according to john taylor caldwell: "walter was an eccentric. he preferred books to the pursuits of normal young men of his class, and had no interest in sport, drink, gambling or women. his father was disappointed and disgusted. one day when he was having it out with walter (probably not for the first time) about his unsatisfactory life-style, and the fact that he was nearing forty and still not married, walter rose from the table and, so the story goes, proposed to the first girl he met, who happened to be the kitchen maid."