This book is the sixth one of twelve series of "Corwall" series has been written by Winston Graham. Four swans means for women: Demelza, Elizabeth, Verity and Caroline. Graham introduce a new character in this book; Hugh Armitage. A person who was saved from prison by Ross (Probably after that Ross damn himself!!) He was a poet and fall in love with Demelza in first sight. He always wrote romantic poems to her. It is the first time we find Demelza is attracted by another man except Ross. Finally they make loving on the beach. Of course their relationships are so brief because Hugh has tumor cancer and died. Demelza cried a lot after his dead and all of these made Ross so angry and jealousy. The reaction of Ross through this relationship and Demelza betray is the most interesting point for me in this book. After he betrayed to Demelza with sleeping with Elizabeth now Demelza do the same with him. I find Ross so modern man and reasonable person in this book. He tried to know about his wife's feeling. I believe Graham display the complexity of love in a fascinating way. Their relationship always has up and down but they always being together. None of them couldn’t leave each other because they love each other. So they try to fight with all these ghost. It is so brilliant! It is the part of the book that I read several times. It is when Ross knew about relationship between Demelza and Hugh and dialogue between them."Hugh Armitage has just died, Ross has gone off to Truro and been elected an MP and gets home, frustrated, confused and worn out with the events of a long, difficult year."Lights burned in the old parlour but not in the new library. Generally speaking they still tended to live in the old part of the house and keep the library for 'best'. Gimlett heard him coming and trotted round the house to take Sheridan.'Is the mistress in the parlour?''No, sur, she went out two hours agone.''Out?''Yes, sur.'He found Jeremy and Clowance in the parlour playing some very untidy game with Betsy Maria Martin, a pretty girl now of sixteen, who always blushed when she saw Ross exactly as her sister had done so many years ago.'Sorry, sur. Twas supposed to be a game of moving furniture--'Her explanations were drowned by the noisy welcome the two children gave their father. He swung them up and kissed them and teased them while Betsy hurriedly began to put the chairs and table to rights.'Mistress is out, I hear?''Yes, sur. She went soon after dinner.''Did she say where?''No, sur. But twas not riding. I thought she'd be back before dark.'Ross saw the crumpled note on the mantelshelf. He picked it up and read; 'My dear Mrs Poldark, It is with grief that I have to tell you......' and at the bottom 'Frances Gower'. While Clowance bubbled in his ear he thought: Well, she cannot have gone there, not walking. Where could she have gone? Anger welled up in him that was half anxiety.'Did she leave a message?''Who, mistress? Nay, but she told Jane to see for the supper.''Did she say she would be back for supper?''I dunno, sur. Not to me she didn't say nothing.'After a while he went upstairs to their bedroom. Her blue cloak had gone, nothing else. No scribbled message, as normally there was. He went down again and walked slowly round the outhouses. The two piglets, Ebb and Flow, already grown to substantial size, occupied their own special box next to the horses. But they were still pets and were let out to roam about the yard most days. They greeted him with snorts and snuffles of recognition and he gave them each a chunk of bread he had brought for the purpose. Sheridan, being just fed, was content with a pat and a stroke, as was Swift, though Swift, you could see, was restive for lack of exercise. In the kitchen Jane Gimlett's head was over a pot of soup and Ena Daniel was cutting up some leeks. Screams of laughter and bangs on the stairs indicated that Jeremy and Clowance were making a slow way to bed. He went back into the parlour. It was all tidy again, except for a few things the children had dropped. He picked these up and put them in the basket behind the big armchair, poured himself a glass of brandy and drank half of it. Then he drew the curtains. A fire was flickering, almost lost in the great hearth, and he shovelled more coal on and watched the smoke balloon up the chimney.The brandy had gone down like raw spirit, burning deep into his stomach; but it didn't touch the other rawness within him. He was conscious of ever growing anger against his wife. There might or might not be good reasons for such anger, but this was not a rational thing. It sprang from deeper and more primitive sources. It seemed that all his rawness, all his distress, all his sense of disillusion and frustration and emptiness sprang from her. Together they had had everything and she had flung it all away. Almost without a thought to what she was spoiling and soiling for ever. Demelza, whom he had dragged up and loved and worked for devotedly; a man had come and smiled at her and held her hand and she had weakly, sentimentally and wantonly fallen in love. Almost without a token resistance. From the moment Hugh Armitage set eyes on her she had been ready to melt into his arms. And had made no secret of the fact, even to Ross. 'Ross,' she had more or less said, 'this beautiful young man is after me and I like it. I can't help it. I'm going to give myself to him. A pity about our home, our children, our happiness, our love, our trust. Such a pity. A shame. Too bad. Goodbye.'All the rest too, this involvement in Parliament, the now unbridgeable and final breach with George, the ...He swallowed his brandy and poured another.And now Hugh was dead and now she was gone. Where the hell could she have gone? Perhaps she would not come back. Perhaps it was better that she should not. He could manage the children, Betsy Maria and Jane Gimlett could manage the house. To hell with her. He should have known better than to drag her out of the gutter, make a sham lady of her.He gulped the second glass. He was strangely tired, an uncommon feeling for him. The day had been exacting in the wrong ways, the farce of the election, the stupid trumpery celebration dinner. He had eaten little at it and now felt hungry, yet had not the stomach to eat. He could be bothered with nothing.As he finished the second glass of brandy a footstep at the door.Her face was ashen, her hair blown as if it were windy out. They stared at each other. She dropped her cloak on a chair. It did not catch and slid slowly like a snake to the floor. She looked down at it.'Ross,' she said in a flat voice. 'I'm sorry. I hoped to be back for you.''Where in hell have you been?'She bent and picked up her cloak, smoothed it with a slow hand. 'Have you supped?''No.''I'll tell Jane.''I don't want it.'After a moment she shook her head as if trying to clear it. 'You know?''About Hugh? Yes. I saw Lord Falmouth in Truro.'She sat quietly in the chair, cloak on her knees. 'It was last night.''Yes.'She put a hand up to either cheek and stared round the room. She might have lost her way.'Demelza, where have you been?''What? Now? To- to see Caroline.''Oh....' That somehow did not seem so bad. 'You walked?''Yes....It was - it was something to do. The - the exercise did me - it helped.' Her eyes went to the glass in his hand.'You'd best have some of this.''No.' She shook her head again. 'I don't think so. I should only sick it up.'Outside an owl was hooting in the dark.He said: 'It's a long walk. You'd best have something.''No .....thank you, Ross. But when I went - I went in the wrong shoes. I forgot to change them.'He saw she was wearing her house slippers. They were badly scuffed and the back of one was broken.He went to pour himself another brandy.She said: 'I went to see Caroline only because - because I thought she would know how I felt, how - how...She is so...''And did she?''I believe so.' She shivered.He poked the fire, coaxing a reluctant blaze from the smoking coal.'Did you - have a good day in Truro?' she asked.'So-so.''How did you meet Lord Falmouth?''He was at a meeting.''Did he seem upset?''Yes, very.''It's such a - such a waste.''Perhaps if Dwight had continued...''No. At least he said not. Perhaps he was being modest.''Was Dwight there when you talked to Caroline?''Oh, no. Oh, no.'Ross stared at his wife and then went to the cupboard under the old bookcase - where she had once hidden from her father - and took out a pair of shoes she sometimes used on the beach, canvas and flat and comfortable. He brought them over and she made to take them from him.'Look,' he said roughly, and knelt and took her slippers off, one after the other, and put the other shoes on. Her stockings were holed and her feet were bruised, and stained here and there with blood.'You'll do well to wash them presently,' he said.'Oh, Ross...'She put her hands on his shoulders, but he stood up and her hands fell back to her lap.He said: 'The cattle sale was poor. People are trying to get rid of their cows for the winter, and no one wants to buy.''Yes..'There was another long silence. She said: 'The little Treneglos girl came over today - just to call to invite Jeremy to a party. She is badly marked. They have used rotten-apple water but it seems to have done little for her.'He did not reply.'I - had to talk to someone,' she said, 'so I went to Caroline. Although she is so different from me I know no-one closer, more truly a friend.''Except me.''Oh, Ross.' She began to cry.'Well... was it not so? Until this happened, was it not so?''It was so. It is so. You... I talk to you always, with nothing between us. No one has ever been so close. Never. But in this---''Until this.''But in this - over this, it is too much to ask - of me - of you. It has to be another woman. And even then...'He said: 'Well, you have no need to confide in me more than you want. Just say what you want to do - now - tell me what you want, no more, no less.''Want?' she said 'I want nothing.''Nothing?''Nothing more than I have.''Had.''As you please, Ross. It's just as you say.''No, my dear, it's just as you say.''Please, Ross, don't...''Stop crying, you fool,' he said roughly, 'It solves nothing.'She wiped her sleeve across her eyes, sniffled and looked at him through a mixture of hair and wet lashes. He could have killed her because he loved her.She said: 'What do you want me to do?''Leave or stay, just as you wish.''Leave?' she said. 'I don't want to leave. How could I possibly go away from here - from all, all that we have together?''Perhaps you should have thought of it before.''Yes,' she said, standing up, 'perhaps I should.'He bent again to stab at the fire.'Well,' she said, 'if you want me to go I will,'The words rose to his lips to agree that she should leave but they would not come out. They choked in his throat and congealed in a greater anger.The door came open. Only Clowance stood there. She had become a stout little girl this year. Her great good health and contentment had given her a face with fat cheeks and arms with fat wrists, and the shape of her face was as broad at it was long. Her fair hair curled about her shoulders and a sort of fringe had grown unchallenged and stood out from her forehead. She was wearing a long white flannel nightgown.She said: 'Mama! Where you was?''Yes, my love, what is it?' It was Ross who answered.'Mama promised.''What did she promise?''To read me that story.''What story?'Demelza incautiously raised her head. 'It was the - I've forgot the title - in that book--'Clowance took one look at her mother's face and immediately let out a howl of intense anguish. The door from the kitchen opened and Betsy Maria came out.'Oh, beg pardon, I didn't know--' She picked up the howling Clowance. Demelza had turned quickly and was hiding her face by letting her hair fall about it as she bent over Ross's glass.'Take her up,' Ross said. 'Tell her her mother will be up in a few minutes. Stay with her till then. Is Jeremy asleep?''I b'lieve so, sur.''Tell her she'll come to read the story in a few minutes.'The door closed.Demelza wiped her eyes again and gulped some of Ross's drink. Ross picked up her ruined slippers and dropped them in the children's basket, took up her cloak a second time, folded it. It was not an instinct of tidiness.'Tell me how you feel,' he said.'You mean you don't want me to leave?''Tell me how you feel.''Oh, Ross, how can I? How dare I?''Indeed. But try.''What have I to say? I never intended. This crept on me unawares. I never thought - you must know I never thought... I am so sad. For - for all things.''Yes, well....Sit down here a minute and tell me.''What more is there to say?''Tell me what you feel about Hugh.''Really?''Really.'She used her sleeve again. 'How can I say truthfully, when I am not sure myself? I tell you, it came on me unawares. It was the last thing I ever sought. Now my heart feels broken...But not in the way - not like at Julia's death. Now I weep tears, tears, tears, for so much youth and love buried into the ground...When Julia died I had no tears. They were internal - like blood. Now - now they stream down my face like rain - like rain that I cannot stop. Oh, Ross, will you not hold me?''Yes,' he said, doing it.'Please hold me and never let me go.''Nor shall I, if you give me the chance.''Not till we die, Ross, I could not live without you...These - these are not the tears of a penitent - I may have reason to be penitent - but this is not that. I cry - it sounds silly - I weep for Hugh and - and for myself - and for - for the whole world.''Set some tears aside for me,' Ross said, 'for I believe I need them.''Oh, they are all yours,' she said, and then choked completely and clung to him with great shaking sobs.They sat for a while, crouched in an awkward attitude that neither noticed. Now and then he would free a hand to thrust it impatiently across his own nose and eyes.After a long time he said: 'Clowance will be waiting.''I'll go in a minute. But first I must wash my face.''Drink this.'She took a second gulp from his glass.'You are very good to me, Ross.''Good for you, no doubt.''To me...forgiving...But forgetting? I don't know. Perhaps it's a mistake to forget. All I know is that I love you. I suppose that's all that really matters.''It's what matters to me.'She shuddered and put a hand to each eye in turn. 'I'll wash my face and then go and read, and then if you want you can have a bite of supper.''I think,' said Ross, 'I'll come and read a while with you."
The Poldark saga continues with this book focusing on the four swans: Demelza, Caroline, Elizabeth and Morwenna. Demelza's 2 younger brothers join the cast and prove to be promising young men despite their challenging upbringing with dear ol' dad.Plenty of romantic tragedy in this book which made for some dark reading at times. I had to put the book aside for awhile and read something a little lighter before I could finish Four Swans.If you're looking for a dramatic and tragic romance this is the book for you. (view spoiler)[What in the world is going on with Demelza??? I do not like her storyline one little bit as it's so out of character. Just another reason I had to put the book aside for awhile. I don't expect things to go perfect for Ross and Demelza but this was a little farfetched. (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about The Four Swans (1996)?
The Four Swans is the sixth book on Poldark's saga. Who are the four swans? Demelza who unexpectedly finds a new lover; Elizabeth for whom Ross still has a special place in his heart for her, perhaps something else even more important than that; Caroline which marriage takes another step through motherhood; and Morwena with an unhappy marriage with Osborne Whitworth and the special attention given to her by Demelza's brother Drake Cane. As historical background, the Napoleonic war starts to blow its first shots into European countries.
—Laura
Ross Poldark's Four Swans are Demelza (who gains the affections of a Naval Lt); Elizabeth (who must find a clever way of convincing George that she has been faithful and Valentine is their son); Carolina (who has to nurse Dwight back to health, while teaching him to be both a good husband and an acceptable country squire); and poor Rowena (married to the Vicar, but now has a second, younger "Chynoweth" sister as a maid). Do you want to get transported into another world? Start reading Poldark's, especially now that they're on e-book.
—Nooilforpacifists
I'm mad at Winston Graham because he had to create a love interest for Demelza to make her complicated with her feelings. She was perfect as she was, and, I get it, real life persons aren't like that but hey, this is a book and she wasn't that perfect either. She really disappointed me in this one. I guess she and Ross really are made for each other. (view spoiler)[Both cheating assholes, because cheating is horrible, I don't care if the other person is sick and dying. (hide spoiler)]
—Andrea
