A Vindication Of Miss Everlee

Chapter 4

No one seemed willing to have the New Years celebration at all. Mistress Walden preferred the excitement of city gatherings rather than quaint country affairs and wanted to go to Bath early that year instead of waiting for the season in summer. Meanwhile, Mr Walden wanted nothing to do with the preparations, instead preferring to retreat to his study as usual and work hours on end.

Christmas had been difficult on him, but it had been an interesting experience for Midge. She spent the morning amusing herself as the family went to church, but observed the fuss of all the servants as they prepared the dinner. Then, she listened to their own prayers and admired the glittering decorations. In the afternoon when she was in charge of the children, she joined in on their traditional games marvelled at their excitement over the gifts that Father Christmas had supposedly brought.

It was her first Christmas. She was not a complete stranger to it, of course, because it had become a favourite festival amongst the people and so one could hardly escape it. However, it was the first time she had the opportunity to view its celebrations for herself. With all the traditions and supposed cheer, she thought that it might be more pleasant amongst people who actually wanted to be together.

For poor Mr Walden, his wife's family overwhelmed him so much that he seemed unwilling to entertain ever again. They were such a glamorous lot, dressed in the latest Italian fashions with vocabulary the country folk couldn't comprehend and forward mannerisms quite unlike Englishmen. They would hardly fit in well in London, let alone in north Devon.

Nevertheless, that unorthodox quality was exactly what had allowed Mr Walden to marry their relation in the first place. Who else would have let a born Jew marry into an inherited estate? Much of polite society wasn't too pleased about it either, but Calogan was in shambles and apparently not many others were willing to marry Mistress Walden, for reasons Midge was unaware of. Mr Walden, infatuated and with a large fortune, was the pragmatic choice.

Of course, pragmatism rarely included sentimentality and thus, Mr Walden was unable to socialise with them. Sometimes Midge pitied him so very much. During the New Year celebrations, Mistress Walden didn't address him once, so he curled himself away with a handful of bored looking men. All of them, including Mr Walden, kept on refilling their glasses so that their voices increased in a crescendo. Soon afterwards they disappeared to the cigar room, for which Midge guessed would be gambling and other hidden gentlemanly pursuits.

"I wouldn't have taken Mr Walden to be like those other gentleman," said Midge to Daniel. She was speaking in riddles, of course, for she could not turn to the child and say how she was surprised at seeing a man so awkward become willingly involved with alcohol and unseemly activities with bachelors or men estranged from their wives.

"The only time I see him smile is when he drinks. It makes him more loving," he said. That was at least some relief. Despite her privileged circumstances in comparison to many other Jewish girls, she was not utterly naive to every common shortcoming of men; sometimes drinking unleashed their violence, even if they didn't seem the type, such as the seemingly always gentle Mr Walden.

"Does he drink a lot?"

"Whenever he's with those other gentlemen. He could drink more, but we hardly ever see him so I don't know," he said. "Do you think he drinks ever so much in the cigar rooms?"

"I haven't the faintest idea. Women aren't supposed to go anywhere near cigar rooms so I truly don't know what he would do," she said.

As she did, her eyes wondered about the room. By that point in the evening, everyone had more or less gravitated to their preferred company, though they were being polite in appearing as accessible as possible to others. Few approached Midge and Daniel, but conversed well enough with them if Mr Walden had introduced them. However, the truth remained that they were largely inconspicuous amongst the general gaiety of the evening.