Authors are in the privileged position of fashioning their characters’ destinies. That is the theory anyway. (I have discovered that sometimes they seem to forge a path of their own as they develop!) Although the concept of control was not consciously at the forefront of my mind when I began writing Rosalind, when I read the first draft through, it became clear it was a fundamental motivational force.
Lord Atherton likes to think he is in control of his actions but when we meet him, he is avoiding his responsibilities and the inevitable curtailment of the relative freedom he has enjoyed. Ironically, it is not until he accepts his role in society, that he will be able to exert any meaningful control on the world around him. This is something his father was well aware of, and the control that the late Earl failed to wield over his son in life, will be achieved after his death. But even as we see him gradually accept the mantle of his duties, he is tormented or annoyed by not being in control of the actions of others around him.
Lady Rosalind imagines that her reckless actions at the beginning of the story are a way of her taking some sort of charge over a life that has been forever changed by the death of her own father. Of course, the truth is very different. She reacts with resentment when Lord Atherton takes a hand in her destiny by offering her employment, even though she is in dire need of it. In accepting the position of companion, she is forced to face up to the reality that from now on her basic needs will be dependent on an employer, someone she must please regardless of her own wishes.
This is the situation the majority of us are in. It seems to me that Rosalind and Lord Atherton were destined to be together, but it could not come to pass until they gained some control over their inherent strengths and weaknesses. It is self-knowledge that finally allows them to accept and embrace their destiny. In the end, we can only control ourselves, something Lord Rutley never achieves, with disastrous results. There is no such thing as one destiny, we all have many possible destinies, but only through self-knowledge can we make the most of the opportunities that come our way.