Lord John Grey gets bad news from both Benedicta and Malcolm in Besieged section 8. Let’s get into the story.
This is a section that really pushes the danger of the situation forward. Not only do we get to find out how serious the illness that Olivia has is, we also find out that Malcolm is in a lot of trouble. However, Malcolm has faith in Lord John. If anyone can help Malcolm right now, it’s John.
Breaking down Besieged section 8
When Lord John Grey is awoken by Tom, it comes with some scary news. Benedicta has sent a letter via Rodrigo and Azeel, who ended up staying at the same inn as her. It turns out that Olivia and her children have come down with something called Yellow Jack.
Lord John Grey knows about the seriousness of this illness. Benedicta also clearly knows, as she has told Lord John Grey not to visit her until she sends him word that it is safe. She also asks him to tell her other sons that she loves them. It’s clear that Benedicta knows that she may not survive this.
I had to look up Yellow Jack to understand the severity of this. It was a viral disease that brought fever and chills, muscle pains, loss of appetite, and other flu-like symptoms. It was a huge epidemic in parts of America in the 1800s, and it was also known as “Yellow Fever,” which is what I’ve heard of before. I hadn’t realized they were the same thing.
Lord John Grey knows the severity of it, though. He tells Tom Byrd to send a doctor to do something to help.
Then he ends up getting a letter from Malcolm via Inocencia. He has been captured and held in a room for gentlemen in a prison. Malcolm knows that if anyone can get him out of the current situation, then John can. It’s up to him now.
Could this chapter be used if there was a TV adaptation?
There is no doubt that this section would need to be used in a TV series. I would hope that there is a quick explanation of Yellow Jack and to explain it as Yellow Fever, just so that we would know the severity of it more rather than just judging by Lord John Grey’s reaction.
The most important part of the section is Malcolm’s note to John. This gives John something that he needs to do. It adds a lot more drama to the story, and that’s what a TV show would need.
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