Three Stepping Stones to this Year of Grace by Hilda M. Isaacs
The old belief that birds choose their mates on St. Valentine's Day has been referred to by both Chaucer and Shakespeare. When St. Valentine's Day was observed in good earnest, each single man and maid was allotted a member of the opposite sex as Valentine for the ensuing year.
Prologue
The Courtyard of Windsor Castle, 1578.
February 14, 9 a.m.
When Valentine's Day came, even the great Queen was not averse from receiving letters of adoration.
Whitehall, a century later, February 14, 4 p.m. His Majesty, Charles II's Bedchamber.
The Merry Monarch is weary, for he returned to Whitehall at 6 a.m., and has forgotten all about St. Valentine's Day. Custom has decreed that the first lady he meets shall be his Valentine
The Blue Boar Inn, London.
St. Valentine's Eve. Two centuries later.
Samuel Weller, Senior, is moralizing about women in the Blue Boar Inn, and learns that his son is in the parlour writing by the stove.
Songs and Duets by Margaret Wilkinson (Soprano) and J. Maldwyn Thomas (Tenor)