# V explained — Lord Tony’s Wife

> Chapter companion for Lord Tony’s Wife by Baroness Orczy.

## What happens

Yvonne de Kernogan, traveling by coach, ignores warnings of a peasant mob and orders her coachman to proceed. The mob attacks, and Yvonne is assaulted and kissed by a peasant leader before being rescued by her father's men.

## Themes in this chapter

### Class Conflict and Revolution

The peasant mob's attack on Yvonne's coach embodies the revolutionary hatred of the aristocracy.

### Suffering and Endurance

Yvonne endures the physical and psychological assault without losing consciousness until the end.

## Character check-ins

### Yvonne de Kernogan

Defiantly orders the coach to proceed despite warnings; is assaulted and kissed by a peasant leader.

### Jean-Marie

The old coachman who reluctantly obeys Yvonne's orders and later recounts the attack.

### Martin-Roget

Mentioned as M. le duc de Kernogan, Yvonne's father, who is anxious for her safety.

## Key lines

> And just to punish you, my fine lady... I will kiss you on the lips and the cheeks and just between your white throat and chin and never as long as you live if you die this night or live to be an hundred will you be able to wash off those kisses showered upon you by one who hates and loathes you—a miserable peasant whom you despise

The peasant leader kisses Yvonne as a deliberate act of humiliation and revenge, declaring that the memory of his touch will forever stain her.

_This moment highlights the theme of class conflict and the personal degradation inflicted by the revolutionaries._

> Who are we, my fine lady? ... we are the men who throughout our lives have toiled and starved whilst you and such as you travel in fine coaches and eat your fill.

The peasant leader explains that the mob's anger stems from a lifetime of poverty and oppression compared to the luxury of the aristocracy.

_This quote encapsulates the revolutionary grievance driving the attack._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lord_tony_s_wife_se/chapters/v
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lord_tony_s_wife_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lord_tony_s_wife_se/chapters