BORDELLO
Having been invited into the otherworldliness of the bordello, Virginia is shaken to the core, her values upturned, and her senses ignited. Having seen a realm where women hold the key to the frontier, she begins to understand that the “good” life she was accustomed to is far more repressive than the liberation of the concubines surrounding her.
The church has forsaken her in her hour of need, and her family unresponsive. She must decide whether she does indeed want to return to The States and subject her daughter to the constraints of Victorian New York, or whether to remain and establish herself anew in the West. She has no confidante, so she writes home in narration. Letters her family will never see. Dame Fleur sees much potential in Virginia but must convert her very carefully. She cannot allow the wealthy Thomas Hughes to be drawn from the bordello, as too much business is at stake, so she lures him out of his Virginia obsessed celibacy back into her own clutches, by sending Lily, Dove and Melody to his office.
His marriage, however must be maintained to prevent an honorable relationship with Virginia which would render Fleur powerless, without his patronage, until his inevitable return, even in wedlock. Fleur finances Meredith’s heath care with Dr. Moss, with whom she once entertained. A large donation is made to the church.
Virginia develops feelings for Thomas Hughes, his ardent admiration is too tantalizing to ignore. He promises to wait for her. However, he is still wed to the injured Meredith, and Virginia has no conscionable intention of such an infraction. Thomas is not familiar with rejection, and he asks Fleur to advise him. Which she does quite convincingly. She suggests that Virginia, due to her recent childbirth might not be as gratifying as he might imagine.
In order to finance her room and board, Virginia, who is well versed in the arts and little else, must teach the young women of the house in etiquette, propriety and decorum. Fleur pays her a pittance, but allows her to stay, for now. Virginia delves into the bordello’s library, discovering political works like,“The Rights of Man.” She and Fleur indulge in legislative dialogue from the unique perspective of the female pioneer. Hughes is both aroused and intimidated by Virginia’s expanding female-centric, constitutional preoccupation. Fleur, impressed with, yet troubled by Virginia’s acumen and the complications women’s liberation provokes, comforts Virginia by exposing the simple truth that no man can refrain from what sex has to offer. Truly powerful women are never chaste, and hence know how to overthrow powerful men. “Your manners can only take you so far.” The girls take well to their classes, but for Lily who believes she is sophisticated enough, thank you very much. Brigitta enjoys Virginia’s knowledge about the world and becomes an ardent admirer, this irks Lily further and she wages a lace edged war against her competition, with vicious gossip that spreads through the bordello like wild fire. Thomas Hughes runs for governor of Calico. Fleur, behind his campaign, makes certain, through her girls, that every man votes in his favor. Virginia is averse to his campaign, his rhetoric opposing women’s rights. She is of course not permitted to vote. She rallies the girls in the bordello to lure their patrons to protest, defying Dame Fleur’s crusade. Fleur and Lily must counter. Fleur is the quintessential paradoxical anti-feminist. She thwarts Virginia’s attempts to sway the girls to the left by increasing their dividends with male votes to the contrary.
The colorful characters infiltrate Virginia’s life, those up town and down, including, “The most exquisite company of Nymphs Du Prairie you will ever have the good fortune to know.”