Day after Day 13

A few weeks later the girls received a letter from John. With the letter there was a review from the Tatler magazine. John wanted the opinions of May and Muriel on the article, which
read:

-- The play-going public owes many a debt to Mr. W.S. Gilbert, and is particularly grateful to him for having discovered, for stage purposes, the land of the Mikado.  Our indebtedness is further increased by A Chinese Honeymoon, which is suggestive of the method of Mr. Gilbert
even if it does not remind one of the unceasing melody and the musical skill of Sir Arthur Sullivan. The scene is laid in China at the present time, and the story is sufficiently whimsical and the
various complications are undoubtedly funny although – a pardonable fault in comic opera – they are decidedly extravagant. The Emperor seeks a bride who will marry him “for himself alone,” so he
dispatches an English skipper, who has been promoted to the post of Lord High Admiral of the Chinese fleet, in search of the paragon in question. But the conditions are rather hard, for the high state of the Emperor is withheld and the unlucky admiral has to pretend that
he represents a billposter.

It may be easily understood that the admiral returns from his quest without success. As a lingering death is the penalty of his failure it need hardly be said that he resorts to all sorts of expedients in order to avert the punishment.

A great element in the success of the production is the comical appearance of Miss Louie Freear, who plays the “slavey” and keeps the house in a roar of laughter whenever she is on the stage. Her quaint facial expression and her curious antics belong to herself, and would seem to have been given to her by nature as compensation for her diminutive size. As a contrast the Emperor is impersonated by an actor of unusual height, Mr. Picton Roxborough, whose bland and perpetual smile is apparently so natural that it is constantly enjoyable. “The long and the short of it”
in this piece are in every way excellent and, moreover, the idea is not run to death. 
A newcomer, Miss Beatrice Edwards, who appears as the princess of the customary type, has a pleasant voice which wants proper control. The production is beautifully mounted the scenery and costumes being capital in all respects. In regard to the former it is curious to observe that while the programme gives the names of tradesmen, the names and addresses of the people who have
supplied the costumes and the hats being duly set forth, no mention is made of the scenic artist. This is quite in keeping with the modern manager, who no longer regards the painter of his scenery
as of the same importance as the dressmaker and milliner.

He also included a further article on the actress Miss Beatrice Edwards.

 Miss Beatrice Edwards was the well-known possessor of a beautiful voice long before she became a member of a theatrical company. In June, 1898, full of nervous fears, she made her début as Muriel in The Old Guard at the Theatre Royal, Dublin.
 

Then almost immediately an engagement followed to play Mimosa in The Geisha on tour. Four two years she continued in that and only resigned it at last to play Maia (another of Miss [Marie] Tempest’s parts) in A Greek Slave. Her appearance at the Strand Theatre, where she is the Princess Soo Soo in A Chinese Honeymoon, made an excellent impression, and there is little
probability of her being permitted to leave London for long.

Previous to going on the stage Miss Edwards was one of the Royal Welsh Choir, and had the honour of singing before Queen Victoria. She was only sixteen when she became a member of that celebrated organisation, with which she paid a professional visit to the World’s Fair at Chicago in 1893. 

He also sent two posters of the play bill for the girls.

May and Muriel wrote to John saying they had enjoyed the reviews, and also thanking him for the posters.

Muriel also wrote to John's brother, Harold.

December 3rd

Dear Harold,

I very much enjoyed your quotation from G.K. Chesterton, and think it is very true.

Today we went to the Christmas Fair in Worcester, and I managed to buy most of my Christmas presents. When will you be back for the holidays? Will we get a chance to see you? I have bought you a present which I think will be of interest to you, so you must come to see me to collect it before Christmas.

I have seen an article in the paper saying that Australia is about to give women the vote. Of course New Zealand did it many years ago. How do you feel about this? Do you think it will be long before women have the vote in England?

‘Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.’

Affectionately yours,

Muriel

Harold’s response was not long in coming.

December 6th

My dear Muriel,

What a wonderful letter. I am so pleased that you are looking forward to my return. I can only say that I am counting the days until December 20th, when my term will be finished and I will be returning to Worcester for two weeks. I will come to your house on Monday December 23rd, about noon, if that is convenient.

I applaud the Australians and New Zealanders for giving the vote to women. I hope it will soon come to this country too, but I fear it may not be for a while, as there is such a feeling in the current House of Commons against it.

One more quote for good luck. ‘I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then gone away and done the exact opposite.''

Best wishes from Harold

Muriel was pleased to see that Harold's views on women's rights coincided with her own. The quotation he had sent seemed to be encouraging her to rebel.

He was her sort of man!

*****

John Day arrived home from Oxford in early December. He was deeply involved in preparations or Christmas at Perdiswell Church. Entering into the true spirit of Advent he did not think it was appropriate to arrange social activities with May and Muriel until the season was at an end.

Muriel told May that she no longer was romantically interested in John Day. She would devote her efforts in trying to ensnare his younger brother, Harold. She was patient, and realised that during the three years of his studies Harold would change and mature.

Harold arrived home for his visit at noon on December 23. He found the King's home extensively and seasonally decorated. There was a huge wreath on the front door. Holly, yew, laurel and ivy hung from every picture rail. There was a big tree, hung with cranberry chains and decorated with candles, golden ribbon tied into bows and golden stars. His own home was, as yet, undecorated. John had forbidden them to put up decorations until Christmas Eve, the end of Advent, the penitential season.

Muriel was very pleasantly surprised by the change in Harold. In just four months he had grown up. He now had a moustache which suited him and added maturity to his face. He was taller and much more self-assured. He was invited in to drink coffee with Muriel and her mother in the parlour. Muriel's father was very busy at the shop in this Christmas season. After a while Mrs King
excused herself, saying she had to prepare a Christmas pudding.

Since she would not be seeing Harold on Christmas Day, Muriel decided that she and he should open their gifts to each other there and then.

Muriel was somewhat anxious as Harold removed the wrapping paper from his gift, to reveal a book bound in black leather - Traverse Tables, with an introductory chapter on Co-ordinate
Surveying.

"Wonderful,'' he said with a smile. "And very useful.''

“I had to get advice on what to buy you,'' Muriel admitted. "This is a newly-published book. If you already own a copy the bookshop is willing to change this for another.''

“No, I don’t have it,” said Harold, leafing through pages of charts. “I shall treasure it all the more because it comes from you.”

Now it was time for Muriel to open her gift. She suspected it also was a book. However, it was not one book, but three, all bound in red leather, with gold lettering announcing the names of Fra Angelic, Watteau and Burne-Jones. There were illustrations from each artist, with a description of when, how and why each picture was painted. Muriel was beside herself with excitement. “I have never had such a lovely present. Thank you so much.”

They looked into each other’s eyes, and the same emotion was evident to the other. Harold gently leaned forward to kiss Muriel on the cheek. She, being the bolder by far and anticipating the gesture, moved her head slightly making it inevitable that his lips should meet hers.

“Oh, I beg your pardon,” he said to cover his confusion, knocking over his cup of coffee.

“Oh please don’t worry,” she giggled as she wiped the coffee up with a serviette. “You know as well as I that you really wanted to do that.”

So once again they kissed. This time Harold was more precise with his lips.

After a while Harold said he really had to leave. He went into the kitchen to say goodbye to Mrs King and wish her a Happy Christmas.

“I hope we will be seeing a lot more of you, young Harold Day,” said Mrs King.

“You can be sure of that, Mrs King,” he replied. Muriel conducted him to the door, where there was another furtive kiss.

*****

The dining table at the Kings' house had a beautiful centrepiece made from holly bearing red berries, with an arrangement of white candles at its centre.

May and her family had been invited to spend Christmas Day with the Kings. They attended church together in the morning, then opened their presents. For dinner there was goose stuffed with chestnuts, and pork with apple, gooseberry and bread sauce. Plum pudding was, of course, the dessert.

Muriel received a lace edged handkerchief from May and her family, and the Kings gave the Stintons a huge box of speciality chocolates. Muriel gave her father a hefty tome, The Great Boar War, by Arthur Conan Doyle, and to her mother she gave The Poems of Robert Browning. For May she had chosen a novel, John Halifax, Gentleman by Mrs. Craik.

From her parents she received a wonderful leather bound, gold edged Complete Works of William Shakespeare, which her father said was also partly a delayed birthday present. She was glad
to receive it, though privately she thought it could not compare to the gift she had received from Harold.

After dinner the Kings and the Stintons played parlour games: charades, blind man's bluff, and the like. Then they sang carols to Mrs King's accompaniment at the piano.

*****

On December 27th John Day called at Muriel’s home. He had sent a Christmas card which had arrived on Boxing Day, expressing his intention to call and asking if May might be invited
to be there as well, as he had presents for both of them.

He arrived at exactly the time he had stated, looking as handsome as ever. Muriel and May ushered him into the parlour, where he marvelled at the Christmas decorations. Then he gave the girls their gifts. Muriel's was a copy of Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore and May's The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll.

The girls had not found it easy to choose gifts for John, eventually deciding upon books. May gave him Great Souls at Prayer and Muriel, after much deliberation, had chosen a geographical
dictionary.

He seemed pleased with both gifts, but his smile to May was perhaps somewhat warmer, in recognition of the choice of a religious work.

It seemed to Muriel that John and May had grown closer to one another since their theatre visit. She was delighted that things were now falling into place as she wished them to be.