I can definitely see where you're coming from when you phrase it like that, Jack, but I have to admit that my initial reaction was the same as Laura's, though perhaps for different reasons. I've taken a lot of classes relating to the pre-Revolution Tidewater, and for me the instruction to "remember whom you belong to" conjures up images of a master-slave relationship more so than equal partners. At the very least, it reminds me that a feme covert didn't have a legal identity distinct from her husband.

At the same time, I realize that this is me imposing my own interpretation on the text, and that perhaps neither Suzanne nor Darcy thought of it this way! Just wanted to put my two cents in. Despite my feelings on reading that one line, I loved this chapter as I've loved all the rest of this story, and I can't wait to see what comes next!