Life was so full of different things, and so many fresh interests and new plans were crowding continually into her brain,

that she never had time to think whether her tie was neatly knotted or her belt properly fastened;

it is a sad admission to make, no doubt, but then Georgina was no ideal heroine,

only a very faulty, impetuous, headstrong, human girl.

Three little brothers completed the Gascoyne family–Giles, Basil, and Martin, aged respectively ten, nine, and five, bonny mischievous urchins, who were alternately Beatrice’s pride and despair.

By vigorous measures, she managed to keep them in tolerably good order,

but she could never be sure what pranks they would play next,

and was generally prepared for emergencies.