Beryl and Pearl

"Beryl and Pearl" by Agnes Giberne is a novel written in the late 19th century. It centers on two orphaned sisters—plain, headstrong Beryl and pretty, pliant Pearl—taken in by their impulsive aunt-by-marriage, Diana Fenwick, while steadier relatives hover nearby. The tale explores favoritism, character, and Christian duty within a domestic circle. Expect a moral family drama charting the sisters’ diverging paths and the adults who shape them. The opening of the novel introduces three Crosbie sisters—gentle widow Millicent, impetuous young widow Diana, and austere spinster Marian—and their outspoken Uncle Josiah, as a letter about the destitute Fordyce girls arrives. We then see Beryl overhear a servant’s harsh verdict on her looks and temper, steel herself to protect beloved Pearl, and learn from the shy clergyman Mr. Bishop that Diana may offer them a home. Diana impulsively visits, is instantly enchanted with Pearl’s dainty charm, cool to Beryl, and brings both children back, separating their rooms and revealing clear favoritism. After Mr. Crosbie’s counsel, Diana resolves to send Beryl to a cheap Bath school; a brief bright interlude comes when Millicent’s kind twin sons take Beryl primrosing, but on returning she accidentally breaks a Sèvres vase, is slapped, and refuses an apology. Beryl is packed off to Mrs. Brigstock’s second-rate school, where, over the next years, she becomes solitary, dutiful, and self-controlled, seldom seeing Pearl. This summary covers only the opening portion, which closes on the eve of Beryl’s leaving school.

Beryl and Pearl, by Agnes Giberne. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #78471.