Welcome to the latest in our series of audio adventures, Tales for Our Time, and Part Three of our seasonal serialisation of Christmas at Thompson Hall by Anthony Trollope.
In tonight's episode, having made her escape from a strange man's bedroom, Mrs Brown returns to her own accommodations and attempts to account to her husband for her prolonged absence:
It was a thousand pities that so good a woman should have been driven by the sad stress of circumstances to tell so many fibs. One after another she was compelled to invent them, that there might be a way open to her of escaping the horrors of a prolonged sojourn in that hotel. At length, after much grumbling, he became silent, and she trusted that he was sleeping... As she wandered about the room pretending to pack her things, she more than once almost resolved that she would tell him everything. Surely then he would be ready to make any effort. But there came upon her an idea that he might perhaps fail to see all the circumstances...
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear me read Part Three of our adventure simply by clicking here and logging-in. Parts One and Two can be found here.
We always get questions about the theme tunes to our serialisations. Miria, a First Month Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club, asks:
Is the music 'March of the Kings' (La Marche des Rois)?
Why, yes it is - or, as many listeners may know it, the Farandole from Bizet's L'Arlésienne, although the tune predates M Bizet by at least a couple of centuries. I know we're jumping the gun a little Epiphany-wise, but the tune's use in The Girl from Arles is near contemporaneous with Christmas at Thompson Hall, and, while Arles isn't exactly near Mr and Mrs Brown's home in Pau, they're both in the far south of France. The tune was one of the first I ever played on the radio, when I was a teenage classical disc-jockey, and I toyed with putting words to it. Then I discovered it already had lyrics:
De bon matin
J'ai rencontré le train...
Which is the somewhat literal essence of Trollope's story: on a not so good morning, Mr and Mrs Brown are attempting to make the train (to England, for Christmas). However, if you like La Marche des rois, we shall hear it in its traditional context in ten days' time, as I've added it to the programme for our annual broadcast of Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols. I've just been going over the arrangement with our guest singer and the band, and I think you'll enjoy it.
If you've only joined the Steyn Club in recent days and missed our earlier serials (not only Anthony Trollope's The Fixed Period but also Conan Doyle's The Tragedy of the Korosko, Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel, Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda, Kipling, Kafka, Dickens, Gogol, Jane Austen, Jack London, Scott Fitzgerald, P G Wodehouse and more), you can find them all on our easy-to-access Netflix-style Tales for Our Time home page.
If you have friends who might appreciate Tales for Our Time, we have a special Steyn Club Gift Membership that lets them in on that and all the other fun in The Mark Steyn Club: it makes a perfect Christmas present. The Club is now in its ninth year, and helps support all our content - whether in print, audio or video - and keep it out there in the world for everyone. In return, membership confers, aside from Tales for Our Time, a few other benefits:
~Exclusive Steyn Store member pricing on over 40 books, mugs, T-shirts, and other products;
~The opportunity to engage in live Clubland Q&A sessions with Mark, such as this Wednesday's;
~Transcript and audio versions of Mark's Mailbox, SteynPosts, and our other video content;
~Steyn's video series of classic poetry;
~Priority booking for the upcoming sixth Mark Steyn Club Cruise: we'll be sailing aboard the beautiful Queen Mary 2 from Quebec City to New York via the spectacular Saguenay Fjord;
~Advance booking for Mark's live appearances around the world, assuming I'm ever again well enough to make any;
~Customised email alerts for new content in your areas of interest;
~and the opportunity to support our print, audio and video ventures as they wing their way around the planet.
To become a member of The Mark Steyn Club, please click here - and, for a friend or family member this Yuletide, don't forget that Gift Membership. And please join me tomorrow for Part Four of Christmas at Thompson Hall.
