# IX: Lady O'Hara Intervenes explained — The Black Moth

> Chapter companion for The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer.

## What happens

Lady O'Hara coaxes her husband Miles to tell her about his encounter with a highwayman the previous night. Miles describes how he captured a gentlemanly highwayman whose pistol was unloaded. Lady O'Hara later intervenes by pretending the highwayman is her cousin Harry, kissing him and convincing Miles to release him. Jack Carstares plays along, claiming it was a wager, and Miles lets him go.

## Themes in this chapter

### Deception and Duality

Jack Carstares disguises himself as a highwayman, and Lady O'Hara pretends he is her cousin to deceive her husband.

### Honor and Reputation

Miles O'Hara's sense of duty as a Justice of the Peace conflicts with his wife's intervention and the gentlemanly nature of the highwayman.

## Character check-ins

### Lady O'Hara

Coaxes her husband for details about the highwayman, then intervenes by pretending Jack is her cousin Harry to secure his release.

### Miles O'Hara

Reluctantly tells his wife about capturing the highwayman, then is fooled by her intervention and releases Jack.

### Jack Carstares

The captured highwayman, who plays along with Lady O'Hara's ruse, claiming it was a wager, and is released.

## Key lines

> She measured five foot nothing in her stockings, and was sometimes referred to by her large husband as the Midget.

Lady O'Hara was very short, and her tall husband occasionally called her 'the Midget.'

_Describes Lady O'Hara's petite stature and her husband's teasing nickname._

> So I cried out that his pistol was unloaded, and completely took him by surprise! Sure he hadn’t time to ask himself how the devil I should be knowing that!

Miles shouted that the highwayman's pistol was empty, catching him off guard because he couldn't figure out how Miles knew.

_Miles recounts how he bluffed the highwayman during the robbery._

> Harry, you wicked boy! ... My name is Molly!

Lady O'Hara greeted Jack as 'Harry' and whispered her name to him so he could play along.

_Lady O'Hara initiates the ruse to free Jack by pretending he is her cousin._

## Links

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