Here we go with Part Four of our brand new Tale for Our Time - our autumnal adaptation of Agatha Christie's classic of 1923, The Murder on the Links.
In tonight's episode, as has become traditional in our 1920s serialisations, there is a tantalus:
The room which M. Renauld had chosen for his own particular use was small, but furnished with great taste and comfort. A businesslike writing desk, with many pigeon holes, stood in the window. Two large leather-covered armchairs faced the fireplace, and between them was a round table covered with the latest books and magazines. Bookshelves lined two of the walls, and at the end of the room opposite the window there was a handsome oak sideboard with a tantalus on top. The curtains and portière were of a soft dull green, and the carpet matched them in tone.
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear Part Four of our tale simply by clicking here and logging-in. Earlier episodes can be found here. If you've yet to hear our first Hercule Poirot serialisation, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, that can be found here.
We have previous on the tantalus - both with Tommy & Tuppence and with Bulldog Drummond. Here is what Mark wrote upon its first appearance in these pages:
I'm not sure if they have those at Walmart or even Bed, Bath & Beyond, but they were a familiar item in the grander houses a century back: a small wooden contraption (see above) that held three decanters and could be locked with a key - thereby preventing both larcenous servants and dissolute progeny from getting at the good stuff. It was named after Tantalus, either an actual Anatolian or a mythological figure, who was condemned to unquenchable thirst: he had to stand in a pool of water which receded every time he reached down to scoop some up.
The household tantalus was invented in the 1870s by George Betjemann, a Dutch cabinet-maker who had opened a workshop in the Pentonville Road near the Angel, Islington. George's grandson was the Poet Laureate John Betjeman - one "n": the grandpa had added the Germanic double-n because of anti-Dutch sentiment arising from the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War; his son had dropped it because of anti-German sentiment arising from the First World War.
A long, long time ago I called on the Poet Laureate's somewhat estranged wife Penelope, and Sir John showed up halfway through. Both were impressed that I was familiar with a tantalus (on which the Betjeman family fortune, such as it was, had been founded). My dad, who had an antipathy to decanters, nevertheless had somehow acquired an antique tantalus. By the way, if you have an original Betjemann tantalus in the attic, they fetch thousands at auction. Penny Betj. died on horseback in the Himalayas - a long way from any tantalus, I should imagine.
What am I rambling on about..? Bibulous domestics... mythological Anatolian... Pentonville Road... Fourth Anglo-Dutch War... Himalayan horses... oh, yeah:
Tales for Our Time is now in its ninth season. So, if you've a friend who might be partial to our classic fiction outings, we have a special Gift Membership that, aside from audio yarns, also includes video poetry, live music and more.
Please join Mark tomorrow evening for Part Five of The Murder on the Links.