William didn’t want Eliza involved in the case, because he never does, though he pointed out she had got shoved, and later that she might be letting her feelings for Arabella cloud her judgment. The viewers were able to see that the latter was so. But also that there was no way that Eliza would let it drop, especially as she kept finding clues. Like Arabella sacking a waitress, Grace, who said that Arabella had put a lot of money in the safe, but kept having to let staff go.
Fitzroy was no longer completely useless as the Duke’s assistant, though he was now a boxing afficionado and would go on about it at any excuse. (Not sure that loving operetta -> boxing tracks, but maybe that’s my prejudice. And I can get behind Fitzroy improving in competence.)
The investigation turned to the waiter who’d served Eliza and William, Enzo, who hadn’t turned up for work. His uncle had been in trouble with the law, and the police hunted up that connection, found a workshop and Eliza’s brooch.
After trailing Arabella, seeing her talk to one of the women who’d been involved in the fake theft, Eliza called William to burst in on Arabella...helping at a soup kitchen with leftovers from the restaurant. She made it clear she hadn’t known the woman she was talking to and serving, and certainly hadn’t known she’d been involved in any criminality.
Eliza had been accusing Arabella unfairly, because of her ‘character’ – stealing Eliza’s shell brooch when they were children, always putting Eliza down while seeming perfect herself. Eliza slowly realised she might have to apologise to the woman, who was, despite her mother’s disapproval, running her own business, so they had that in common. When she went to apologise, Arabella wasn’t there, but the safe was and Eliza was helpless to resist the compulsion to investigate, which led to a pawnshop. She insisted William follow the clue up, but as far as he could tell, all Arabella had done was pawn her own jewellery, and he returned her brooch to Eliza for good.
She took it to a shopkeeper we’ve seen before, who said it was a copy. Meanwhile, the police’s investigations had led them to a jewellery shop that was closed, but seemed to be selling Eliza’s brooch, which William had just handed back to her.
Things developed quickly, with Eliza returning to the restaurant, finding former waitress Grace – who had no reason to be there – carrying a suspiciously large bag full of the jewellery from the safe. She was talking about a female being in trouble. Cut to William and Fitzroy calling upon Arabella’s mother, wanting to talk to Arabella at a time when they knew she wasn’t at home. Eliza must have been in touch with William offscreen here, because when the camera switched to inside the mother’s house, and we saw Enzo threatening a maid, the detectives soon followed. It had been Enzo and his uncle all along, but at some point, Enzo had threatened Arabella via her mother. Arabella had been selling off her jewellery because of her financial trouble and wearing the fakes, but Enzo was the connection to the thefts and a plot to palm off fake jewellery and ‘sell’ the originals repeatedly.
Arabella admitted that she’d been mean to Eliza as a child because she was jealous that Eliza’s father was so involved in her life.
It had become clear that Eliza had been bullied for being different i.e. not the Victorian ideal of girlhood. Ivy helped her to cook a Victoria sponge properly. When she had something edible, she took it as a peace offering for William, who wanted to see it as a sign that what Eliza really wanted was to become a Victorian wife and mother (I get that he really buys into this ideal because of his far-from-ideal childhood, but dude, she’s given zero indication that this is something she wants.) She pooh-poohed this notion, which is fair enough, but he was crestfallen, which is also fair enough - wanting kids/not wanting kids is a dealbreaker (even if whether you will have biological kids depends on fertility and that’s not a given.) He was about to eat the cake, which looked nice, when Arabella waltzed in with treats for William and Fitzroy (even if we knew that Ivy was a better cook than Arabella’s pastry chef). And she was all feminine and delightful, and hadn’t told William she didn’t want kids, so Eliza got pushed off to the corner. Arabella was, on the face of it, nice, returning the shell necklace to Eliza, but monopolising Wiliam’s attention. (Objectively, she does seem to have grown as a person than since childhood.) Also, she’s way taller than Eliza (and a brunette) and so William wouldn’t have to bend so much…
Opened with our two leads going out for dinner at a fancy ‘Victorian’ restaurant, either pretending to be married for kicks or, no, it was for a case. William wanted to investigate the restaurant because it seemed to be the centre of a crime spree. Eliza almost immediately got distracted when she recognised a childhood frenemy, Arabella, who turned out to be a widow these days and the owner of the restaurant these days – the clue was in the name. The whole episode/case would involve Eliza struggling with her feelings about the past and how badly Arabella had treated her.
When they left, William was drawn away by an attempted robbery, but that turned out to be a distraction, as a man nicked Eliza’s mother’s brooch. As she wasn’t particularly meekly letting him do so, she got pushed down to the floor, which meant a fuss. They admitted to Arabella that they weren’t really married and that William was a police officer, Arabella insisted on taking Eliza home and sucking up to Ivy, from Eliza’s grumpy perspective.
William didn’t want Eliza involved in the case, because he never does, though he pointed out she had got shoved, and later that she might be letting her feelings for Arabella cloud her judgment. The viewers were able to see that the latter was so. But also that there was no way that Eliza would let it drop, especially as she kept finding clues. Like Arabella sacking a waitress, Grace, who said that Arabella had put a lot of money in the safe, but kept having to let staff go.
Fitzroy was no longer completely useless as the Duke’s assistant, though he was now a boxing afficionado and would go on about it at any excuse. (Not sure that loving operetta -> boxing tracks, but maybe that’s my prejudice. And I can get behind Fitzroy improving in competence.)
The investigation turned to the waiter who’d served Eliza and William, Enzo, who hadn’t turned up for work. His uncle had been in trouble with the law, and the police hunted up that connection, found a workshop and Eliza’s brooch.
After trailing Arabella, seeing her talk to one of the women who’d been involved in the fake theft, Eliza called William to burst in on Arabella...helping at a soup kitchen with leftovers from the restaurant. She made it clear she hadn’t known the woman she was talking to and serving, and certainly hadn’t known she’d been involved in any criminality.
Eliza had been accusing Arabella unfairly, because of her ‘character’ – stealing Eliza’s shell brooch when they were children, always putting Eliza down while seeming perfect herself. Eliza slowly realised she might have to apologise to the woman, who was, despite her mother’s disapproval, running her own business, so they had that in common. When she went to apologise, Arabella wasn’t there, but the safe was and Eliza was helpless to resist the compulsion to investigate, which led to a pawnshop. She insisted William follow the clue up, but as far as he could tell, all Arabella had done was pawn her own jewellery, and he returned her brooch to Eliza for good.
She took it to a shopkeeper we’ve seen before, who said it was a copy. Meanwhile, the police’s investigations had led them to a jewellery shop that was closed, but seemed to be selling Eliza’s brooch, which William had just handed back to her.
Things developed quickly, with Eliza returning to the restaurant, finding former waitress Grace – who had no reason to be there – carrying a suspiciously large bag full of the jewellery from the safe. She was talking about a female being in trouble. Cut to William and Fitzroy calling upon Arabella’s mother, wanting to talk to Arabella at a time when they knew she wasn’t at home. Eliza must have been in touch with William offscreen here, because when the camera switched to inside the mother’s house, and we saw Enzo threatening a maid, the detectives soon followed. It had been Enzo and his uncle all along, but at some point, Enzo had threatened Arabella via her mother. Arabella had been selling off her jewellery because of her financial trouble and wearing the fakes, but Enzo was the connection to the thefts and a plot to palm off fake jewellery and ‘sell’ the originals repeatedly.
Arabella admitted that she’d been mean to Eliza as a child because she was jealous that Eliza’s father was so involved in her life.
It had become clear that Eliza had been bullied for being different i.e. not the Victorian ideal of girlhood. Ivy helped her to cook a Victoria sponge properly. When she had something edible, she took it as a peace offering for William, who wanted to see it as a sign that what Eliza really wanted was to become a Victorian wife and mother (I get that he really buys into this ideal because of his far-from-ideal childhood, but dude, she’s given zero indication that this is something she wants.) She pooh-poohed this notion, which is fair enough, but he was crestfallen, which is also fair enough - wanting kids/not wanting kids is a dealbreaker (even if whether you will have biological kids depends on fertility and that’s not a given.) He was about to eat the cake, which looked nice, when Arabella waltzed in with treats for William and Fitzroy (even if we knew that Ivy was a better cook than Arabella’s pastry chef). And she was all feminine and delightful, and hadn’t told William she didn’t want kids, so Eliza got pushed off to the corner. Arabella was, on the face of it, nice, returning the shell necklace to Eliza, but monopolising Wiliam’s attention. (Objectively, she does seem to have grown as a person than since childhood.) Also, she’s way taller than Eliza (and a brunette) and so William wouldn’t have to bend so much…
