disposition

[PINKGREAT]

Can 'disposition' mean 'an own of smb.' when we are speaking of a person that belongs to another human. More context: 'And would any woman come to Bertram's Hotel for an assignation with a man? But possibly that could be, to someone of Bess Sedgwick's disposition, the very reason for choosing it.'

[RonBee]

The word disposition depends on context for its meaning (no surprise there), but in any case it hardly has anything to do with one human being owning another.

~R

[Delmobile]

Try here: disposition definition - Dictionary - MSN Encarta

Bess, not the man, has chosen the hotel for the assignation.

[native speaker & writer, not a teacher]

[PINKGREAT]

So then, could it be 'as Bess likes or prefers'. I mean the man of her choice.

[Delmobile]

"Why would any woman come to Bertram's Hotel for an assignation with a man?" Why pick a highly reputable hotel, instead of an establishment that is used to paying guests who "entertain visitors" in their rooms?

"But possibly that could be, to someone of Bess Sedgwick's disposition, the very reason for choosing it." Somebody with the personality or behavioral tendencies of Bess Sedgwick might choose a respectable hotel rather than a disreputable one simply because it is respectable. Bess has already shown that she likes to "walk to a different drummer," to be daring, to shock people. Being "naughty" in a place that serves buttered muffins to bishops, retired British colonels, and little old ladies in lace shawls might be her idea of a good joke.