The Rival Pact Themes

by Olivia Hayle

This analysis draws on moments from across the whole book and may contain spoilers.

Underneath the plot, the novel is really wrestling with ownership: of Sterling Hall, of the past, and of a private arrangement. Florence's Historic England work clashes with James's control of his ancestral home, while school and Oxford resentment, especially the journal incident, keeps forcing them to reinterpret old humiliations.

On this page you'll find each theme tied to concrete moments, including consent and aftercare in their power exchange, prep-school memories and titles, disguises and fake dating, and the tension between vulnerability and a transactional affair. It also tracks the chessboard, Sterling Hall, Florence's journal pages, and the riding crop as recurring symbols.

Major Themes in The Rival Pact

Heritage preservation versus private ownership

The novel repeatedly stages Florence's role as a Historic England surveyor against James's determination to control and repair his ancestral home as he sees fit. Their conflict over the roof, the study, the third floor, and the restoration report turns preservation into a struggle over authority, privacy, and legacy. The resolution depends less on one side winning than on James learning to share control and Florence learning to trust the man behind the title.

Florence calls Sterling Hall grade-I listed and of special interest to the nation, while James says, 'this is my house. I will fix it as I see fit.'
James confronts Florence in his private study, insists the room is private, watches her finish the survey, and forbids her from entering it again.
James dislikes the government survey taking stock of Philippa's room and restricts access to the third-floor private sphere.

Old rivalry and the reinterpretation of the past

Florence and James carry years of school and Oxford resentment, competition, and humiliation into their adult arrangement. The journal incident becomes the central test of whether Florence's memory of James as her tormentor is accurate, and his apologies force her to ask what else she may have misread. Their gradual ability to revise the past allows intimacy to grow.

Florence remembers James's sneers and her journal pages plastered over the halls, while James remembers competing with her for marks after his parents' death.
Florence accuses James of having photocopied and distributed her journal pages fifteen years ago; he denies it and promises to find out who did it.
After James denies leaking her journal, Florence wonders, 'If that's not true, what else might not be?'
Florence later admits she did not always give a fair account of their school battles.

Power exchange, trust, and negotiated consent

The novel develops James and Florence's BDSM arrangement as a structured practice of consent, communication, and aftercare rather than mere secrecy or titillation. Their scenes depend on safe words, color checks, limits, honesty, and trust, and the emotional stakes rise when those rules are tested. Florence's discovery of her submissive desires is tied to feeling safe enough to stop overthinking and to be cared for afterward.

James says playing with power dynamics requires trust and that they do not have much trust, while they negotiate limits, hard stops, and the stoplight system.
James insists on words and colors during the office scene, asking 'Give me a colour, sweetheart,' and Florence answers 'Green'.
James draws Florence a jasmine bath, massages her foot and calf, praises her honesty, and asks for notes on his performance.
Florence reflects that she could say the word and stop him, so she has power too.

Class, status, and belonging

Florence's sense of being an outsider at Sterling Hall is shaped by prep-school memories, titles, portraits, and inherited wealth, while James's world is defined by duty, lineage, and public scrutiny. The novel contrasts Florence's family home and second-hand uniform memories with James's drivers, custom insignia, and aristocratic inheritance. Their relationship forces both to confront the chasm between their worlds without pretending it does not exist.

Florence remembers attending prep school only because her mother was on the board and feels like an imposter at Sterling Hall, while James's family portraits and custom insignia light switches mark his inherited place.
Florence calls her parents' grey brick house 'not much' and 'not Sterling Hall,' while James calls it lovely and reflects on the gulf between their worlds.
Florence recalls once being ashamed of her second-hand uniform and home-packed lunches beside his drivers, titles, and money.
At dinner, the group discusses aristocratic inheritance; James says Philippa cannot inherit Sterling Hall under current rules and vows to change the law.

Privacy, secrecy, and public performance

James and Florence repeatedly separate their private arrangement from public appearances, using disguises, fake dating, and controlled disclosures to keep the media and family from seeing too much. The novel shows how performance can protect them but also distort intimacy, especially when James insists publicly that Florence is only at Sterling Hall to work. Their eventual relationship requires them to risk being seen and to stop hiding behind roles.

At the sex party, James gives Florence a mask and wears a cap because he does not trust the party's claims of secrecy.
James and Florence agree their arrangement will not affect work, no one else will know, Pippa cannot know, and the media must not find out.
James and Florence agree to fake a relationship for the wedding and Naples, setting rules about holding hands, arm around the waist, and James kissing her in front of Owen.
Florence calls their dinner act 'the performance of a lifetime,' and James notes that his claim of loyalty 'doesn't entirely feel like a lie.'

Emotional vulnerability versus transactional arrangement

Florence and James try to define their involvement as physical, emotionless, and chess-like, but aftercare, jealousy, family scenes, and public pretending erode that boundary. James's fear of encouraging Florence to stay and later regret it, and Florence's fear of being humiliated by wanting more, keep them from naming their feelings. The novel resolves the tension by replacing the arrangement with a real relationship and an explicit confession of love.

Florence proposes their arrangement be purely physical and emotionless, 'like chess'; James agrees, 'No emotions.'
James offers to buy Florence a flat and continue their arrangement with weekend visits; after she declines, he agrees to a clean break and later shakes her hand goodbye.
Florence cries after orgasm, and James tells her she can cry, holds her, bathes her, and praises her for following commands rather than for orgasming.
In a staff shed, James says he missed her and wants a relationship, not just friendship; he confesses his love, and Florence says her dream-man description was him and that she loves him too.

Symbols and Motifs

The chessboard and chess games

Chess represents indirect communication, strategy, control, and the possibility of a truce between Florence and James. Their moves often say what they cannot say directly, and the language of chess is used to describe their arrangement and their mutual testing.

Florence moves a white pawn to e4, and James later makes his own move in the library.
Florence and James alternate moves on the library chessboard, responding to each other through the game.
James engineered a tie, and Florence accuses him at the chessboard, saying, 'You bastard, you tied!'
Florence proposes their arrangement be purely physical and emotionless, 'like chess'; James agrees, 'No emotions.'

Sterling Hall

Sterling Hall represents inherited legacy, class, and James's private authority, as well as the history Florence is professionally bound to preserve. Its rooms, portraits, private study, and third-floor spaces mark the boundary between public heritage and personal control.

Florence calls Sterling Hall grade-I listed and of special interest to the nation, while James says, 'this is my house. I will fix it as I see fit.'
James's family portraits and custom insignia light switches mark his inherited place.
James confronts Florence in his private study, insists the room is private, watches her finish the survey, and forbids her from entering it again.
James says Philippa cannot inherit Sterling Hall under current rules and vows to change the law.

Florence's journal pages

The journal pages symbolize the old humiliation Florence has built her resentment around, and the possibility that her memory of James is incomplete or misdirected. Their revelation and eventual clarification force her to reconsider both the past and her own hatred.

Florence remembers James's sneers and her journal pages plastered over the halls.
Florence accuses James of having photocopied and distributed her journal pages fifteen years ago; he denies it and promises to find out who did it.
Chester admits to the journal incident and lets the blame fall on James; James apologizes to Florence.
Florence later reveals her old journal pages were about his eyes and hair.

The riding crop

The riding crop represents Florence's emerging curiosity about power, submission, and sexual control, and James's recognition of a shared kink. It links the estate's physical world of stables and discipline to the private power-exchange dynamic they later negotiate.

In the stables, Florence handles a riding crop; James catches her, she claims she is inspecting, and he allows her to begin the second floor tomorrow but not the third without him.
Florence smacks the riding crop against her palm and thigh, later researches Doms and subs, and imagines someone commanding her.
James privately wonders whether Florence shares his kink, remembers their encounter at Oxford, and notes that she later dated Owen.
They discuss using the crop and toys, and Florence playfully says she would be a terrible duchess.