tolerably with her stepmother, and was fond of the little half-brothers
and sisters, though the warmest corner of her heart was reserved for
Madox, who was the baby of the elder portion of the family.

Romola, blue-eyed and ethereal, with long amber hair like a Saxon
princess, was her father's favourite model whenever he wished to depict
scenes of olden times. She figured as 'Guinevere' in a series of
illustrations to the _Morte d'Arthur_, as 'Elaine' her portrait had
been exhibited in the Academy, as 'The Lady of Shalott' she had appeared
in a coloured frontispiece of _The Art Review_, she inspired a most
successful poster of 'Cinderella,' and was the original of a series of
fairy drawings in a children's annual. She was not so clever or go-ahead
as Beata, and was rather dreamy and romantic in temperament, with a gift
towards painting and poetry, and a disinclination to do anything very
definite. She left most of the problems of life to Beata, and seldom
troubled to make decisions for herself. She was rather a pet with Violet,
her young stepmother, who, while preferring her to her sister, found her
the less useful of the two.

"You go, Beata, you're so quick!" Violet would say, when she wanted an
errand done, and for the same reason gave the charge of the children to
the one who was the more capable of assuming the responsibility.

It was not that Romola consciously shirked home duties, but she would any
time rather pose for an hour on the throne in the studio than take
temporary command of the nursery. Beata, on the contrary, hated sitting
still, and considered there was no greater penance than to be
commandeered by her father as a model. Her energetic temperament liked to
find its expression in outdoor activities. She had set to work upon the
neglected garden, and was busy trying to make flower-beds, and she looked