So Curethan...
How likely do you think it is that the woman (Countess/Baroness) from the Espari (sp?) play plot has been involved in the events of the series so far and is going to be involved in the present events of Thorn of Embelain?
(Sorry, don't have the book on me to flip through.)
Good catch.
I actually was wondering at the relevance of the time jump beyond illustrating L and S's early relationship and shading it with the doomed lovers situation.
Seems very likely that the Baroness will return to haunt them at the least convenient time, now that you mention it.
I figure Lynch will explicitly:
Paint the Baroness into the next book but I'm thinking specifically of her hand in Chains' disappearance. He did warn them that they were under his name in Espari.
I heard the fourth book deals with a civil war which the GB are at least partly responsible for inadvertently starting. Their thoughtless mucking about there seems like a very likely point of departure and the baroness would be key to identifying them and drawing them back in.
Tbh, I can't recall what happened to Chains, been so long since I read tLoLL - might need to go back to it before book 4. :p