My Brilliant Career

Impulsively, Sybylla confides in Aunt Helen the truth of the run to the post office. Helen frets over whether Sybylla and Harry have had sex, or what she terms “something more than common politeness” (52). Sybylla assures her aunt that the answer is no, because she “is branded with the stinging affliction of ugliness” (52). The aunt cautions Sybylla not to trifle with Harry’s heart. Sybylla assures her he is too conceited to be toyed with.

That week, Australia, then part of the United Kingdom, celebrates the Prince of Wales’s birthday. The family is off for the annual horse race near Five-Bob Down. Sybylla’s uncle cautions her to be wary of Harry Beechum, whose temper is notorious. Sybylla can hardly believe the man is capable of any strong emotion: “I wished I could see a little of it” (55). The neighbors gather for the picnic, including the Beechums, and Sybylla notices one striking woman, Blanche Derrick, paying particular attention to Harry. Sybylla recalls, “She was the kind of woman with whom men become much infatuated” (57).