Tao Chi'en and Eliza are worried that they will be an odd pairing. This is of course because Tao is Chinese while Eliza is Chilean. This would not be a problem in present day America, but in the mid nineteenth century I guess the couple would turn a few heads.
Most people at this time would marry within their class and race. Tao and Eliza break both of these unwritten rules. Tao is a middle class "doctor" and Eliza is descended from a well-off English family. They don't find this a problem in America however because Eliza is living more or less the life of a poor traveler. When she begins to live with Tao, she fits right in with his living conditions. Their differences in race are also manageable. Eliza spends a good deal of her time pretending to be Tao's deaf and dumb younger brother. Most people believe her to be Chinese. It is understandable that Eliza and Tao became a couple because they jumped through the hoops set by society to come closer together.
The problem with their assumed eventual marriage is that they can't keep their different races a secret forever. Eliza returns to wearing her dresses at the end of the book. When she isn't in men's clothing and doesn't have her hair cropped short, one can quite easily see that Eliza is indeed a Chilean women and not a Chinese boy.
I don't know how people will react to their marriage, but I'm sure Eliza and Tao will overcome the reactions. They have both gone through a lot in their lives to reach California and build respectable lives for themselves. They shouldn't have a problem getting past another step in the staircase of life.
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