Wedding Bells for Beatrice--Reprise

Wedding Bells for Beatrice has something common to many of The Venerable Neels' offerings--a phone conversation between the principles wherein the heroine hears glass clinking and a woman's voice and assumes, "Party!" I'm no doctor (nor have I played one on TV) but I have seen an episode or two of ER.  In no way can the sounds of an urgent surgical crisis be confused with the light patter of a cocktail do.  The Great Betty is so clever--showing us just another way that the green-eyed monster attacks the eyes, ears and reason of its victim...  
Anyway, I like this review.  Betty Debbie gets bonus points for working in a picture of James Bond (Fifty points for Gryffindor!) and Napoleon Dynamite in the very same harmonious post...
Love and Lardy cakes!
Betty Keira

Beatrice Crawley is a tall luscious Olivia...at 5'10" she's a head taller than dear old dad (who sounds like he must be vertically challenged). She's as close to British royalty as The Venerable Neels allows her heroines....the great granddaughter of an earl (do you suppose he's a "belted earl"?).
Her first thought on seeing Gijs at a Christmas party is "He doesn't like me." Beatrice then proceeds to be snappy and rude...lighten up, girlfriend! She knows she needs to apologize so she heads over towards Gijs as he is talking to the rector - who leaves her with Gijs after this parting shot: "I leave you in good hands; Beatrice is a sweet girl." Gijs has a bit of a sly sense of humor: I'm delighted...and surprised to hear that. So much for apologizing. Beatrice is now bitter and rude. Again, what's not to like?
Little brother George comes home for Christmas break - with his dirty laundry, unwrapped presents, and a hollow leg. Beatrice puts his clothes in the washer, wraps his presents and feeds him fruitcake...all of which I, as a mother of 5 boys, disapprove of. It's not until she goes over to the church and rewires the fairy lights that I start warming up to her.
After Christmas, Beatrice heads back to St. Justin's, to take up the reins of 'administrator' of the building that houses the Path Lab. She has her own little flatlet on the top floor, with her office down on the ground floor. Enter social climbing boyfriend Tom the Toad. Self-important, conceited, condescending, ambitious, smug...Beatrice realizes that she has let herself drift into something more than a casual relationship with this toad. Tom the Toad takes Beatrice out for a bite to eat after she works a long hard day. His idea of a 'bite', is to have one small plate of sandwiches - and then to devour all of them but one. This does not endear him to our statuesque heroine...neither does his assumption that she will marry him. Her, "...I don't want to marry you." is ignored...he proceeds to inform her that she'll be a splendid wife...with all the 'right connections'...toad.
Her: I don't want to see you again.
Him: Oh, you are a silly girl. I'll change your mind. (then leaves without opening any doors for her)
Her: "Yes, I am a silly girl. For not having seen sooner that you are nothing but a coward with a heart full of fear." (Alright, you caught me...that last line was from The Princess Bride...but it goes so well here...)
Tears of anger and frustration dribble down her cheeks as she walks into....Gijs? Yup. He's in London to read a paper on Haematology...at her very own Path Lab building...his large hanky is handy for mopping up - he follows her up to her flatlet and goes avuncular on her, so she opens up like a guest on Oprah about the cause of her tears. My family didn't like him much, when he found out mum was an earl's granddaughter his social climbing toadiness jumped right up. Then he took me out tonight and ate all the sandwiches. "I knew that I didn't love him then - well, any girl would, wouldn't she? At this point, I totally forgive her for her initial rudeness to Gijs. Gijs invites her out for a belated supper -so off they go, in his great socking Bentley. Having a full tummy helps restore Beatrice's spirits tremendously (it has much the same effect on Betty Keira) - she fills Gijs in on the details of her working life. He takes her back, and like some sort of Door Opening Super Hero proceeds to open the car door, the path lab door AND her flatlet door.
Next day dawns on some kind of medical conference occurring in her building. Beatrice is in charge of making sure it all goes smoothly - ticking names off a list, helping elderly men out of their overcoats, making sure refreshments and lunch are ready...she peeps in during Professor van der Eekerk (yes, that's Gijs's name) - he's going on about haemolytic anaemia, jaundice Rh factor, polycythaemia, etc...then it's tea time again. The cook is amazed at their capacity to talk about blood and eat at the same time... "like a swarm of locusts...and 'ow they can eat and drink and talk about blood beats me though I must say 'e 'oo did the talking is something like. Wouldn't mind 'aving a lecture from 'im." (which sounds perilously close to "he can eat crackers in my bed, anytime") As Beatrice is finishing tidying up, in comes Tom the Toad, trying to wheedle and charm...but Beatrice is uncharmable and unwheedlable. Toadish Tom is getting a little too pushy, Gijs comes riding in on his white charger and squashes the toad, offers Beatrice a quick meal at Alfred's Place (think greasy spoon), and off they go. The waitress is awestruck at the thought of seeing an actual, real, live professor...
Gijs: 'I feel that I should have horns or a beard and a basilisk stare at the very least.'
Beatrice: you do look like one...only you're a bit too young...
Gijs: I'll start the beard first thing in the morning
Beatrice: No! I mean professors are elderly, grey-haired, forgetful and unworldly...
Gijs: I have grey hairs, but I rather like the world. I can be forgetful and in a few years I'll be elderly.
At which point it is time to exchange vital statistics. Gijs is 37, Beatrice is 28. Nice point spread there.
And now, in the interest of world peace, global standardization, and a 'step forward in the unification of Europe', Beatrice gets a foreign exchange job dropped in her lap. Or maybe on her head. She is to go to Leiden for at least a month and do the same job there...and a Dutch woman will come over and do hers. Mum thinks it's a great opportunity...to maybe meet that charming man from the Christmas party.
Meanwhile, Toady Tom is lurking in the shadows, trying to make a play...but Beatrice has been successful at avoiding him, that is, until New Years Eve. Toady Tom takes a sharp left turn into Stalker Valley - he accosts her in the parking lot, as she is going out to a party..."Still playing hard to get? I'm not taking no for an answer." Wow. Does anyone else think that sounds a wee bit threatening? Gijs does not miraculously pop out of the pavement to rescue her...but she does run into him at the New Years Eve party. Her mum is there too, and wouldn't you know it, she's already on a first name basis. 'Gijs, indeed.' thinks Beatrice. Gjis Indeed is a very good dancer...who just so happens to have a motherless seven year old daughter. You heard right, Gijs is a daddy.
Beatrice: "You should marry again..."
Gijs: Great minds think alike...
Mrs. Crawley hides her disappointment when Beatrice informs her that Gijs is planning to marry...was her spidey sense wrong? Hmm. We'll just have to wait and see.
Gijs gives Beatrice some idea of what to expect during her foreign exchange...and then offers to send her a couple of books on Holland. Study up, girlfriend. A hospital porter delivers the books a couple of days later. One was a modern history of the Netherlands...doesn't sound too bad...the second dealt with constitution, laws and politics. Really? Sounds like slow going to me.
Foreign Exchange Program. Turns out Beatrice is not the only hospital employee headed for Holland. Sister Watts has also been tagged as an Ambassador to the Netherlands. In Holland, Hetty Zilstra is assigned to show Beatrice around - she has nothing but praise for "our Gijs" (I'm imagining a deep sigh before and after "our Gijs"). Beatrice gets settled in to the Dutch hospital just fine (remember, everyone except cleaning ladies and cooks speak English in Holland)
Gijs returns from a trip unexpectedly, and Beatrice is unexpectedly delighted. Our Gijs asks Beatrice to spend her day off with him...
Beatrice: "...I was going to go shopping..."
Our Gijs: "Would you like to spend the day with me, Beatrice?"
Beatrice: "Yes, please."
Our Gijs: *kiss*
Gijs has a lovely home, and daughter Alicia is as cute as a button with her Alice band. Our Gijs takes advantage of the situation and asks Beatrice if she'd like to spend her next day off with them. Of course she can't say no when there's a seven year old in the room - but she is a bit vague. Beatrice doesn't get a tour of the house yet, but she is treated to a tour of the grounds, complete with stables, in which we find one standard issue pony, ditto one donkey (rescued from abusive 'travelers') ditto one horse. Alicia doesn't go to sleep that evening until indulging in a spot of emotional blackmail - a promise is extracted from Beatrice to visit the following week. Abstract reasons for marriage are discussed...the sordid tale of Our Gijs' first marriage is recounted (Zalia was a party girl, left before Alicia was one to live in Italy with her American boyfriend, then conveniently died in a car accident). A kiss on the cheek goodbye. A kiss on the cheek hello...will you marry me? Huh? What'd I miss? Our Gijs promises to share his sandwiches with her, unlike Tom the Stalker Toad. "It's all so sudden." (cringe. Really, Betty?) Think about it, says he... Our girl is then 'treated' to a phone call from Stalker Toad Tom..."Missed me? I bet you're dying to see me...I've forgotten your little outbursts..." *SLAM* Down goes the phone, *RING* There goes the doorbell - it's Gijs and he can see something is wrong...Beatrice tells him all about the harassing phone call and Our Gijs comes up with a perfect ten-step plan.
Step 1: Have adorable seven year old gush about the dress she'd like to wear to the wedding.
Step 2: Don't refer to proposal...let her stew.
Step 3: Loads of casual kisses on the cheek.
Step 4: Give her a poesy ring with romantic inscription. "You and no other."
Step 5: Throw adorable seven year old at her as a bit of blackmail.
Step 6: Back on the burner to stew again.
Step 7: Let her go back to England with nary a good-bye.
Step 8: Send her masses of roses.
Step 9: Let her see Stalker Boy again. He can be depended on to harass.
Step 10: Show up unannounced and let her throw herself at you.
Result: One Dawning Realization. Easy peasy. Bring on the Marriage of Convenience. Shall we marry right away? "We are both mature people, are we not?" Oops. Our Gijs is just about to be sent back to Step 1 - Beatrice is bubbling with rage at being called "mature". Editor: I'm not quite sure why that should rankle so much, but I admit that even at age 50 I'm not overly fond of being called mature. Gijs gives a remarkably nice apology and agrees to wait a couple of weeks while Beatrice gets a wedding organized. Yup. Our girl gets to have a wedding dress and veil. Per his request. Twenty guests each, extras can come to a reception at Casa de Crawley. Mrs. Crawley is a little puzzled by Gijs saying that he had thought about taking Alicia back to Holland with them after the wedding (what about implied conjugal relations, she wonders...) Standard RDD issue sapphire engagement ring is brandished..."It's beautiful, but may I still wear the poesy ring?"
It's time to get down to brass tacks and get that wedding dress sorted out. Beatrice and Mum go to Bath and get some ivory satin, then bring it back to the village to have Miss Fish, the local seamstress whip it up with her magic fingers. Editors Note: I like the fact that whenever wedding dresses are called for in Neeldom, they are made up in a fairly timely manner. None of this months and months for alterations silliness.
Weeks have turned into days, and now it's the day before the wedding. Time to meet the in-laws...and to get an eyeful of Gijs in a dinner jacket. "Even if she hadn't fallen in love with him already...she would have done so now. Dinner-jackets were made for men such as he."
The wedding was lovely, then it's off to Holland, the village people (altogether now, YMCA, it's fun to stay...never mind) gather to welcome the new couple, Gijs carries Beatrice over the threshold...No,no, you weren't too heavy...life seems good, all Beatrice has to do is...*RING*...oh, hello Mies....(50% of all Dutch villainesses are named Mies...kidding). Mies is invited to dinner. Gijs even goes so far as to request some of her favorite dishes be served for dinner and offers the fact that Mies is small and dainty and can eat anything she wants without gaining weight (insert sound of grinding teeth here). Mies turns out to be not quite what she expected. For one thing, she has thick ankles - and she's fairly non-catty. She does offer to help Beatrice with any party planning...which offer Beatrice plans to accept just as soon as a certain netherworld region freezes over. The next day Beatrice takes the car out for a drive in the country. All is well and good until the freezing rain starts...and the road ices up. She has to stop because of an accident blocking the road - and it's quite a while until the police come and call Gijs for her. He looks furious when he gets there. Well, of course he would - he's been worried to death about her - but she doesn't know that - only that he's mad at her. They have a very quiet ride back home - but that all changes when they walk in the door. Besides the faithful household help and Alicia, Mies is there and SURPRISE!!! Guess who I brought home, honey? It Toady Tom! I sure didn't see that coming. Instead of Mies being a villainess, she turns out to be practically a benefactress to Beatrice, by taking Tom totally off the market. Beatrice is not quite happy about the situation - she knows that Tom is a toad, but Mies is one step ahead of her. She also know that Tom is a toad (her word is actually philanderer!), but Mies plans to wear the pants in the family and wield the purse strings. She won't let him wander far. Sounds a bit dire for Tom, but hey, he deserves it.
And now for some angst. Gijs calls Beatrice one evening and tells her not to wait up for him. She can hear glasses clinking in the background and a woman's voice - sounds like a party! She does wait up, and then chews him out royally for staying out so late. "You may as well have made a night of it!" She nearly throws a vase at him - but he manages to forestall that. She finds out the next day that he had been busy with a medical emergency - a fight having occurred at a restaurant (thus the clinking glasses). She feels horrible about it, but Gijs won't let her apologize - which I think is a bit stinky of him. Then he goes off to Northern Ireland to put himself in harms way for a bit. She still feels horrible - he's gone for days, then comes back just barely in time for the hospital ball. When he dances the obligatory last waltz with her, she takes the opportunity to tell him that she loves him...he waltzes her out to the conservatory...I love you too, snogging, what do we do now? Let's go home! The end.
Verdict: I wasn't too sure of this one at the start - when Beatrice and Gijs first meet she's snappy and rude. I thought to myself, "Oh brother! Not another one of those." And it wasn't. Thankfully Beatrice warms up to Gijs pretty quickly - and manages to be fairly honest with him (except for that little thing about being in love...). Gijs was fun for me - he was always teasing her when she talked about the weather, and I do love an ongoing tease - when it's not mean-spirited - which it wasn't. I loved how he was a bit of a matchmaker for Mies and Tom. I didn't love how stand-offish he got all of a sudden when Beatrice reamed him out for staying out late, and then went out of his way to not let her apologize. My other complaint is that not very many of the supporting characters are really fleshed out. Because of that I think I'll give this one a boeuf en croute.
Fashion: Ivory wedding dress, 'safe' dress to meet the in-laws in, Tattersall check suit, hyacinth blue jersey dress worn with low heeled leather lace-ups, silk crêpe in old rose, long velvet coat, dark grey dress with white collar and cuffs, thick tweed skirt, angora sweater.
Food: Lobster mousse twice! pheasant, bombe glacé, castle puddings, lamb cutlets, turkey, Christmas pudding, fruitcake, hospital stodge, chocolate mousse, beef casserole with dumplings, boiled celery in a béchamel sauce (ew).

Round One: Section Four Results, Section Five Voting

Forward, forward! We're running our wheels down the track to the Elysian Fields of Betty perfection!

Here are the results of Section Four of voting:

Esmeralda flummoxed The Edge of Winter.
A Gem of a Girl strapped cement boots onto to Grasp a Nettle (no votes!).
Pineapple Girl schooled A Matter of Chance.
The Little Dragon (he of the sheepskin jacket and battered Mini) slipped by The Hasty Marriage (he of the mighty tumbled ego and the susceptible heart).
Never While the Grass Grows lassoed Britannia All at Sea

Betty Keira looked earnestly into his eyes and gave him the clue:  "When The Hasty Marriage goes down to The Little Dragon, I shall run away to the Blue Pool...But take a week to find me anyway.  I won't mind."

The only heart break for me is Hasty Marriage's great fall.  Ah well.

So, let's get going on Section Five:

Ring in a Teacup vs. Philomena's Miracle
Sun and Candlelight vs The Promise of Happiness
Midnight Sun's Magic vs. Winter Wedding
Hannah vs. Last April Fair
When May Follows vs. Caroline's Waterloo

So...vote and whatnot.

Round One: Section Three Results and Section Four Voting

The Magic of Living blasted Cruise to a Wedding (no votes!) out of the water.
The End of the Rainbow whispered past A Small Slice of Summer.  (In the event of a tie, I cast a tie-breaking vote (You'll notice that I don't vote regularly, so my vote is just one vote.).  I am not unlike the babe-alicious Harry S Truman of The Uncrushable Jersey Dress.)

Other than breaking the occasional Senatorial deadlock, “the vice presidency is not worth a bucket of warm spit.” .

Henrietta's Own Castle beat out A Star Looks Down mostly on the strength of a strategic wall climb.
The Moon for Lavinia routed Cobweb Morning (as it should, really.  The delightful daydream of little boys in Wellington boots is not enough to outweigh a psychopath.)
and
I cast another tie-breaker for Roses for Christmas over Heaven is Gentle (whose heroine does something considered TSTL (too stupid to live) by hiking up a hill to her doom and whose atmosphere is as damp and wracked as those Nissen huts.)

Now on to Section Four Voting which brings some personal heartbreak my way:


The Edge of Winter vs. Esmeralda
A Gem of a Girl vs. Grasp a Nettle
A Matter of Chance vs. Pineapple Girl
The Little Dragon vs. The Hasty Marriage
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Sob.  Democracy is so hard.
AND
Britannia All at Sea vs. Never While the Grass Grows 

Alright ladies, it's time to do your duty.  Votes for Women!

The Definitive Winter Amsterdam Tour

Dear Betty Debbie,

The other day, somebetty was asking for pictures when Betty Sara mentioned her intention of travelling with Betty through the Netherlands. Well, a few weeks ago I went to Amsterdam and took some pictures with my latest toy. Please forgive any formatting blunders. I tried to straighten out all italics that I had copied into the text. So, if there are any left, just ignore them.

So, here are the pictures - such as they are!

Betty Anonymous

Dear Betty Anonymous,

Wow! Just, wow.

You did a great job - hopefully I put the right pictures in the right places (and italics, etc...)! Your pictures and descriptions make me want to go back to Amsterdam...this week I'm 3,000 miles closer to it than I usually am - maybe I should just keep heading east?

Betty Debbie

Sister Peters in Amsterdam 2012

or

A Dream Came True

Ever since reading Sister Peters in Amsterdam I longed to go skating on the grachten in Amsterdam. This year the weather gods looked favourably upon my plea. The temperatures dropped below zero on the Celsius scale and every day I would look at the DonnieCam to see if the ice was safe for skating yet.

And then the day came when it was. The timing was perfect. I had taken two weeks off from work hoping against hope for just this event. I had checked train connections online but walked to the station the next day to obtain my ticket the old-fashioned way. (Alas, no RDD’s secretary or trusted retainer booking a seat for me.)

Feb 10, 2012

Sister Peters on the train to Amsterdam

I hadn’t bothered to take a map, so the first thing I did at Amsterdam Centraal Station was go to the bookstore at one of the exits and look at the maps to see which way to turn to reach the canals designated for skating. The bookstore looked all new and different. In vain did I look for Dutch Harlequins and English Mills & Boon books – because, sadly, they didn’t carry them. The "old" bookstore used to have them. Sigh.

Damrak. The weather was perfect. The sun was shining and the air was cold and crisp.

Stormy Springtime

For Betsy she chose more chocolates and a silk scarf and then, well pleased with her purchases, she took herself off to the nearby Damrak, purchased a ticket and got on one of the canal boats about to leave. It wasn't the best of days...

(page 165)

Keizersgracht. I had seen a few young men skating. Now all I had to do was find a place were one might get down onto the ice safely.

This was it. The Keizersgracht south of Leidsestraat. I headed for the iron stairs on the right to get down onto the deck.

Keizersgracht and Metz & Co. (the taller domed building)

The Moon for Lavinia

That’s a new outfit, ’ he remarked. ‘I like it. ’ The sun already shining, seemed to shine a little brighter; it was a good beginning to a day of which Lavinia felt a little uncertain. ‘I’m glad, ’ she said happily. ‘I went to Metz and Metz yesterday and bought some clothes...’ ‘A wedding dress? ’ he asked lightly. ‘Well, yes.’ It had been more expensive than she had expected, but the simplicity of the rich cream crepe had seemed just right, and she had bought a hat too, covered in cream silk roses. She only hoped that it wouldn’t seem too bridal for his taste....

I put on my skates. (Did I mention I had not skated since the 90s?) And considerably hampered by my long and heavy coat plus my backpack with dear Addy in it I braved the waves. Waves? Yes, waves. There were one or two wee little waves, seemingly a major obstacle which had to be overcome first before I could attempt some real (snort) skating. I went veeeeeeery slowly up an down the gracht – alas, no docters Visser and Monck to teach me, no Coenraad, Piet and Leen to cross arms with... (Sister Peters in Amsterdam, Chapter 4)

It was great fun.

Other skaters’ tentative first steps on the Keizersgracht.

Back on the bridge over the Keizersgracht on my way to Metz & Co. where I purchased two elegant white mugs for my parents with pictures of the Herengracht from the Grachtenboek on them.

Keizersgracht from Nieuwe Spiegelstraat.

Fate Is Remarkable

After lunch, he took her along the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat, which, Sarah was quick to point out, was not in the least new, its houses having been built a good two hundred years previously although thy were now , almost all of them, antique shops. They strolled along its length and Hugo obligingly purchased her a carved koekeplank because she thought it might look rather sweet in the kitchen at Richmond...

I followed the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat, going in a south-westerly direction and crossed over the Prinsengracht.

Prinsengracht from Nieuwe Spiegelstraat. People were watching other skaters going under the bridge where there were holes in the ice! It didn’t look safe, to say the least.

I walked along the Spiegelgracht and further on to the Weteringschans and quite by chance ended up right across the Rijksmuseum. I would have taken a picture but the sun was behind the building, the air in front of it was a silvery golden haze.

Midsummer Star

Celine was taken on a barge tour through the canals, a brisk view of the Dam Palace and the Dam Square, lunch in the Bijenkorf store, so that they could have a quick look round its enticing wares, a glimpse of the Begijnhof, a group of charming almshouses tucked away behind Kalverstraat, and an even briefer glimpse of the Rijksmuseum, but only from the outside...

It was amazing – no matter where I went I ended up in Neelsdom places.

I walked back north along the Weteringschans, turned east somewhere along the way to get back to the Prinsengracht.

Prinsengracht south of Leidsestraat.

I turned around and walked a few steps and what did I see? Dikker & Thijs until 1994 a restaurant, now a non smoking (!) hotel.

Dikker & Thijs on the corner of Leidsestraat / Prinsengracht

Sister Peters in Amsterdam

‘I thought at first we would go to the Five Flies, but I think you’ll like it better here. ’

She looked at the sign over the door. Dikker and Thijs. She had never heard of them. They went inside to a quiet, elegant opulence that took her breath. There was music somewhere in the background as the headwaiter came forward to greet them.

‘Goeden Avond, Juffrouw,’ he bowed smilingly to Adelaide.

‘Goeden Avond, Mijnheer de Baron.’

(page 92)

Leidsestraat and Metz & Co.

I continued along the Leidsestraat and kept going straight. Across the Herengracht and along the Koningsplein and then across the Singel.

Singel with Munttoren.

Sister Peters in Amsterdam

The Singel was well lighted, and she saw the professor while he was still some distance away...very much at home on his skates. He came to a halt and gave her a cold stare...

(page 67)

And further along the Heiligeweg until I saw La Maison de Bonneterie and knew I had reached the Kalverstraat. I spent quite a bit of time at the store just browsing.

The Final Touch

‘Next week, if you wish, you must all go shopping—I'll open an account for you at La Bonneterie and de Bijenkorf and arrange for you to have a cheque-book.’ ...

(page 116)

Next I walked down the Kalverstraat towards the Munttoren and the carillon started playing.

Munttoren, Muntplein

Not Once But Twice

She left the boat reluctantly, and if truth were told, perfectly willing to repeat the trip there and then, but Adam whisked her along Damrak, pointed out the Royal Palace and the war memorial in Dam Square and crossed into the Kalverstraat, a narrow street full of shops, some very fine, some surprisingly tatty. Not the best of the shops, Adam pointed out; the boutiques were in the PCHooftstraat or the Leidestraat. They walked to the end so that she could see the Munttoren and then Adam declared that he had had enough of sightseeing and wanted his tea. Christina, her head turned in all directions so as to miss nothing, would cheerfully have missed her tea in exchange for a visit to a museum, but that was something she could do on her own later. Adam took her to a cafe on the Leidesplain where she drank milkless tea from a glass and ate a cream cake...

(page 126)

P.C. Hooftstraat or Pieter Cornelisz. Hooftstraat, named after Pieter Corneliszoon Hooftstraat, a Dutch historian, poet and playwright.

Leidestraat = Leidsestraat  The Leidsestraat was originally named for being the road to Leiden (Wikipedia)

Leidesplain = Leidseplein Historically, the square was the end of the road from Leiden, and served as a parking lot for horse-drawn traffic. (Wikipedia)

Munttoren, carillon

I went to Vroom & Dreesman (Kalverstraat) to buy some bread for my supper at the food hall, La Place. Tasty focaccia with tomato and rucola and yummy focaccia with olive oil and thyme. (I’m getting hungry just remembering all the lovely food on display.)

The Final Touch

Now, hurrying towards the shops in the Kalverstraat and Leidsestraat, she decided that the time had come to buy something new and for once fashionable. She had saved for a rainy day and this seemed to be it. She chose a book and then turned her attention to the dress shops. They were all too expensive; C & A and Vroom and Dreesman would suit her pocket better. It was a pity that there wasn't time to buy anything before they closed but she studied their windows so that on her next free day she would have some idea of what she wanted...

(page 19)

I left the store through its Rokin entrance, er, exit, and went along Rokin until I came back to Maison de Bonneterie and passed through the store to get back to the Kalverstraat where I was met by the lovely sound of one of those huge street organs playing some really cool music ( Ai Se Eu Te Pego and Tu Vuò Fa' L'Americano). I had a great time listening to it.

Street organ, Maison de Bonneterie, Kalverstraat

The Final Touch

Charity took them for brisk walks instead when they were free from school, gaping happily with them at the massive street organ in the Dam Square, spending their half-holidays at the zoo and the aquarium. Her days were filled even if ...

(page 181)

Begijnensteeg

Walking north on the Kalverstraat I came to the Begijnensteeg and followed it to get to the Begijnhof. The site of Adelaide Peter’s proposal. A must. Whenever I have a chance to come to Amsterdam I go there to enjoy the peace and quiet of the square – sometimes this affords wishing the hordes of tourists to go elsewhere, as it did this time.

English Reformed Church (not Scottish, dear Betty)

Sister Peters in Amsterdam.

It was no use; she remained silent until presently he turned into the Spui and stopped. He got out and walked around to her side, opened the door and stood wordlessly while she got out too. His gloved hand took a firm grip of her arm, and he piloted her through the archway leading to the picturesque square where the centuries-old Scottish Church stood, surrounded by its close circle of beautiful friendly little houses. It was very quiet; there was no one about. Adelaide attempted to pull free of Coenraad’s grip, but he merely tightened it and started to walk away from the church, around the square, taking her with him...

(page 216)

English Reformed Church, spire

Begijnhof (1)

Begijnhof (2)

Begijnhof (3)

Back on the Kalverstraat I decided to go to the Spui to take some pictures.

Sister Peters in Amsterdam

On her second evening at the hospital, Zuster Zijlstra had walked with her to the Spui, where Mijnheer de Wit lived. They went through the Kalverstraat, and had found time to take a quick look at the shops, gay with pretty clothes and jewellery and silverware...

Spui, the white houses are actually leaning forward

Spui (2)

Spui (3)

Spui (4)

And then it was time to head back to the station. Back along the Kalverstraat to the Dam Square.

Dam Square, National Monument, De Bijenkorf

Stormy Springtime

She had changed in the past few weeks, become quiet and meek, as though she didn’t want him to notice her...

' We'll stroll as far as the Dam Palace,' he told her as they left the hotel, 'so that you can see the square and the War Memorial. We can take a taxi back from there. You're not tired?' Meg turned a glowing face to him. ...

Madame Tussauds

They went to the Café du Centre at Dikker and Thijs, very elegant and, Prudence suspected, very expensive. Fortified by lobster patties, ravioli and an enormous ice cream, she was only too willing to be taken on a lightning tour of the shops and a slightly longer tour of the Rijksmuseum, not long enough, she declared, being hurried along to Madame Tussaud's Museum, a treat Sibella shrilly demanded Prudence should be allowed before they had tea. ...

Damrak, Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam Centraal (at the far end - and I had to hurry to catch my train!!!)

What a lovely day!

The End

Upcoming Reprise

Monday, March 12th.

Wedding Bells for Beatrice

Foreign exchange job, seven year-old used as bait for a MOC, Beatrice is carried across the threshold.

The Doubtful Marriage - Reprise

It's always nice when we get a glimpse of cross-over characters...and doubly so when it's such an awesome gal as Gold Medallist Rose Comely. 
I find The Doubtful Marriage a bit slow off the starting gate, but it does pick up steam nicely.  I adore the bomb scene.  Did I say I adore a scene of carnage and chaos.  Why yes, yes I did.
-Betty Debbie
Can we talk about the title for a minute? The Doubtful Marriage just doesn't scream, "Pick me up! Pay full price!" I think it's asking to be re-named. But that's another post, perhaps...

Matilda "Tilly" Groves, 26 and very pretty, is a nurse and works for her uncle, a doctor. They enjoy a brisk trade in a nice little village and she keeps house with Emma the Trusty at her side. She is neither particularly enjoying nor intensely suffering a pre-engagement to Leslie--he is a lawyer, son of the manor, and resides in London most of the week, coming home at the weekend to march her off her feet. For no reason whatsoever, I imagine he sports a thin, mustache and has the kind of shoulders that slope to such an alarming degree that any burden, no matter the weight, would slide off with the speed of an Olympic Luger. He also calls her 'old girl' but remarkably still has all of his teeth.
Uncle tells Tilly that his old houseman is coming for the weekend. Fine, fine, she thinks to herself. Instead of one elderly pea rattling around the pod, there will be two. Only he's not. He's a run-of-the-mill RDD whose faintly amused air is directed at her pre-semi-engagement to Leslie the Shoulderless, Leslie's mama's snobbish protectionism and all those 'old girls' landing in the air.
Rauwerd van Kempler, 34, doesn't let any faint antagonism put him off for long. He whisks her off to Oxford for the day where presumably the buildings steeped in history and the Oxford blues seem to call to her, "He is kind! He is trusty! He's an Oxford man." At the end of the weekend he leaves again.
And then Uncle dies.
Like a domino in a chain, his death sets off a myriad of consequences. Leslie suddenly wants to hurry and get married. His mama is practically measuring Uncle's house for new drapes before his body is cold in the ground. And then the will is read. Uncle, after rearing the orphaned Tilly from a wee chick, reveals himself to be a closet misogynist. Tilly gets 500 pounds and some vague assurances that she ought to be provided an allowance. Her oily male cousin gets the house and the money and the right to throw her out on her ear. Thanks, Uncle. Hard luck you don't have a Y chromosome and a five o'clock shadow, girlfriend...
If Leslie is suddenly quite cool, his mother is glacial. What a pity. "You would have been most suitable." She sighed so deeply that her corsets creaked..."It grieves us very much that this cannot be." Though Leslie is not much of a loss, surely finding out that one's chief attraction is a common boundary fence must be lowering.
So Tilly gets the first job going and takes off. I won't dwell on this episode but to say that the description of the inevitably Victorian hospital relies heavily on the terms: margarine-yellow, spinach-green, stern, dumpy, dreary, gloomy, grim and depressing. She catches the flu just in time for Doctor van Kempler to ride to her rescue.
She wakes up in his home with her faithful maidservant, Emma, at her side. Rauwerd is concerned with her health but somewhat aloof and polite. And then, when she is mostly well again, she is given a tour (not by him but with his seal of approval) of the house. Ah, beloved Bettys. A home tour. I smell a marriage of convenience in the offing, no?
She tells him that she really must be going and then, as sure as socking, great Bentley's eat up miles, he sits her down for a little confab about what he really wants. Actually, not what he really wants--only what he is prepared to admit that he really wants. Would she consider marrying him? No, no, how does he put it? I should like us to be married...
Hm. I should like us to be married. I'm trying to wring the romance out of that but it's like getting blood from a stone. To quote Gertrude Stein, 'There's no there there.' And then when he lists his assets, his reasons for marrying and the precise nature of his feelings (tepid yet well-disposed) you realize he's diving his bi-plane deep into the dreaded Mr. Collins territory. Surely he's about to be shot down.
Miraculously his proposal, nearly complete with bullet-points and pie charts, wins some deliberation. He finds her later to receive her answer. She intends to say no:
"There's really nothing to talk about," she managed. He chose to misunderstand her. "Oh good, I knew you'd be sensible."
I don't know about her but that's my dawning realization, right there.
Anxious not to appear anxious, he falls asleep (with the speed and abruptness of Betty Debbie--she is a jungle cat, my friends) while she weighs the pros and cons. 'Alright. I'll marry you!'
And you somehow feel as though she's not making a huge mistake--as though the doubtful marriage isn't so very doubtful. He 'likes her enormously' and needs a wife. Empires were forged on more slender threads than that.
She gets her G.I. (government issue) sapphire ring and quite a lovely wedding with in-laws and everything. Crossover character Sybren Werdmer ter Sane is the best man and his wife Rose (A Girl Named Rose) is also invited. You should be happy to know that they are still madly in love (whew) and their G.I. Pledge of Affection is back home with Granny and Grandad. But Rose, Gold Medallist of her year that she was, notices that something is amiss with Tilly and Rauwerd. They are too chummy.
Tilly and Rauwerd skip honeymooning in favor or heading straight to his--'our'--home in Leiden. She shops, tours the home, inspects the linen cupboard...
Interjection: I am seriously going to use the books of The Mighty Neels as a template for 'How to Go On: What to Do When Marrying Rich' as all it ever seems to entail is flower arranging, menu ordering, whisky pouring and having intimate knowledge of every scrap of fabric to cross the threshold.
They throw a dinner party and I love The Great Betty for dressing our heroine in a stunning green number with a low-cut bodice. If one is going to fight a war it always pays to come suited in armor. Rauwerd has invited Nikky who has earned my hostility already for having a made-up name. She's an old friend--the kind that can't balance a check book or drive a car or fill out even her microscopic slashed and slinky black outfits.
Tilly is surprised to find herself bothering to be catty. With good reason, as it turns out. Every time she settles by the fire with a restful spot of knitting her husband is rushing out the door to Amsterdam (22 miles away) to tutor Nikky (ugh, even her name looks like it's stabbing you in the back) about the intricacies of the international monetary fund. No, of course I kid. She's being dumb about her own stocks and bonds but in her defense Nikky is hitting her prime before Beyonce's Single Ladies so wouldn't know that a woman can be totally in charge of her business while wearing inappropriately high-cut black stretch leotards at the same time.
'I've been waiting for you to ask about Nikky.'
'...You said before we married me that we would get on well together--that's what you want, isn't it?'
'Yes. That's what I wanted, Matilda.'
What was that? Verb tenses? A little sit-down with a criminal prosecutor debating what the meaning of 'is' is and these crazy kids could get sorted out. Wanted. Past-tense. It's so tiny--such a slim thread to indicate a monster of a dawning realization in his rear-view mirror.
Interlude de Las Palmas: He has some lecturing to do in Las Palmas at some week-long convention which sounds like the awesomest waste of medical fees ever. Why doesn't she come and they could stay another week over? She doens't try and think very hard about why the thought of escaping Nikky and her rapacious 401K retirement plan pleases her so much.
In Las Palmas we have:

• Her wearing slacks which he thinks she looks H.O.T. in.
• Her wearing decorative swimwear which he thinks she looks H.O.T. in.
• Finding a wreck on a windy mountain road.
• Followed by a hard kiss!
• Followed by a dawning realization.

He's standing there holding her Gucci scarf (retrieved from a bush to warn oncoming traffic) and she's as mesmerized as some dratted bull. Shoot. Now she loves him and suddenly all this chummy hanging out isn't cutting it.
Matilda thinks some hard thoughts in her tepid bath. A new hair style (always a first on the Betty list of Captivating a Man) and maybe she should become more like Nikky--starved and sunken...She will try for him.
She does catch his eye the next morning in her skimpy bathing suit. What a pity she doesn't swim either competently or gracefully--either one would do for me but knowing she sinks like a rock after some unseemly thrashing about ruins it. The Founding Bettys come from a family that shamelessly abused the Willamalane Aquatic Center Family Pass in order to achieve both.
Back in Leiden she changes course with the suddenness of new driver at a traffic signal. Rauwerd shot off to visit Nikky the Nincompoop on the first night back and Matilda realizes that those two warm weeks of conviviality and looking at his abs (though never mentioned, I assume he doesn't swim in well-tailored tweeds) are over and done. If her husband wants to make himself ridiculous over a shallow-bosomed, middle-aged blonde tartlet then it's none of her lookout. She will be exactly what he asked of her: a social manager, a charity worker, a faithful daughter-in-law and when he wanted her company, [she would] comply willingly. Can you hear the furniture being smashed to bits in her mind?
But she hasn't sent up the white flag of surrender. She'll win him over if it's the last thing she does.
Only now, the women Rauwerd married is a slightly prickly automaton. She isn't by his fire when he comes home to tea. She isn't put out when he has to travel to Amsterdam. She's running on oiled rails. And the wonderful thing is that he can't quite catch her out. No rising blushes or guilty looks give her game away.
But she flies rather too high after the Spring Ball. Nikky has somehow managed to coax a ride from the dependable Rauwerd and Tilly, while outwardly the life and soul of bon homie, is angry enough to pay him back. She, in the most underhanded and subtle maneuver (truly worthy of Lucrezia Borgia), begs them to stay for coffee before he drives to Amsterdam and then makes pointless chit-chat for an hour or more. By the time her husband is on the road and back again it's pushing 5am.
Tears that she cried over doing it are invariably discovered and a small spat ensues. Sadly, this does not clear the air.
BOMB! (In Holland. In 1987. Did the Friesian people suddenly decide to mount a separatist movement that I didn't hear about?)
She is a first responder and when Rauwerd finds her there are some satisfying verbal exchanges as they stand over the groaning blast victim lying amongst tins of Vienna sausages at their feet and a longing look when her back is turned.
Since she's been smothered in oranges and crushed tomatoes, has a black eye and has flaked out, she's sent home to rest. Though she has to wear an eye patch, Rauwerd tells her that she got off 'lightly'. Dude. Rauwerd. Piece of advice. I don't care if you've been up to your shins in gore all day. If your wife has to wear an eye patch, make a fuss!
Nikky, wondering why her financial planner has been so difficult to contact, shows up at the house. She pours venom into Tilly's shocked ears but it is...wait for it...Gold Medallist Rose Comely with her baby carrycot to the rescue! To truly recognize the awesome bo-dacity of watching nice Rose Comely give the tart a trimming ala' Pam Grier and throw her out on her ear you have to go read her book.
Rauwerd, warned by Rose, is off to Amsterdam one last time but when he comes back to invite Tilly (who is in bed knitting feverishly) to London with him it is a case of 'too little too late'. Tilly's been stood up at her own dinner table one too many times and if Rauwerd wants to take Nikky to London he's more than welcome to!
If only Rauwerd had channeled Rock Hudson in Pillow Talk and yanked her out of bed and back to his bachelor pad, all of the remaining sturm and drang could be avoided...
He's off to London and Tilly decides to beard the enemy in her Amsterdam lair. With an implausability that destroys any consistent characterization of Nikky, the villainess admits to being pitiful ('I'm incapable of making and keeping friends so Rauwerd tosses me a bone now and then.') , manipulative, and not in love with Rauwerd one bit. She admits her motives and (angelically choosing not to gum up any more works) tells Tilly that he was never in love with her. Oh, yes, and she's going to America where she will contract some bedroom disease and die alone....well, actually to find an American husband but the upshot is the same so it amounts to the same thing. She also utters these words: American men are supposed to be good husbands.
Oh dear, Betty Neels. If only you meant it.
Tilly races to London, bursts in on Rauwerd in a hospital's consultant's room and the delight shatters him. Semi-public kissing, implied future-tense conjugal relations discussed and a promise that she can only ask about Nikky when they are very old and the grandchildren aren't around.
The End

Rating: I liked the second half of this much better than the first half. Until it is established that she is, in fact, in love with him, we don't get very much of them together outside the lines of 'we-spent-the-day-in-Oxford-laughing-about-the-same-things-but-here's-what-we-ate-in-minute-detail' and so forth. The fireworks begin as soon as she identifies her goal. He is totally weird about helping Nikky the Nincompoop with her finances as it seems like a better way to win his wife's affections would be to hand the business card of a CPA over, gift her a copy of Personal Accounting for Dummies and start spending his evenings staring at his wife's feverish knitting. And then he acts like some over-drawn cartoonish woman and wants her to read his mind about his intentions re the tartlet. So, I dunno. I liked it okay but it wasn't her best. Treacle Tart. The second half was better than that but the first act was just so-so for me. Still, there are some wonderful lines and it's well worth the read.

Food: scones, steak and kidney pudding, Calabrese and carrots, creamed potatoes, rhubarb pie and egg custard, sausages and mash, wintergreens, apple pie, poached egg on haddock, treacle tart, iced melon, hot souffle' with chocolate sauce, Italics food, wedding cake, lobster in one way or another like three times, champagne sorbets, lemon sorbet, toasted scones and wafer thin bread that sounds suspiciously like something my grandma used to make--Nurse/Grandma Hanna was not known for her cooking...

Fashion: chintzy paper nurse caps, tweed suit, pale pink crepe dress, pleated amber crepe, a silvery-green dress that is blessedly low-cut as she meets Nikky in it, 2 uncrushable crepe evening dresses, slacks, a delicious sounding satin clotted cream dress with a wide skirt and a marabou wrap for the Spring Ball, an eyepatch. Emma wears a majestic plum colored felt hat for the wedding. Nikky goes around in sheeths, slashed skirts, and slinky black numbers.