Ruerd and Anneliese have lunch with cross-over characters Mr. and Mrs. Bowers-Bentinck (The Chain of Destiny). They now have 5 year old twins and a baby on the way. The twins eat with them (which is nice) AND they are beautifully behaved. Five year old twins? Beautifully behaved at the table? This IS fiction.'But you are nice! I suppose I could call you handsome or sexy...' He held up a large hand. 'Spare my blushes...' I don't think I can add anything to that.
'Later, lying in his great four-poster bed, Ermentrude was there again, buried beneath his thoughts and contriving to upset them.' Bed???!!!! Oh my, I'm blushing now, and I definitely can't add anything to this one either.
When Emmy is staying the night at Ruerd's house (after her concussion and the robbery), he has Mrs. Burge stay the first night (medical necessity) but doesn't ask her to stay again. Mrs. Burge (seeing him and seeing her and seeing which way the wind is blowing) insists on staying another night. Evidently Mrs. Burge is part of that long line of 'help' that not only come in daily to oblige, but also do a bit of chaperoning on the side.Ermentrude plays 'Snap, Beggar Your Neighbor, and Beat Your Neighbor Out of Doors' (card games) with Ruerd's niece and nephews. It's like she's the cruise director on The Good Ship ter Mennolt, in charge of making sure the sailors are happy with their portion of hardtack and salt pork. I have 3 kids coming home from boarding school (ha! not really - they're coming home from college), this weekend - they'll be here for 2 weeks. I could use Ermentrude, in her guise as cruise director, to help keep the troops entertained. I would also like a spare bedroom or two from Ruerd to help with the overflow...
Ruerd actually resolves to ask
Annaliese to release him from their engagement even though he was hesitant to do so before because it was dishonorable. (Happily, Annaliese was snogging a long-hair and he catches her so no need to welsh on his word...) Greater love hath no man, than he be willing to dump the wicked witch...let's assume he didn't go after her with a bucket of soapy water.
Betty Barbara here--
ReplyDeleteAnd I thought you might mention that Ermentrude puts on her best skirt and jacket and HIGH HEELS to go the the animal rescue shelter to help Ruerd pick out a dog. Obviously she was (at least subconsciously)treating this like a date.
I am convinced that the most fictional of all Betty's characters are not the RDDs but those well-behaved children and placid babies!
Betty Barbara,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the well-behaved children and placid babies. Total fiction. And then there are the completely unloveable children - often nieces or nephews that a poor Araminta has practically raised by herself. There seems to be very little middle ground here.
Don't even get me started on 'delightfully naughty' children.
I have a great-niece who, at 3, went on a cruise with 10 other females in our family. She is always (thanks to her grandfather's indulgence) dressed like a million bucks and she was perfectly behaved the entire time, as she almost always is. Only when very very tired have I ever seen her get a bit bratty, and my niece and her husband both deal with that very smartly! She's a happy, funny child, too - not nervy or anything to indicate they are too strict - it's just that they don't put up with any nonsense, princess or no! :)
ReplyDeleteIf the children are used to eating with adults, and good behavior is expected of them (with "dire" consequences otherwise) 5 year old twins could very well behave nicely at table.
But I have great-nephews...Oh my. "Delightfully naughty" might just about cover it. ;-) They are now 18 - not twins but may just as well have been - their mothers are first cousins and the boys were born one week apart. They have been nearly inseparable their whole lives.
Among their hairier exploits: getting themselves locked in the trunk of a car for more than 15 minutes - they were 4. Stefan loudly proclaimed afterward, "It was a baaaaaaaaad idea. It was MY idea, but it was a BAD idea!" A mere week later, they were left alone in the family room of my sister's house - playing "camping" under a table, two well-behaved 4 year olds. Uh huh. Soon, their mothers, who were upstairs, heard loud shouts of wicked glee coming from the boys' direction. This sister has two kitchens: an upstairs one she cooks very little in and keeps pretty, and a downstairs one in the family room for big dinners with her large family. Dinner that day had been two kinds of soup and the two pots of ham & green beans and chili were still on the stove. The boys decided to help themselves to some chili and in the process slopped it on the floor. In moments, they discovered the slippery properties of soup on a linoleum floor. And, if you're a four year old boy, if a bit of soup is a little slippery, a LOT of soup is a LOT slippery. They created their own "slip and slide" with soup!
They were both soundly whipped for that one, and had to do a great deal of clean up, after which, in April in PA, they were taken outside and hosed down! When they were apologizing to Gram/Aunt Hazel, she said to Ethan (her grandson) "Was it worth that whoopin', honey?" He grinned real big, snug in Gram's arms, "It WAS, Gram. It was SO MUCH FUN!"
They were/are something else! And their escapades only got ... bigger as they did. They are now HUGE kids - Stefan is 6'5" tall and Ethan is a whopping 6'8" tall.
I think the Princess is as well-disciplined as she is in reaction to some of the boys' more lively escapes. "My sister might have let Ethan get away with that but NO WAY will I!"
All that is to say, kids come in all sorts of varieties - some of them even well-behaved.
me<><
I remember reading this book and liking it very much.
Dear Bettys
ReplyDeleteI am so excited about finding your site. I have enjoyed books by The Betty for years and am having fun reading your reviews and comments after rereading her books. Thanks for the hours of fun in my future. Keep up the good work.
Dhana
Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! I just now received my Mistletoe Kiss Pinecone Prize (Chapter Three, I think) in the mail. The kids and I hung it up from the door lintel connecting the dining room and the kitchen just in time for Professor van der Hertenzoon's grad class party tonight! I'll report back on any detected snogging....(okay, I'm really supposed to be cleaning the house for said party--alas, no Jollys or village daily women--instead of playing on this blog but couldn't help myself). Now back to the toilet brush....
ReplyDeleteDear Dhana,
ReplyDeleteDon't you mean 'Betty Dhana'? If you love Betty then you're one of us! Thanks for joining the party.
Betty Keira
Yes -- I too got my "Cone of Betty" (as Betty Ross called it) in the mail today. We don't have grad students coming, but we're hanging it for now on one of our beams and we'll kiss a lot underneath it...as opposed to all the kissing we normally do in other places.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, kind Bettys!
>.as opposed to all the kissing we normally do in other places.<
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly are you telling us BettyMagdalen?
You are speaking of room locations, right!?!?!?!
This reminds me of a family story my oldest sister Maureen used to tell about my Dad. When ever he'd hear the old song 'I wonder who's kissing her now?' Dad would say 'I wonder where her NOW is?
Hey, that was MY dad's line! ;-)
ReplyDeleteMy son always wanted to know what a dickens is.
me<><
Betty Barbara here--
ReplyDeleteAs I e-mailed Betty Debbie, I also got my Betty Pine Cone of Awesomeness (Chapter 2, I think). The USPS scores for fast delivery. Mine is on our tree, right out there for all to see. So using it as substitute mistletoe would be awkward. However, Mijnheer Jogn van der Tarheelin and I have plenty of opportunities for snogging (and we will leave it at that, as any further remark would be TMI!).
I didn't get my cone yet and I live the closest to Betty Debbie. I am convinced that the mailman hates me.
ReplyDeleteNix that, my pinecone was on the doorstep as I typed. it is amazing.
ReplyDelete