82 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



March, 1, 191S. 



that even the little sister is less carefully 

 looked after. 



So their life goes on, varied occasion- 

 ally for Bettina by visits to the neigh- 

 bour's family, that of the Earl of Helm- 

 stone. Then one mournful night the 

 mother is taken ill, and heart disease 

 is diagnosed. Sister tells of the agony : 



" That was the day I came to know 

 the steadying influence of a call to face 

 great issues. 



" I remembered that people were sup- 

 posed to faint when they heard news 

 like that. For myself, I had never felt 

 so clear-headed ; never felt the respon- 

 sibility of life so great ; never felt that 

 for us to fail in bearing our share was 

 so unthinkable. 



" If this Majesty of Death were soon 

 to clothe my mother, her children must 

 not hide and weep. They must help 

 her, help each other to meet the Great 

 King at the gate." 



Recovering somewhat, the mother tells 

 Sister, after much pressing, that they 

 have been living upon their capital, and 

 that when she dies her tiny pension as 

 an officer's widow will die with her. In 

 their straits she tells Sister that she must 

 write to the Aunt Josephine. Sister's 

 owTi love story now comes in, but for 

 that the reader must turn to the book it- 

 self. Hence a delay in writing to Mrs. 

 Harborough. The letter is written at 

 length, is immediately answered with an 

 mvitation to London, and a bountiful 

 cheque to buy clothes. 



THE CLOVEN HOOF. 



The mother has the remains of a 

 lovely wardrobe, but the village dress- 

 maker is not equal to a London outfit. 

 Bettina remembers the address of a 

 woman whom Hermione Helmstone had 

 employed, and sends for her. The 

 mother instinctivel}' dislikes her. 



" Madame Aurore was little and 

 wasted and shrill. She had deep scars 

 in her neck, and dead-looking yellow 

 hair. 



" She was drenched in cheap scent. 



" Her untidy, helter-skelter dress gave 

 no hint of the admirable taste she 

 lavished upon others. 



" She saw at once what we ought to 

 have, and she talked about our clothes 



with an enthusiasm as great as Betty's 

 own. 



"'Ah, but, Madame!' she remon- 

 strated dramatically when my mother 

 showed her the new white satin which 

 was for me, and a creamy lace gown 

 which was to be modernised for Bettina 

 — ' not bot of dem white !' 



" My mother explained that my gown 

 was to have rose-coloured garnishing. 



"'Mais non! mais non!' Madame 

 must pardon her for the liberty, but she, 

 Madame Aurore, could not bring her- 

 self to see our chief advantage thrown 

 away. 



" ' What, then, was our chief advan- 

 tage?^' Betty demanded. 



" What, indeed, but the contrast be- 

 tween us ! The moment she laid eyes 

 on the hair of Mademoiselle Bettine she 

 had said to herself : the frock of Made- 

 moiselle Bettine should be that tender 

 green of tilleul — with just a note of 

 bleu de del. Oh, a dress of spring-tii.ij 

 — an April dress, a gay little dress, for 

 all its tenderness! A dress to make 

 happy the heart of all who look 

 thereon." 



The outfit is duly prepared, the little 

 dressmaker being very friendly and 

 talkative ; so the photograph of Aunt 

 Josephine is shown to her — and disap- 

 pears. 



THE SNARE. 



The two girls start for London, but. 

 her mother being ill. Sister decides that 

 she will only take Bettina and stay one 

 night. Bettina is the more ready to go, 

 for she has supposed Ranny Dallas, 

 whom she has met at Lord Helmstone's, 

 is her lover, but they have quarrelled, 

 and he has entangled himself with a 

 girl he does not really love. 



At \^ictoria the aunt comes forward 

 to meet them — a glorious vision dressed 

 as in the photograph, but younger look- 

 ing and thinner than Sister had ex- 

 pected. The reader will not need to be 

 told that the woman was infamous. 

 Happily elated, and also tired, the girls 

 do not know in what direction they are 

 being taken ; and are surprised at the 

 magnificence of their aunt's house and 

 at her many tall footmen. There is a 

 fine dinner, manv wines, but men with 



