Betty is a 14-year-old servant who works at Hundreds Hall. Though immature, Betty is a well-intentioned girl who does her best to take care of Hundreds Hall and the Ayers family. However, Hundreds frightens Betty, and she is the first person who believes it might be haunted. Although Faraday regularly dismisses her, by the end of the novel he cannot help but wonder whether she is right.
Betty Quotes in The Little Stranger
The The Little Stranger quotes below are all either spoken by Betty or refer to Betty . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3
Quotes
In fact, I’d say that probably the only person who wasn’t watching Gillian was Betty. After going around with the toast, she had put herself over by the door, and had been standing there with her gaze lowered, just as she had been trained. And yet—it was an extraordinary thing, but none of us could afterwards say that we had been looking at Gillian exactly when the incident occurred.
Related Characters:
Faraday (speaker), Gyp , Gillian Baker-Hyde , Roderick Ayers , Betty
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14
Quotes
She had called out: ‘You.’ […] She called it as if she had seen someone she knew, sir, but as though she was afraid of them. Mortal afraid. And after that I heard her running. She came running back towards the stairs. I got out of bed, and went over to the door, and quickly opened it. And that’s when I saw her falling.
Related Characters:
Betty (speaker), Caroline Ayers , Faraday , Mrs. Ayers
Related Symbols:
Hundreds Hall
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Little Stranger LitChart as a printable PDF.
Betty Character Timeline in The Little Stranger
The timeline below shows where the character Betty appears in The Little Stranger. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
Caroline takes Faraday to Betty, the ill maid, who is only a teenager. Faraday introduces himself to Betty and asks...
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After Caroline is gone, Faraday tells Betty there is nothing wrong with her, and he knows her screams are fake. Betty does...
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Betty explains that she wants to go home for a while because she needs a break...
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Betty’s story reminds Faraday of his mother. He recalls that she was even younger when she...
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Faraday asks Caroline to do her best to make sure Betty is happy. Caroline insists that they treat Betty well and that, in some ways, she...
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...apologizes. She promises they treat their servants well because she suspects he is thinking about Betty. Faraday tells Mrs. Ayers that, actually, he was thinking about his mother. Mrs. Ayers tells...
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...is busy. Then, Roderick again thanks Faraday and asks him about the bill for seeing Betty. Faraday tells Roderick that the picture is payment enough, but Roderick insists on paying an...
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Chapter 2
...after his visit to Hundreds, Faraday feels like himself again. He sends a prescription for Betty out to Hundreds, but otherwise has no contact with the Ayerses for quite some time....
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...sees him and offers some blackberries she has been picking. They eventually start talking about Betty. Caroline says Betty recovered almost immediately and asks if Faraday sent her fake pills. Faraday...
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...treatment went. Caroline complains about the messiness of Roderick’s room and how he doesn’t let Betty in to clean. In response, Roderick says he cannot keep Betty out of his room;...
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...lovely family, though as she is saying so, the sound of rattling china interrupts her. Betty enters the room with the tea, and Mrs. Ayers immediately chastises her for her clumsiness....
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Chapter 3
...it. Although Caroline does a lot of work herself, she also tasks Mrs. Bazeley and Betty with more work than they are used to. Although Mrs. Bazeley complains, she and Betty...
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A few minutes later, the first guests show up to the party. Betty lets them in and brings them to Mrs. Ayers. Faraday recognizes the other families in...
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...asks after Roderick, who still has not shown up for the party. Mrs. Ayers sends Betty upstairs to fetch him. Betty returns minutes later, looking flustered, and says that Roderick will...
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Chapter 4
...holds his hand on Gyp’s heart until he feels it stop. After, he talks to Betty and Mrs. Bazeley, who are both upset about Gyp’s demise. In particular, Betty is distraught....
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Chapter 5
Faraday hypothesizes that Betty could have made the mark. However, Caroline dismisses this hypothesis as well. Additionally, Caroline points...
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...begins dressing, he realizes the collar he had just set out is missing. Roderick calls Betty upstairs and asks her if she has moved it. Betty claims she did not touch...
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...itself at Roderick. Roderick barely avoids it and runs out of the room. Moments later, Betty returns to check on Roderick. Roderick cannot remember what he said to Betty, but apparently,...
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Chapter 6
Caroline sends Betty away to clean, and Faraday follows her. Faraday has just remembered what Betty told him...
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At dinner, Roderick refuses to eat. Instead, he asks Betty to refill his wine glass. Caroline tries to convince Roderick to eat, but he does...
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...Roderick is a danger to himself. His response sends Roderick into another tirade. Roderick orders Betty up to the room and then asks her to escort Faraday away. Faraday goes downstairs...
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Chapter 7
...the source of the fire in Roderick's room. With the help of Mrs. Ayers and Betty, she grabs some blankets and rushes into the room to extinguish the fire while Roderick...
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Betty takes the family into the kitchen to get them cleaned up. She washes Mrs. Ayers...
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Because Roderick is no longer in the house, Caroline and Mrs. Ayers give Betty a bedroom upstairs. They feel safer this way and think that Betty deserves the room...
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Chapter 8
...them. They tear apart the room looking for them but to no avail. Minutes later, Betty comes downstairs and hands the reading glasses to Mrs. Ayers. Mrs. Ayers apologizes for her...
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...Ayers alone, but Caroline assures him she will be fine. After all, she does have Betty to take care of her.
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Chapter 9
One day, while tending to some water damage in the house, Betty and Mrs. Bazeley find strange marks beside the window where Gyp bit Gillian. They point...
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...the whole incident up to rats (or some other pest) in the walls. Caroline orders Betty to help her move the cabinet away from the wall. When she does, she sees...
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...markings do not bother Caroline initially, but Mrs. Ayers seems deeply disturbed. Mrs. Ayers tells Betty to cover the marks and not mention them again. Mrs. Ayers's reaction worries Caroline, and...
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A few nights later, the same sound wakes up Mrs. Ayers. She calls for Betty and orders her to stand by while she investigates the source of the disruption. However,...
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...gets upstairs, he sees Mrs. Ayers in a good mood. Mrs. Ayers is watching as Betty tries on some of her old dresses. This activity brings Mrs. Ayers joy, and she...
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Chapter 10
...no one touches them. For a while, they create a great deal of confusion for Betty and Mrs. Bazeley, who think the Ayerses are messing with them. Eventually, they realize the...
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Unfortunately, Faraday’s solution does not last long. A few days later, while Betty and Mrs. Bazeley are working in the kitchen, they watch the speaking tube uncork itself....
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...some time, she thinks she hears footsteps in the hallway, which she assumes belong to Betty, but still, no one arrives to help her. Mrs. Ayers looks through the door’s keyhole...
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...Ayers’s horror reaches a fever pitch when she looks outside and sees Mrs. Bazeley and Betty with Caroline. At this point, she realizes the breathing must be coming from someone else...
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However, by the time Caroline, Betty, and Mrs. Bazeley make their way to the nursery, nothing seems out of place. The...
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Chapter 11
...which member of the Ayers family could be responsible for the poltergeist. He even posits Betty as an option. Meanwhile, as Seeley speaks, Faraday wonders if Caroline is the one responsible...
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Chapter 12
...a snowy day in March, Faraday pays a visit to Hundreds Hall. Inside, he finds Betty and Mrs. Ayers playing a game together, though Caroline is nowhere in sight. Mrs. Ayers...
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...though he sleeps poorly. In the morning, he wakes up to an urgent call from Betty, asking him to get to Hundreds Hall as soon as possible. However, she refuses to...
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Chapter 13
...begins funeral arrangements. For some time, Hundreds is even darker than normal because Caroline has Betty close all the shutters in a symbolic show of respect for the dead. Meanwhile, Faraday...
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...day for Caroline, though she manages to get through it. After the service, Faraday helps Betty clean, and he is the last one to leave Hundreds in the evening. However, before...
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Chapter 14
...Faraday asks Graham what is wrong, and Graham tells him that Caroline is dead. Apparently, Betty has been trying to get in touch with Faraday to let him know, but he...
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...Caroline fell over the second story banister, even though none of the banisters were broken. Betty tells Graham that she heard Caroline walking around and when she went outside to check...
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...Because of the strange circumstances surrounding Caroline’s death, a formal inquest takes place, and Graham, Betty, and Faraday are all asked to attend. Betty testifies first and shocks the judge when...
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Eventually, it is Faraday’s turn to testify. The judge asks Faraday about Betty’s strange testimony and Faraday admits that Caroline did seem to believe in the supernatural. The...
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Chapter 15
One day, Faraday sees Betty out with her boyfriend. She looks much healthier than Faraday remembers, and he asks her...
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