Diana - Tenant ch 38-43

I believe I'm in the minority when I say Mr. Hargrave didn't give me the creeps. I found his instinct to protect Helen to be gentlemanly, and when he saw she could take no more abuse, he always interceded on her behalf. Additionally, he always made himself available to her when she needed a protector, and he went out of his way to spend time with "the boys" when they were at their worst, although he didn't imbibe. I thought this an attempt to mitigate the damage that might have otherwise occurred to Helen, because at one point, even she acknowledges that Hargrave never drinks to excess, even though he is with those who do.

I think Helen is frightened of her own feelings for Hargrave. After being deeply wounded by Huntingdon, she fears loving again and keeps her feelings well hidden, even from herself. However, there are a couple of times when she admits obliquely that she finds him kind and is attracted to him. When she tells him, "I don't like you. . .and if I were [free] I would not marry you" (343), I felt she was trying to convince herself that she does not like him so she can feel justified in spurning his advances. She soon catagorizes him as "the false villain Hargrave" (346). Is Hargrave a villain? Hardly. If anything is a "false villain," it is Helen's heart, which yearns for the love and devotion Hargrave offers, and thus betrays her marital vows.