“Mr. Maldon is not at home, Sir,” she said, with insinuating civility; “But if not for the water rate, he requested me to say that- “She was interrupted by little George Tallboys, who scrambled down the high chair upon which he had been perched, and ran to Robert Audley” (165)
I think what peaks my interest the most regarding the beginning of volume II is the interest Robert Audley has directly within finding George Tallboys. It would be one thing if he just reported his disappearance to the proper authorities and from their just waited on word from that point but instead he has this very boots on the ground style approach to looking for him. Going very far in the process even looking at a place where he knew he would find George’s son. I think these actions speak a lot to the bond between the two. I wonder as we continue how these actions will evolve as well as Robert’s attitude toward this investigation. Is there a deeper reason or secret to why Robert is being so throughout this investigation? Is there anyone that he really trusts? The other thing I thought about in this volume is how it seems like a lot of characters end up giving very half answers to a lot of questions that a rise from Robert.
I agree the main question regarding Robert is why is he so invested. Even in this time, a normal friend would report a missing person to the authorities and then feel they have accomplished all they could, but Robert takes a special interest in finding the person responsible for himself. Of course, this sparks the question, is Robert really that good of a friend, or are there hidden feelings towards George? In other parts of the novel, this is in question, especially when he meets Clara and is stunned by her beauty but more importantly, her resemblance to George.
I also am very intrigued with Robert’s obsession with George. I agree with you on why Robert did not go to the authorities in the first place. I think Robert has some secrets that he does not want anyone to find out about. I do think it has something to do with George or maybe George has something on Robert and he wants to find him first. I am not too sure what Robert thinks of George but he is totally obsessed. I never thought about the bond between these two until I read your thought. Maybe they did have a tight bond and Robert doesn’t want George to leave him yet. The quote also shows us that George is obsessed with Robert when the narrator says “and ran to Robert Audley”. I think the word ran reveals that their relationship was tight but now since George “ran” away Robert needs to find him.
I really like what you are saying here about Robert’s attitude during the whole investigation of George’s disappearance. I also talked about George’s disappearance and how Lady Audley was cracking under pressure when Robert was questioning her. I like how you talk about the bond between Robert and George because I also think that this whole investigation shows the strong bond between them. If Robert didn’t care about George as much then he probably would have never even started the investigation and Lady Audley would’ve gotten away with it.