To use reason is to use rational motives for a belief or action, to justify those actions. The three main characters in A Midnight Embrace did not seem to be able to do any of these. They let other motives determine their actions.
Josephine was an only child of father who died very early in Josephine's life, her mother dies fifteen years later and before she was fully grown. She was beautiful and naïve. In any time this is a bad combination. When she had turned about nineteen, she met Lord Albert.
The cliché "you cannot have your cake and eat it too", would be a perfect way to describe Albert. Albert was the lord of an ancient castle. The story says that he was a nobleman and had fascinating manners and a heart that was prone to deceit. He could not care less about morality or religion. When Albert saw Josephine he wanted her, not because of love but because of lust. He immediately went to work trying to seduce her and starting telling her these disgraceful reasons as to why he could not marry her. Her lack of reason and her willingness to believe these lies would establish her demise. It is this lack of reasoning that causes her to believe his lies when he is missing for several days he comes back and he is married. The marriage to Lady Guimilda, and all parties involved having no sense of reason, would end up playing a part in shattering three lives.
Lady Guimilda could, at first, seen as an innocent party. She also could have used her money to gain affection from a man. In the end jealousy took over her and she ruined the lives of her husband, another woman, and of course, herself.
Josephine started off to story with her reason intact. When he mother had passed she grieved for a time, but her reason overcame her grief and she realized that she would need to eat. She became employed and was successful, even happy and respected, until Albert.
Albert saw her, and without the least amount of respect or concern for another's feelings, went after her with ill intent. She fell for every story, every lie, blinded by love, or the need to be loved by a man. When she was with him, she was deluded enough to believe that she was happy and they were in love. When she was alone she was miserable and filled with regret. It even seems to me that she went from the respected woman that was able to take care of herself, to a shamed woman that depended on someone else for the things she needed. Perhaps this is because women, especially in that time were raised to think that the sole purpose of a woman's life is to be a wife, and mother. When Albert was married to Guimilda, one could reason, that it should have been the end of this reprehensible love affair. I guess that Lord Albert felt as if there was a purpose, but as to what that supposed reasoning was to continue this charade is beyond my comprehension. Perhaps, it was of some sort of guilt for what he had done to her, and what she had become. He could have also just wanted her in the sidelines just in case. Either reasoning could not have been logical.
To say that Lady Guimilda was angry when she heard of the treachery of her new husband would not do justice. As with so many women, instead of her being angry with her husband she instantly hated her rival. She immediately set out to do harm to her. Jealousy and reason do not go together. She did not think of the consequences of getting caught. She decided to make her husband kill her. She wanted proof that he would choose her over Josephine. I assume that his reasoning for complying with the request would be loyalty for his wife, or his wife's money. He might have seen murder as a means to an end. The story says that he saw Guimilda and her beauty and instantly wanted her and loathed Josephine.
Instantly, after he poisoned her, Albert regretted what he had done to Josephine, but it was too late. The fate of three people changed with this deed. The next evening the halls of Werdendorff held a party. There were dancers and musicians; everyone was in a happy mood, except one. Albert was totally distracted. He was busy thinking about what he had done, and his wife's reaction to it, what had he done? "At midnight's hour thou shalt embrace me again" he kept repeating these words. He tried hard to put it out of his mind, perhaps trying to convince himself that it was all for the best. He was done with Josephine and now could be with Guimilda's money, but he kept thinking about what he had done. He thought about his wife's reaction to the news that the deed was done. The bells declared the midnight hour, he quickly became afraid, and told his wife that this was all her fault. Before she could say anything to her husband, a storm came upon the castle. Lightning flashed, upon the castle, a form appeared in the halls, it was the ghost of Josephine, determined to make Albert keep his promise.
The lack of reason, in this case cause the untimely death of three young lives. Josephine could not use her reasoning skills to see that her lover did not want to marry her; he was only interested in keeping her for his own pleasures. Albert, it would seem, that he did not use his head, he did not think of the consequences of his actions. Lady Guimilda let jealousy determine her actions. Reasoning would have caused them to think about the future. They might have asked themselves: "Is this really a good idea?" or "What are the consequences of my actions" If only Josephine's revenge was something that happened all the time, people's reasoning would change and think twice about murder.
