"In betting!" echoed Ann, looking astounded. "But, Malvina, I never knew—why, surely girls don't bet?" she asked incredulously.
"Oh, yes, indeed they do," Malvina declared, with a sob; "you wouldn't know it, but they do. A lot of betting goes on amongst the factory women and girls, and the bookmakers have their agents everywhere—even in the workshops, and lately poor Lottie's been led away by them. She thinks she's going to make her fortune, I believe."
"Oh, Malvina, how dreadful!" cried Ann in a shocked voice, exchanging a look of concern with Violet who was no less astonished and dismayed than herself. "I've heard father say that this is a terrible place for betting," she continued, "but I never imagined that girls would go in for it. Lottie must be out of her mind."
"If Lottie is out of her mind there are many others like her," Malvina asserted, shaking her head sadly. "You can understand what a great trouble this is to mother and me, Miss Ann, can't you?"
"Oh, indeed, yes! I am so sorry for you!"
"You see, Lottie won't listen to reason. Mother's told her that she'll end by bringing us to ruin, but she doesn't believe it. The first bet she made she won, and that made her go on; but she loses much more than she wins now, and the last three weeks she hasn't put a penny towards the housekeeping, and she's grown so ill-tempered, so unlike herself, and the most extraordinary thing is that, though she's bound to see the misery betting brings to others, it doesn't teach her a lesson. There's a family living in the same house as we do, they have the third storey, and sometimes the children haven't food to eat though their father's in regular employment; it's because his earnings mostly go in betting. I could tell you of a great many cases as bad, but I don't think I ought to. I see I've shocked you, Miss Ann, and you, too, miss," she concluded, glancing at Violet, who had been listening to all she had said with the keenest interest.
As a matter-of-fact Violet was even more shocked than Ann, for she knew nothing about the vices of big towns and cities; she had been shielded in her home from the knowledge of a great deal which had never been hidden from Ann, who was fully aware that intemperance and gambling were at the root of much of the poverty and misery which overshadowed the wage-earning classes in Barford. But Ann had not realised before to-day that even young girls were in the habit of betting, and, though she did her best to console Malvina by saying she trusted Lottie would soon see the error she was committing, her heart was filled with dismay, for she had frequently heard her father say that the mania for betting grew, and she foresaw continued trouble for Malvina and her widowed mother.
By-and-by Mrs. Reed appeared upon the scene, much to the relief of mind of her daughter, and, having examined Malvina's work and expressed her satisfaction with it, she promptly paid the money due for it and gave an order for some more. Then, cheered and refreshed by the good meal she had had, Malvina took her departure, saying she would now be able to reach home before dark.
As soon as Malvina had gone, Ann informed her mother of the tale she and Violet had heard about Lottie. Needless to say Mrs. Reed was much concerned, though she was far less surprised than the girls had been. She felt very grieved for poor Mrs. Medland and Malvina; but she shook her head when Ann asked her if she could not interfere in the matter; she could not see her way to do so.
That night, after dinner, when the doctor came into the drawing-room for the quiet hour he always so greatly enjoyed, Ann immediately spoke to him of Malvina's visit and the trouble in connection with Malvina's sister, and, though he did not know the deformed girl except by name as a protégé of his wife's, he showed no lack of interest in all his daughter told him.