Billy pulls the young Micky Pope from the fire in the pit and cries over his dead body. This moment is intentionally juxtaposed with Fitz’s internal monologue: He angrily reflects that “men died all the time,” and wonders “why did a pit disaster have to happen just when he was entertaining the king?” (69) Similarly, Fitz feels irritated that in the “grimy hovels” of the coal miners, there is talk of “republicanism, atheism, and revolt” (30). He is condescending to the working-class and unsympathetic to their struggles, struggles that seem worlds away from his aristocratic life. Fitz had “done nothing to earn his huge income,” and yet believes that “clearly God intended the Fitzherberts to rule over their fellow men” (29).

Bea was also raised in aristocratic privilege. In Russia, she was taught to treat lower classes with patronizing scorn. Her grandfather taught her (in relation to servants and peasants) that “if you do not slap them or flog them […] for carelessness or laziness, they will eventually commit larger sins” (33). Bea’s family’s cruelty is juxtaposed with Grigori’s horror at watching his father die at the gallows. The indifferent, confident arrogance of these aristocratic characters foreshadows the respective social uprisings and reform coming from angry working-class citizens, which will diminish aristocratic power.