Betty Trevor | Page 5

at Court,
taken out to India, and married to the Viceroy at the end of her first
season.
The Pet's bedroom was on the third storey of the house, and as its
windows faced the gardens of the Square, she had a fancy for leaving
them undraped, except for the narrow brise-bise over the lower panes.
It probably never occurred to her to remember one little dormer
window perched high in the corner house, which of late days had
constituted Betty Trevor's domain, and she would have been greatly
surprised to know how good a view of her sanctum could be obtained
from this vantage- ground, or how much time its mistress gave to
enjoying the same.
All alone in the dark Betty would kneel on a chair and press her face

against the cold panes, staring, staring, muttering to herself--
"She has a fire to dress by--I can see the flames flickering up and down.
What stupid indulgence for a child like that! Electric lights in pink
shades. It does look cosy! The maid is brushing her hair. I can see her
arm going up and down like a machine. Goodness! How long is she
going to keep on? No wonder it shines! I'll brush mine, too. Ten
minutes regularly every night and morning; but I'm always late in the
morning, and too tired at night, so I know I won't. I do hope they come
over here to fasten her dress. It was white last night; on Tuesday it was
blue. What a fuss to make, when there is only Mrs General and the
governess! The Pet plays and sings to them in the drawing-room after
dinner. That hot night when the windows were open we could hear her
distinctly, and it was such a funny little squeak. Jill can imitate it
beautifully. If I couldn't sing better than that I wouldn't sing at all. ...
There! She Is getting up--pink this time! I can see the maid lacing it up.
Well, what next!"
Betty crouched back on her knees and sighed dolorously. It must be
nice to be rich like that and have everything one wanted,--the only
adored darling of the household. It did seem hard that one girl should
have everything she wanted, and another want so much. The furnishing
of this attic bedroom, for instance--everything was a makeshift for
something else which was what she really wanted, and had been unable
to get, and it was the same all through the house. When mother had
pleaded for a new paper for the drawing-room, father had said--
"Not just yet, I'm afraid, dear. There are so many necessities which
must be met." That was the worst of it; there never was money enough
for the nice ornamental things which were so much more interesting
than stodgy old usefuls!
Betty sighed again, and shrugged her shoulders impatiently. The
Pampered Pet had finished her toilet by this time; she crossed the room
and stood by the window for a moment, a slim pink figure in the soft
pink light.
"Horrid, horrid thing!" cried Betty fretfully. "How I do--" And then at

the very moment of repeating her protestations of dislike, Pam's serious
childish face rose before her sight, and she heard the sweet shrill voice
saying once again--
"I suppose that's what they call `envy, hatred, and malice.'" ...
"She's right, quite right," Betty acknowledged to herself. "It is, or just
as near it as is possible for a girl to get who is surrounded by good
influences. How hateful it sounds! I did feel ashamed of myself. I'm the
eldest girl, and I ought to set a good example. If I were quiet and gentle
and resigned, they would all look up to me, and Miles wouldn't snub
me any more. I'll turn over a new leaf from this very hour, and
remember my blessings, and never grumble any more, or be cross, or
snappy, and be glad, absolutely glad, when other people are better off
than myself. After all, I'm seventeen. It's time I was growing resigned. I
won't envy anybody any more."
Betty jumped up from her seat, lighted her candles, and began to make
her modest toilet for dinner with an air of satisfied finality. It was
characteristic of her that she was never satisfied with half-measures,
and was always supremely confident of her ability to carry out new
resolutions. The determination to become a perfect character was taken
as easily as if it had been a choice between a couple of ribbons, and she
put on her quietest blouse, and parted her hair in the middle, brushing it
smoothly over her ears, with an artistic satisfaction in dressing for a
part. The resolution held good exactly a quarter of an hour, at the
expiration of