"She is such a plain child," Mrs. Crawford said pityingly,afterward. "And her mother was such a pretty creature PA rental.
　　She had a very pretty manner, too, and Mary has the mostunattractive ways I ever saw in a child. The childrencall her `Mistress Mary Quite Contrary,' and thoughit's naughty of them, one can't help understanding it.""Perhaps if her mother had carried her pretty faceand her pretty manners oftener into the nursery Marymight have learned some pretty ways too. It is very sad,now the poor beautiful thing is gone, to remember thatmany people never even knew that she had a child at all.""I believe she scarcely ever looked at her,"sighed Mrs. Crawford. "When her Ayah was dead therewas no one to give a thought to the little thing.
　　Think of the servants running away and leaving her allalone in that deserted bungalow. Colonel McGrew said henearly jumped out of his skin when he opened the doorand found her standing by herself in the middle of the room."Mary made the long voyage to England under the care ofan officer's wife, who was taking her children to leavethem in a boarding-school. She was very much absorbedin her own little boy and girl, and was rather glad to handthe child over to the woman Mr. Archibald Craven sentto meet her, in London. The woman was his housekeeperat Misselthwaite Manor, and her name was Mrs. Medlock Master of Business Administration Hong Kong.
　　She was a stout woman, with very red cheeks and sharpblack eyes. She wore a very purple dress, a blacksilk mantle with jet fringe on it and a black bonnetwith purple velvet flowers which stuck up and trembledwhen she moved her head. Mary did not like her at all,but as she very seldom liked people there was nothingremarkable in that; besides which it was very evidentMrs. Medlock did not think much of her.
　　"My word! she's a plain little piece of goods!" she said.
　　"And we'd heard that her mother was a beauty. She hasn'thanded much of it down, has she, ma'am?" " as she grows older," the officer's wifesaid good-naturedly. "If she were not so sallow and hada nicer expression, her features are rather good.
　　Children alter so much.""She'll have to alter a good deal," answered Mrs. Medlock hair styling class.
　　"And, there's nothing likely to improve children atMisselthwaite--if you ask me!" They thought Mary was notlistening because she was standing a little apart from themat the window of the private hotel they had gone to.
　　She was watching the passing buses and cabs and people,but she heard quite well and was made very curious abouther uncle and the place he lived in. What sort of a placewas it, and what would he be like? What was a hunchback?
　　She had never seen one. Perhaps there were none in India.