# I: New Year’s Eve explained — The Laughing Cavalier

> Chapter companion for The Laughing Cavalier by Baroness Orczy.

## What happens

On the last hour of 1623, three philosophers—Diogenes, Socrates, and Pythagoras—witness a disturbance near the cathedral in Haarlem. A crowd harasses a group of suspected Papists at a postern gate. Meanwhile, burgomasters and councillors discuss tulip bulbs, and Mynheer Beresteyn boasts of a costly new hybrid. The chapter sets the stage for a chain of events triggered by chance and circumstance.

## Themes in this chapter

### Fate and Chance

The narrator emphasizes a series of 'ifs'—weather, thirst, location—that conspire to set the chain of events in motion.

### Social Class and Identity

The contrast between the wealthy tulip-trading councillors and the rough crowd at the postern gate highlights class divisions.

### Appearance vs. Reality

The orderly procession to the cathedral contrasts with the violent mob scene, and the philosophers' casual demeanor belies their readiness for conflict.

## Character check-ins

### Diogenes

Leader of the three philosophers; tall, broad, and quick to investigate the fracas by the postern gate.

### Socrates

One of the philosophers; laconic and observant, he identifies the disturbance as 'a row.'

### Pythagoras

The third philosopher; speaks in a flute-like voice and anticipates entertainment from the scene.

### Nicolaes Beresteyn

A wealthy councillor and tulip enthusiast; boasts of paying 15,000 florins for a new hybrid bulb.

### Mynheer van der Meer

Burgomaster of Haarlem; rival tulip collector, reacts with displeasure to Beresteyn's purchase.

## Key lines

> If the snow had come down again or the weather been colder, or wetter, or other than it was … If one of the three men had been more thirsty, or the other more insistent. … If it had been any other day of the year, or any other hour of any other day. … If the three philosophers had taken their walk abroad in any other portion of the city of Haarlem. … If. … Nay! but there’s no end to the Ifs which I might adduce in order to prove to you beyond a doubt that but for an extraordinary conglomeration of minor circumstances, the events which I am about to relate neither would nor could ever have taken place.

The narrator reflects that a series of small coincidences—weather, thirst, timing, and location—were necessary for the ensuing events to occur.

_Establishes the theme of fate and chance as central to the plot._

> “Fourteen thousand florins did I pay for my Schwarzer Kato,” said Mynheer Beresteyn complacently, “and now I would not sell it for twenty thousand.”

Mynheer Beresteyn boasts about his expensive tulip bulb, claiming its value has increased.

_Illustrates the tulip mania and the wealth of the burgher class._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_laughing_cavalier_se/chapters/i-new-year-s-eve
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_laughing_cavalier_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_laughing_cavalier_se/chapters