She was not so clever or go-ahead
as Beata, and was rather dreamy and romantic in temperament, with a gift
towards painting and poetry, and a disinclination to do anything very
definite. She left most of the problems of life to Beata, and seldom
troubled to make decisions for herself. She was rather a pet with Violet,
her young stepmother, who, while preferring her to her sister, found her
the less useful of the two.
"You go, Beata, you're so quick!" Violet would say, when she wanted an
errand done, and for the same reason gave the charge of the children to
the one who was the more capable of assuming the responsibility.
It was not that Romola consciously shirked home duties, but she would any
time rather pose for an hour on the throne in the studio than take
temporary command of the nursery. Beata, on the contrary, hated sitting
still, and considered there was no greater penance than to be
commandeered by her father as a model. Her energetic temperament liked to
find its expression in outdoor activities.
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