Roommates 210 - The Candle Talk

In which the custom of the "shovel talk" gets reapplied for a new situation,

OR

In which an agreement is made.

The "shovel talk", for those unfamiliar with the term, is also referred to as the "shotgun discussion", or any number of colorful yet vaguely disconcerting terms in which the father of a young woman sits down to a discussion with (traditionally) the young man who intends to court her, usually while the girl is elsewhere in preparation. It is customary for the father to make some degree of veiled (or completely open) threats to the suitor as a warning to treat the daughter with respect and courtesy. The term gets its name from what the father alludes to doing with a shovel, should anything inappropriate happen to the daughter (e.g., "I have a shovel and thirty acres of land. They'll never find you.")

In this case, we've got a reversal of roles here.


Eponine belongs to Hugo, Boublil, Schonberg, and Kretzmer.
Mrs. Norrington is still mine, I think.