Is something happening with Lady Millicent Bruton & Ricard Dalloway?

She invited him to lunch at her place, without extending the invite to Richard’s wife, Clarissa.

“Millicent Bruton, whose lunch parties were said to be extraordinarily amusing, had not asked her.”

(Woolf, p. 26)

Let us speculate on the possible fictional tropes –

1. Millicent does not wish to be overshadowed by another beautiful woman.
2. Millicent knows Clarissa is an excellent hostess and does not want to be paled in comparison to Clarissa.
3. Millicent wants Richard to focus on her.

The answer is revealed when Lady Bruton attends Mrs Dalloway’s party in the evening, at Clarissa’s house. Lady Bruton told Clarissa that Richard was invited to her lunch party, to help her “write a letter”. (Woolf, p. 166)

This is my copy of Mrs Dalloway:

This is what Amazon sells:

Related post:

This is the main book review https://booksreviewsandmore.com/why-does-peter-walsh-have-an-axe-to-grind-with-clarissa-dalloway/