"Let's go into the church?" suggested Mr. van Tacx and took her arm. It was still open, the last of the daylight lighting up the stone knight on his tomb just inside the door. They wandered down the aisle and went into the tiny chapel on one side. They then wandered back towards the door and stopped by mutual consent to look back at the dim gentleness of the interior.
"I should like to be married here," said Mr. van Tacx surprisingly. And when Josephine gave him an amazed questioning look, "To you, of course, Josephine."
-Never the Time and the Place
What a lovely proposal. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteIsn't it odd with the almost universal habit of burying notables in churches, in effigy or otherwise, that none of that at all carried over to the New World. I can't think of any instance of such a thing in any church I've ever visited - the closest is a church graveyard.
Just sayin'.
me<><
PS Where are all the Bettys? My chatter remains up top for nearly 24 hours! I feel like the rapture happened (Betty style) and I got lefted!
I'm here, Betty Cindy. I was gone for awhile because I was over admiring Betty Magdalen's wedding photos, and took the opportunity to get to know her better. :-) Had a lovely time. She's a good blogger and writer, so it was nice.
ReplyDeleteI love that proposal, even if it is to Josephine. He's one of my favorite RDD's. Looking forward to the review.
Betty Cyndi -- What a nice compliment! (LOL -- I did say it was a major time suck.)
ReplyDeleteBetty Cindy -- I'm afraid I'm slightly at fault. I was reading a-book-a-day in order to catch up with the impending End of (Review) Days. That meant I was commenting on all kinds of 2010 reviews and stirring up all kinds of controversy in the process. (A Star Looks Down, anyone?)
But I've been side-tracked by re-reading the Millers Kill mysteries by Julia Spencer-Fleming, preparatory to reading the latest one, which comes out very soon. They are my favorite series by any author, yes, even The Great Betty.
It starts with In the Bleak Midwinter, in which the protagonists Clare Fergusson (a priest) and Russ van Alstyne (the chief of police) meet. There are five more books in the series, and fans like me have been waiting more than two years for the 7th book, One was a Soldier.
The series matters to me a lot because of the emotions of the protagonists, who find themselves drawn to each other despite Russ being happily-enough married. It's not that he prefers Clare to his wife, and it's not that he would have left Linda for Clare. (Oh, and it's also not that he and Clare go to Brighton for the weekend; they don't.)
It's that he knows the bond between Clare and himself is different -- deeper and more about his true self -- than the bond with his wife.
Well, that was my situation with Betty Henry and Betty Ross. If Betty Henry had wanted to stay married, we'd still be married. Yes, because I promised Henry and I loved him too much to break that promise, but also because the known is easier than the unknown. Luckily, Betty Henry was ready to be on his own at just about the time that Betty Ross entered the picture. (They'd known each other for nearly 15 years at that point.)
So my situation worked out really for the best: Betty Henry and I have retained the very best parts of our connection (friendship & history), Betty Ross and I have that deep, deep bond, and I have my family of the heart. (It's significant in those wedding pictures that I have Henry's mother and childhood friends present but not my own siblings...)
In the books, my happy result doesn't look like it's going to happen for Clare and Russ. So re-reading these books is, for me, very powerful and bittersweet. But the books are so well done, I highly recommend them to anyone who likes mystery stories. (Read them in order, though.)
I personally don't think they violate anyone's notions of loyalty and the sanctity of marriage, but they do lay out the emotions of finding someone who "gets you" long after you assumed that stuff was found only in romance novels.
Betty Barbara here--
ReplyDeleteNot to worry Betty Cindy. Not swept away, merely a Very Busy weekend!
I can second Betty Magdalen's recommendation of Julia Spencer-Fleming's lovely books.
Sorry to be so out of it this weekend. I went down to Betty Keira's on Friday and just barely got home.
ReplyDeleteI love Betty Keira...I really really do, but I have to say - she has incredibly...ummm (searching for a word that could be used in polite society)...ummm...let's just say less than ideal inter-web-nets. At least she did this weekend.
I'll be doing the heavy lifting for another day or two - Betty Keira is going skiing tomorrow with our dad - so she'll be gone for the entire day. Not to worry, she already finished her review - you won't have to wait.
Betty Cindy, lots of notables are buried in churches and cathedrals in the Americas.
ReplyDeleteBishop Oscar Romero is buried in the Cathedral in San Salvadore where he was murdered.
And St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans has several bishops and the architect under the floor of the crypt.
Four early missionaries, Fathers DeSeille, Petit, Cointet, and Badin are buried under the log chapel on Notre Dame campus. My granddaughter, Brynn was baptized there, and we got to look around.
Sorry you were all alone! I've not had much time this weekend, as I was planning my St. Valentines day activities for Bookcrossing and something for here.
Here's more. At St. Patrick's in New York:
ReplyDeleteThe eight deceased archbishops of New York, six of them Cardinals, are buried in a crypt under the former high altar, visible from the entrance to the Lady Chapel in the rear of the cathedral.
When the cause for his canonization was opened by John Cardinal O'Connor, O'Connor had Pierre Toussaint's remains moved into the crypt below the main altar of the present St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen, most noted as host of "Life is Worth Living" is the first bishop who was not an archbishop of New York to be honored with a tomb in the crypt.
Well, BettyMary I stand corrected. I've been to none of those places, and I'm not Roman Catholic so there it is! :)
ReplyDeleteme<><
Betty Cindy--
ReplyDeleteNot to worry--you will note that it is mostly churchmen who are buried in American Catholic churches. No politicians, no war heroes, no poets or playwrights. So your original impression was not far off. (My best guess is that it has a lot to do with the basic American feeling of keeping church and 'state' separate).
In case anyone's interested, I've gotten Betty Henry to explain the need for "banns," "licences," and "special licences" in a Promantica post. Alas, The Great Betty got it wrong. :-(
ReplyDeleteBetty Barbara here--
ReplyDeleteThanks Betty Magdalen for having Betty Henry explain all! I'm even going to point Mijnheer van der Tarheelin at that entry (He does a lot of genealogy digging in English church records).
I think the confusion comes there being two grades of licenses--they both tend to get dumped together as "special". (FYI-spellcheck does not like the British spelling of "licence"!)
That was seriously the best bit of sleuthing ever. Betty Henry is so thanked!
ReplyDeleteAs recently as when I was in England (1997) LDS weddings required a government clerk as a witness and since the government clerks were not able to be at the temple sealing LDS couples were married the night before at the chapel and then sealed the next day at the temple. That is absolutely NOT done in the states.
ReplyDeleteHa. No sleuthing necessary -- Betty Henry just knows this stuff!
ReplyDelete