(urth) PEACE: One Devil

[Dave Tallman]

Roy C. Lackey wrote:

> Uh, I hate to play Dickens with this theory, but . . .

> The party took place shortly after the July picnic. The occasion was
> Macafee's 41st birthday on August 3 (p. 75) and, assuming that Den was born
> in 1914, the year was 1923. Olivia's birthday was in November. (ibid.) In
> her jockeying with him for possession of the Egg, she had to give it to him
> before he could give it to her for her birthday, so the party had to take
> place before Christmas, and it did.

My impression was that Olivia didn't really want to buy it. She wanted to get Macafee to give it to her, but she was afraid that her November birthday would give him plenty of time to find some other, more expensive gift. He could tell her that she would have to marry him to get the egg.

Thus she wanted to bid against him and lose, letting him know through Eleanor that it was a gift for him. This would increase his obligation to give it to her. Because of Em Lorn's Sabbath rules Olivia ended up buying the egg herself and being obligated to give it to Macafee. (All the complicated social maneuvers in this chapter make me think of a novel of manners).

The purchase opportunity was the same for both (the visit to the Lorns). The gifting occasion was a separate issue, and I don't think the relative dates of the birthdays and Christmas matter. It's most likely that Blaine is completely wrong about everything, but there's a way he could be right about the Christmas detail. Suppose Olivia decided after the purchase to make Macafee wait until Christmas for the egg. She might do this because she was annoyed with him. Weer might have muddled two parties in his memory.