Berenice Houser
My reading of this scene is that Cribbins, being a con-man and therefore almost as skilled as Moist at reading people, has marked Berenice down as being not only divorced but having reverted to her maiden name. (She isn't a nun, btw) After a long period of using her married name, almost invaribly in Britain the man's name, she is still re-adjusting to using her own. (And British law and custom does not make this especially easy for a woman after divorce - A-M takes its social mores from Britain). Hence the moment of hesitation and remembering. The bastard is most probably the ex-husband. And Cribbins, being a not very principled con-man, is realising that she trusts a priest and his attention is wandering on to how much he can take her for - like a free meal, bath, and a shared bed for the night, so he can then trouser the whole of the hotel expense money advanced to him by Cosmo Lavish. He resented how little this was, after all, and if he can save spending it, especially if he can also save the equivalent of a seamstresses' fee, then so much the better - he isn't principled and can see her need for male attention that he can exploit, regardless of any hurt caused in the morning.
Oh, I'm glad tonyblack liked the wiki article... I wrote 90% of it...
My reading of this scene is that Cribbins, being a con-man and therefore almost as skilled as Moist at reading people, has marked Berenice down as being not only divorced but having reverted to her maiden name. (She isn't a nun, btw) After a long period of using her married name, almost invaribly in Britain the man's name, she is still re-adjusting to using her own. (And British law and custom does not make this especially easy for a woman after divorce - A-M takes its social mores from Britain). Hence the moment of hesitation and remembering. The bastard is most probably the ex-husband. And Cribbins, being a not very principled con-man, is realising that she trusts a priest and his attention is wandering on to how much he can take her for - like a free meal, bath, and a shared bed for the night, so he can then trouser the whole of the hotel expense money advanced to him by Cosmo Lavish. He resented how little this was, after all, and if he can save spending it, especially if he can also save the equivalent of a seamstresses' fee, then so much the better - he isn't principled and can see her need for male attention that he can exploit, regardless of any hurt caused in the morning.
Oh, I'm glad tonyblack liked the wiki article... I wrote 90% of it...
Should have said it before, but I needed the Info for my fanfiction, as I wanted to put a street by that name in there and wasn't certain if one already existed.
