How many readers had a pretty clear idea of what had happened before it was revealed?

I didn't know the particulars, but I knew someone had raped her and that Achilles had either killed him or helped dispose of the body.

About half-way through the book I felt that Nolan was the one who raped her and that Achilles had helped her in some way.

I knew she had been raped, that it wasn't an affair, but I wasn't sure if it was Nolan. I figured Achilles must have been involved in some way, because he had left. The actual details were a surprise, but not out of keeping with what we knew about these characters -- a tribute to the author's ability to build suspense.

Yes, I knew Dia was raped - the author set us for that with Dia leaving the party and the men there noticing her beauty and with other men roving the area.

I knew that Placidia was raped but I had forgotten about her stepbrother. I thought she was covering for her brother-in-law.

I figured that Placidia was raped by Nolan and that Achilles had helped her.

Nolan was definitely the top suspect but at the beginning of the book I was sure her brother-in-law was going to be the main slime ball. That she was raped and got pregnant was pretty obvious for me. It would have been the most shocking thing that could have occurred to a woman in that time.

OK, call me dense, but initially I was led by the rumors that she had a black baby to believe that she may have had an affair. And I figured it was Achilles because she seemed attracted to him from the first time she saw him on her way to Hockaday's farm after the wedding. It wasn't until later that she said that the person who had helped her was not the father of her child. Yes, Nolan was set up to be violent with women and attracted to Placidia, but then he pretty much disappeared from the scene. I wasn't terribly surprised to learn that he was the rapist, but I think the author did a fine job of developing suspense.

What really did surprise me was what we learned from Charles's remembrance what had happened to the baby. Placidia was led to believe that she had been overcome by the flood and the baby drowned.

I was certain that there had been a rape and I suspected that the slave had assisted her in some way since she named her son after him. However, I still was surprised to learn the identity of the actual disgusting rapist.