brompton square is situated on the north side of hyde park, between the marble arch and lancaster gate, and is as stiff and, for the greater portion of the year, as gloomy in appearance as most of the regions in the neighbourhood. the different sides of the square differ widely in social status, the northern side being the most, and the eastern side the least, aristocratic and roomy. the largest house of all was a great grey stone edifice, having a stretch of three windows on either side of the heavy oak door. the smallest and shabbiest stood at right angles to it, showing a shabby frontage of two windows to the gardens, and having its front entrance in a side street. really and truly it could barely claim to belong to the square at all, though the landlord claimed, and the doctor tenant felt it worth while to pay, a heavy rent for the privilege of printing a fashionable address upon his cards.
behind the silken curtains and brise-bise of number 14, the “pampered pet” had her residence. at number 1 the doctor’s big family was so crowded together that betty was thankful to appropriate a front attic as the only chance of possessing that luxury dear to every girlish heart—“a bedroom to herself!” it was not a luxurious apartment, but it was pretty, as every girl’s bedroom may easily be, if she has the will to make it so. the hemp carpet had long since faded to a nondescript grey, but the pink-washed walls were hung with pictures and photographs, and the owner’s love of beauty and order showed itself in the arrangement of the furniture, and the careful setting out of a few treasured ornaments.
there was no gas in the room, so that betty was obliged to do her simple dressing for dinner by the aid of a candle, whose flickering beams seemed intent on lighting every corner of the room, and leaving the mirror in inky darkness. it was only within the last three months that dr trevor had left his old-fashioned house in bloomsbury, hoping that the change of residence would help him in his ambition to extend his practice among a better class of patients. the neighbourhood was new to his family, and none of the residents of the square had so far taken any notice of their presence. calling is not usual in london unless there is some personal interest involved, and no doubt the occupants of more aristocratic houses looked down with contempt on the sandwiched row of shabby windows which belonged to them only on sufferance. if the neighbours showed no interest in the doctor’s family, the trevors, on the contrary, felt a devouring interest in everyone around them. they had invented nicknames for all the residents in the northern row, of which the schoolroom possessed the best view, before they had been a week in their new quarters. a glance at the directory in their father’s consulting-room would have solved the problem at once, but that was a practical and commonplace method of procedure which made no appeal to their imaginations. nicknames were a thousand times better, because you could manufacture them to suit!
the two old maiden ladies who lived in number 15 were emily and hannah. emily was dressy, wore a false front, and always took precedence of her sister, who was small and mousy in demeanour. it was apparent to the meanest intellect that a godmother had bequeathed her fortune to emily, and that she gave her sister a home and generally supported her, for which generosity hannah was duly thankful. the two old ladies breakfasted in bed every morning, went out for drives at eleven and three o’clock, (“ambles,” miles called them in scornful reference to the pace of the sleek old horses), retired to their rooms for naps after lunch, ate a hearty dinner at eight, and settled down for the night at ten o’clock.
it does not require the skill of a sherlock holmes to discover such proceedings on the part of our neighbours. the study of electric lights on gloomy autumn days is wonderfully informing! number 16 was uninteresting,—only a stupid man and his wife, who looked like a hundred other men and their wives; and who had tiresome silk curtains drawn across the lower panes of their windows, so that it was impossible to obtain a glimpse of the rooms. number 17, however, more than ever made up for this disappointment, for there lived “the pretty lady” beloved by one and all. she was tall, and dark, and young; almost like a girl, and betty darkly suspected her of being engaged, for she looked so beamingly happy, and was often seen walking about with a tall, handsome man in the shiniest of top-hats. the door of number 17 was somewhat out of the line of vision, so that it was not always easy to see who went in and out, but the young couple often passed the corner of the square, and always seemed to be in radiant spirits. once when the pretty lady was wearing a new coat, edwin (of course he was edwin!) fell behind a pace or two to study the effect, and softly clapped his hands in approval. it must be nice, betty thought wistfully, to be engaged, and have someone who liked you the best of all, and brought you home chocolates and flowers! she was anxious to know who formed the other members of the household, but jill said there was only an invalid mother, who said, “go about as much as ever you can, my darling. don’t think about me! the young should always be happy;” and this was accepted by all as a natural and satisfactory explanation.
there were no children to be found in the whole length of the terrace. the landlords, no doubt, had too much regard for their white enamel and costly wall-papers to welcome tenants with large families. the “pampered pet” in number 14 was the nearest approach to a child, and she must have been sixteen at least. her father was a general somebody out in india, and her mother remained in england to superintend the darling’s education, and see that she did not get her feet wet. as soon as she was eighteen she would be presented 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 which time jack and jill dashed suddenly out of the schoolroom as their elder sister was pursuing a staid course downstairs, when jill promptly seized hold of her silk sleeves with sticky fingers, and jack exclaimed, “i say! what a fright!” with brotherly candour.
betty snapped, of course, and snapped vigorously. it was not her fault, she reflected. no one could be expected to be patient if other people would insist on being so horrid and exasperating!