my comments on chapter 22 (silence breaking)
—(content warning: talks about abuse)
I have a few things I want to say about Mr Ambrose and Lilly’s relationship so far. Up until now, we’ve seen Mr Ambrose being jealous several times throughout the entire series, but him getting rid of Lilly’s suitors was as far as it got. It might have been cute at first, but it’s evolving and becoming much more than just that.
Mr Ambrose has mentioned in previous chapters that he doesn’t want Lilly being around Captain Carter because he sees him as his rival or “enemy”. He’s obviously afraid Carter will steal Lilly from him, and so he starts planning things that he thinks will stop that from happening. I think the first time Mr Ambrose started getting serious about wanting to get rid of Carter was when he mentioned ‘the file’ a few chapters back. After it wasn’t mentioned again for some time, we kind of forgot about it and stopped worrying. But then when Mr Ambrose saw Carter visit Lilly several times while she was injured, he decided he had seen enough to be sure the only way he could guarantee Lilly would stay with him is by getting rid of Carter, hence the attack from Karim.
After that, Lilly went to confront Mr Ambrose about it, which eventually led to their discussion in chapters 21-22. (I personally find the part where they agree to kiss everyday just to keep Carter safe a little strange for quite a few reasons, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.)
What really made me question their relationship was when Mr Ambrose said he felt “concern” about her “safety”, and that he was going to make Karim stay around her at all times so that “nothing untoward” happens to her while he’s not there. Reading it the first time, it sounds really sweet and protective of him, but when you think about it, it doesn’t really make sense. While they’re inside his parents’ house, everyone is very safe and no harm would come to Lilly at all. Why would Lilly need supervision inside the house? She doesn’t. But do you know what Mr Ambrose is actually afraid Lilly will encounter? Captain Carter.
Mr Ambrose didn’t put Karim to supervise Lilly from danger, but to prevent her from talking to Carter. Which brings me to the point of this post, which is that by him doing so, he has, in a way, controlled who Lilly is and isn’t allowed to talk to/interact with.
(tw) I’m not one to talk about romance but I do know abuse when I see it. There’s a fine line between mild jealousy and full control over someone. And it’s okay to be a little jealous, but once it gets to the point where one person is telling the other what they are and aren’t allowed to do, or who they’re allowed to interact with, it becomes unhealthy. Not everyone is aware of how the current state of their relationship is definitely worrying, because it’s been building up so slowly. I don’t think Lilly has realized it yet either, but if she takes a moment to think about how she’s being treated, she’ll realize that this is the exact opposite of the independence she wants.
I don’t normally give excuses to abusers, but I don’t think Mr Ambrose is aware of what he’s doing. I know he had a traumatic childhood, and he doesn’t know how different feelings are supposed to be dealt with so that might explain why he takes extreme actions (like in this case). But if he doesn’t realize what he’s doing, or if no one brings it to his attention, it could lead to bigger, worse problems between him and Lilly. I don’t know how long it’s going to take Lilly to realize what’s being done to her, but it worries me think how downhill things can go if they ignore it.
I might be thinking way too deeply into this, but I want them to realize how bad things are going before it’s too late. I’ve seen people comment on this chapter saying that his actions and concern for her safety were “cute”, and I know not everyone thought too much about the reason he took that action and just thought he was actually doing it for her “safety”, so I’m not blaming anyone who wasn’t aware of this being a problem. But it’s a serious issue that I hope is either ceased, or discussed between Mr Ambrose and Lilly at some point in this book, so that it doesn’t go too far.
Thank you for reading, stay safe.