Heidelberg Wedding - Discussion Thread

Humphrey wants to have everything 'down to the last pepperpot' ready for when they marry. I've been married for nearly 30 years and I still don't have everything, down to the last pepperpot...but that's okay with me - I think life would be boring if everything was perfect. I like having the odd kitchen utensil to search for (I am currently searching for a shortbread pan - that doesn't cost a bundle..hint, hint)...and every once in a while it's nice to get a new piece of furniture. Dr. van der Stevejinck and I put up with hand-me-down couches for many years, before finally biting the bullet and purchasing a brand new one. I have to say, choosing that first couch was one of the biggest strains we've ever had in our marriage. It took quite a while to find that first couch - when he was drawn to floral with oak trim (think his mother's 'Victorian'), and I favored more of a 'men's club' style. We finally found one we could both agree on - and have since gone on to purchase 2 more couches together, with much greater ease. [Betty Keira] Naming babies and buying houses strains my marriage. Happily, we won't have to do that again for a long time...

When Eugenia is flying to Lisbon with Gerard, they go first class, natch. Eugenia observes that first class is not so very different than the other as far as she can tell. Really? I beg to differ.


While taking care of Mrs. Clarence in Portugal, Eugenia applies make-up to her. Betty Keira wondered if this would fall under 'nursing duties'. Strictly speaking, I'd say no. However, Eugenia wants her patient to feel better - and if putting a little blusher on does the trick, it's worth it. It made me think of how roughly those models on the Home Shopping Network get treated as blusher or eyeliner is applied.

THE BRIGHTON PROPOSAL. The first time I read Heidelberg Wedding I was quite startled when Eugenia proposes a trip to Brighton. What? Our heroine? I agree with Betty Keira that Eugenia really isn't that kind of girl - and she definitely knew Humphrey was not that kind of boy. It was a last ditch ploy to revive a dead romance. What would she have done if he said "You betcha, let's go!"? Backpedalled. Fast. I see her brazening it out until they get there and then locking him in the bathroom.

Eugenia loses her 'London pallor' on a holiday in the country. Here in the rainy Pacific Northwest, we are well acquainted with pallor. The only tans you'll see for most of the year are either the spray on kind, or from a tanning booth. We show our white legs proudly during the brief 'shorts season'. Around 3(ish)years ago, five of the Hanna Bettys went to Hawaii in February for a cousin's wedding. Hopefully we didn't cause any permanent blindness to any of the locals or tourists due to the glare coming off our pasty white legs. My daughter (the most Mexican of my Beanerschnitzles) gets rather sallow in January and turns green-ish for lack of the sun. But as soon as the briefest sun breaks start to appear she tans with shocking haste.

Heidelberg Wedding has a very precipitous ending. "Will you marry me" is asked mere minutes (perhaps seconds!) before walking down the aisle... No matter how fabulous your man is (and I will admit, Gerard is fabulous), being proposed to AFTER being handed your bridal bouquet is more than a bit abrupt. Will Eugenia go through life regretting lost opportunities for post-proposal snogging? Not likely - hey, she's got her man, and they both seem to have a sense of humor. "Post-proposal snogging"...heh.