Mrs. Mayhew petted and scolded her child according to her mood,
but was quite consistent in her general neglect. Mr. Mayhew was
a tired, busy man, who visited at his own home rather than lived
there. Thus the growing girl was left chiefly to her own impulses,
and average human nature ensured that the habit of thinking of
herself first and of pleasing herself at all times should be early
formed. Then, as she saw and became capable of understanding the
homage that waits on mere beauty, the world over, pride and vanity
grew in overshadowing rankness. The attention she received, however,
was chiefly made up of the bold stare of strangers, and the open
flattery of those who admired her beauty as they would that of a
picture, unconsciously but correctly leaving the impression that
they cared for her only because of her beauty. That the girl's
nature should grow hard and callous under such influences was what
might have been expected.
Neglect and a miserable sham of an education had dwarfed her mind.
She had been "finished" by an ultra fashionable school before she
understood the meaning of the studies which she passed over in a
dainty quickstep, scarcely touching the surface.
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