Anatomy: A Love Story

Hazel expects her mother to punish her for being gone for so long, but Lady Sinnett is too absorbed in grieving George and spoiling her remaining son to spare her daughter much attention. To Hazel’s astonishment, her mother suggests that they attend a performance at Le Grand Leon together. Lady Sinnett reminds Hazel that her younger brother Percy will inherit all the family’s wealth and advises her daughter to have her engagement with Bernard formalized as soon as possible.

That night at the theater, Hazel coolly exchanges greetings with her cousin, unable to forget his dismissive attitude towards her ambitions. To her surprise and distaste, she later sees Bernard flirting with a vapid young noblewoman. The dance performance preaches a lesson already familiar to Hazel and other girls: “[D]on’t be seduced by the men you meet, protect your virtue—until, of course, their entire lives depended on seduction by the right man” (77). Lady Sinnett also observes Bernard’s flirtations. During the carriage ride home, she warns Hazel that, if she remains unmarried, she will be dependent on her relatives’ mercy and that “[n]ot everyone will be so forgiving of [her] little—quirks—as [her] cousin is” (79).