The Two Bed-Chambers
- Hetty and Dinah are both getting ready for bed "in rooms adjoining each other, meagerly furnished rooms, with no blinds to shut out the light" (15.1). And that's pretty much where the similarities stop. Adjoining rooms or no adjoining rooms, the two girls are worlds away—personality-wise, that is.
- Here's what Hetty cares about: her pretty hair, her reputation as a local beauty, and her trinkets. As she gets ready for bed, she parades around with "large ear-rings in her ears" and a "black lace scarf adjusted round her shoulders" (15.4). How could Arthur resist? Soon, Hetty thinks, he'll take her away from those humdrum Poysers and make her a real lady. And that'll be the end of her little bedroom parade routine.
- Here's what Dinah cares about: the "wide view over the fields" from her bedroom window, God, and her Bible (15.17). As she prepares for bed, she reflects compassionately on all the people she's helped. But she's concerned about Hetty, "that sweet young thing with life and all its trials before her" (15.17).
- Seeking divine guidance for this difficult case, Dinah opens her Bible and points at a random passage. She hits upon a passage about St. Paul, weeping, compassion, what you will. And this convinces her to pay a visit to Hetty's room.
- Hetty is still in the middle of her scarf-and-earrings routine when Dinah comes in. But Dinah wants to tell Hetty that, "if ever you are in trouble, and need a fried that will always feel for you and love you, you have got that friend in Dinah Morris" (15.23).
- Hetty isn't sure where this is coming from. So Dinah talks to her about trials, and suffering, and makes Hetty cry. Wow, Hetty cries at the drop of a hat. So Dinah says some kind words before heading out. Then Hetty turns off her waterworks, and goes to sleep.