A Reliable Wife – Week 3

Catherine is still in Chicago trying to convince Anthony to come home, but she is not in a hurry as she has stated to her husband in letters. She is enjoying the romance that is coming from the son and the diabolical plan they had set into motion. As the time moves forward, Catherine becomes more and more convinced that she cannot do what they originally had decided, to kill Mr. Truitt. The bottle of poison is still in her bag back at the house. But the more she lapses into her old life, the more she realizes that she has come to love Mr. Ralph Truitt, and the life that they are slowly building together.

Blackmail, however, becomes the main motive. Anthony threatens to send a letter to his father detailing everything about her that she does not want known. She is forced into hurting to a person who has been nothing but kind to her. He eventually tells her that he knows what she is doing, but promises that he is never going to tell anyone, and that he will not mention it again. True to his word, he does not, but the guilt that Catherine feels is not going away. She watches as he gets weaker and weaker. Mrs. Larson becomes suspicious of her, and instead of being kind as she normally was, she is more watchful and aware of what Catherine is doing every day.

Finally Catherine can take no more, and when Ralph is at his worst, she tells him she is done. She tells him that she will no longer do anything to hurt him and she loves him. She promises to see him through it and take care of him. But will she?

This week we are reading Chapters 14-19

Questions:

1. Why does Catherine continue to deceive everyone around her? Why can she not just be herself? What do you think she is really afraid of?
2. When Catherine finds her sister Alice, she offers to take her to a nicer place, but Alice refuses. Should Catherine have pushed more?
3. Why does Ralph continue to allow himself to be poisoned, especially after he knows for certain? Why does he not say something and have Catherine investigated?

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