Britannia all at Sea, chapter 7

Jake proposes! "I have brought you here [to a small room away from the party] to ask you, in peace and quiet, to marry me, Britannia." By Betts standards, that's not a bad proposal. Of course, she's wildly surprised, because she assumed he would marry the tiresome Madeleine.
It's a family party, including Madeleine, who has been invited for so many years that they think it would be rude not to invite her. She's furious at Jake's attentions to Britannia, and for once I have some sympathy. It wouldn't have killed Jake to pull her aside and say, "look, I've been taking you around for years, but now I'm going to propose to Britannia." Though if he had, it would have lessened her wrath and made it less likely she'll cause trouble in chapter eight or nine.
It won't be hard to cause trouble; Jake proposed, and Britannia said yes, but there is no formal announcement or ring yet, possible because Britannia wants to talk to her parents first. Seems reasonable to me, but as I said, it might be left that way so Madeleine can cause trouble in the next two chapters.
This chapter is filled with antiques. At dinner, they eat off seventeenth-century silver. Relatives of Jake's receive antique jewelry from Sint Nikolaas, and at the end of the chapter Jake shows Britannia his house, including antique furniture and paintings commissioned in the nineteenth century. In other words: old money.

Bachelor's Wedding, chapter 5

OK, I put off writing about this chapter for about an hour, because I have no idea how to describe it. It was crazy.
First of all, I should say that I like Araminta here. She's reasonably assertive but not a jerk, she doesn't lose her head, and she keeps her mouth shut under provocation. While I suspect that she is secretly in love with Jason, she's not being foolish about it. Sadly, it's safe to predict that Araminta will become much more emotional and foolish before the book is over.
Araminta's new job is a bad one: she's taking care of a fairly helpless woman for three hours every morning. Not totally helpless, given that she manages to eat a box of chocolates, but pretty incapable of doing anything for herself. Araminta's employer is over-the-top Victorian, refusing to let Araminta leave on time, and grumbling when Araminta wants to take her day off.
Mr Smith has gone around the bend as well. He and Alice continue to be extravagant, and he won't even hear of Alice getting a job. Happily, Araminta realizes how foolish her father is. After he looks mournful about "the sorrow your selfishness causes me", Araminta sails past it: "Father, you sound like someone in a Victorian novel. Have some more pudding?" (p. 88)
But the craziest, most Victorian, most Betts-at-her-wackiest character is Jason. Araminta comes out of work on Saturday to find Jason waiting in the Rolls for her. He'd rung up the agency to find out where she was, and why this didn't ring alarm bells for the agency's or in Araminta's head, I don't know.
Jason takes Araminta out to lunch, orders for her (even though they're not eating anywhere formal at all), and then responds to Araminta's description of her job with: "Of course you cannot go back to that dreadful woman. I'll see the agency and arrange for you to leave as from today." (p. 96). An aghast Araminta protests this, on the grounds that she needs the money, but he keeps on going.
He asks her not to interrupt, and then tells her that he has decided to marry. He wants someone to come home to at the end of the day; he's not in love, he makes clear, but he'll settle for second-best. Sensible Araminta asks why he is telling her this, and he responds: "I considered it right to explain my feelings before I ask you to marry me, Araminta" (p. 97). She protests that he doesn't know anything about her (which is essentially true - and though Araminta doesn't know it, it has only been a week since he considered marrying anyone at all, let alone her).
He goes on to insist (Jason's word, not mine) that regardless of whether she decides to marry him, Araminta must give up her dreadful that day. That hour! And so he does, and now Araminta is unemployed. She says goodbye to him thus: "Thank you for my lovely lunch, and thank you for proposing to me. Shall I write and let you know?" (p. 99). And then she asks the vicar for advice - much more sound than the Betts heroine (can't remember who) who asks the Betts hero for advice about what to do about the Betts hero.
In case it's not clear, I like Araminta - she's so sensible in the face of melodrama! Sadly, I expect she'll say yes to the proposal in the next chapter, and become a typical Betts lovefool in the chapters to follow. So: a moment of silence for the sensible Araminta!

Awakened Heart, chapter 3

Sophie and Rijk see each other a few more times in this chapter. They eat together, go on walks, and even see his house - yes, he has a house in London. Of course Rijk has a house in London, given that he's there for - what? probably about 40 days of the year? Clearly, one would need a house with two servants for those times.
At the end of the chapter, Rijk proposes to Sophie. I wish I were making this up:
Rijk: "May I take it that we are now good, firm friends, Sophie?"
Sophie: "Oh yes."
Rijk: "Then perhaps you know what I am going to say next. Will you marry me, Sophie?"
Sophie: "Marry you? Why? Whatever for?"
After a few minutes of chatter, during which she tells him about the man whom she loved when she was 19, and who left her for a small girl (that's where Sophie's fixation with height comes from! Good to know), they go on:
Rijk: "I think that we may be happy together, Sophie. We do not know each other very well yet, but we have so little opportunity to meet. Would you consider marrying me and getting to know me after?"
A bit more chatter, then:
Sophie: "I'm not sure, but I think this is a very funny kind of proposal."
And how!

All Else Confusion, chapter 4

After the funeral, Jake had kept Annis in Bath on the pretext of work, but we learn here that he was lying - there's only a half-hour of phone calls. If this were a very different type of romance, this would lead to Gothic horror - will the heroine ever get home? - or a seduction scene. But it's a Betts, so of course they chastely get into his Bentley and go off to meet his family. His grandmother jumps the gun a bit, which leads to this ever-so-romantic proposal:
Jake: Grandmother approves of you, isn't that nice? She longs to be a great-granny.
Annis: Whatever has that got to do with me?
Jake: I told her that I was going to marry you.
It turns out that I was wrong about the last chapter; Jake is in love with Annis, but he doesn't realize it yet. They're going to marry in three weeks' time. Jake (because he's rich, of course) tells Annis not to worry about a trousseau, and suggests to her parents that he give them a little something to pay for a helper to take Annis's place (though since they didn't really need one when Annis was in Bath, why bother now?). Matt, by the way, wants to marry Annis's younger sister.