Vanity Fair. William Thackeray

suitable for a young girl. But she had never been a girl, she said; she had been a woman since she was eight years old.

      Rebecca hated the school. She argued and fought with Miss Pinkerton, and was jealous of the young ladies there. After the freedom of her father’s house, the school felt like a prison, and she was soon making plans for her escape.

      Her only friend was Amelia Sedley, and when Amelia left school at the age of seventeen, Rebecca, now aged nineteen, left school too. She had obtained a post as a governess to the daughters of Sir Pitt Crawley, to whose house she would go after spending a few weeks with Miss Sedley’s family.

      By the time the carriage arrived at the Sedleys’ house in Russell Square, Amelia had forgotten her sadness and was happy to be home again. She took great pleasure in showing Rebecca every room in the house, her piano, all her books, her dresses, her jewellery, and the wonderful presents which her brother Joseph had brought back for her from India.

      ‘It must be delightful to have a brother,’ said Rebecca. ‘He’s very rich, I expect, if he’s been in India. Is his wife very pretty?’

      ‘Oh yes, Joseph is wealthy, but he isn’t married,’ Amelia said.

      ‘Oh, what a pity!’ said Rebecca. ‘I was sure you said he was married, and I was hoping to meet your nieces and nephews.’

      But the thought that was really going through Rebecca’s mind was this: ‘If Mr Joseph Sedley is rich and unmarried, why shouldn’t I marry him? I have only a few weeks, to be sure, but there’s no harm in trying.’

      Should we blame Miss Sharp for her marriage ambitions? No, for we must remember that poor Rebecca had no kind mother to arrange this delicate business for her, and that if she did not get a husband for herself, there was no one else to do it for her.

      So Rebecca became even more affectionate to Amelia, thanking her with tears in her eyes for the presents which her dear friend had given her. And when the dinner-bell rang, she went downstairs with her arm round her friend’s waist, as is the habit of young ladies who love each other dearly.

      In the drawing-room they found a large, fat man, fashionably dressed in bright colours, sitting by the fire reading the newspaper. As the young ladies entered, he stood up quickly, and his face went red in alarm and embarrassment.

      ‘It’s only your sister, Joseph,’ said Amelia, laughing. ‘I’ve finished school, you know, and this is my friend, Miss Sharp. You’ve heard me talk about her.’

      ‘No, never,’ said Joseph in great confusion. ‘That is, yes – what very cold weather we’re having, Miss – ’, and he began to stir up the fire, although it was the middle of June.

      ‘He’s very handsome,’ Rebecca whispered, rather loudly.

      ‘Oh, do you think so?’ said Amelia. ‘I’ll tell him.’

      ‘No, please don’t!’ cried Miss Sharp, stepping back and keeping her eyes fixed modestly on the carpet.