# Hetty — The Venetians character guide

> Hetty in The Venetians by M. E. Braddon.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the impulsive Hetty, poor Hetty, Miss Hetty, Hester, the devoted Hetty

**First appearance:** 0000-i-in-the-city-by-the-sea

## Snapshot

A fifteen-year-old whirlwind of travel-raptures and atlas-poring, Hetty drags her grieving sister across Europe, determined that no one shall brood in her company.

## Who they are

Hetty is the youngest Marchant sister, a girl so absorbed in novelty and motion that she leaves little room for anyone else's feelings — yet her contagious delight in railway carriages and Lucerne sunsets is precisely what keeps her heartbroken sister Eve moving through the days. Her devotion expresses itself as cheerful tyranny: she reads Baedeker every morning and gives Eve no rest until the day's excursion is settled. In the novel's middle stretch, her irrepressible energy becomes the engine of the sisters' Continental wandering, and her late-blooming education at Lausanne quietly signals that even the most childlike among them is being shaped by loss.

## Relationships

### [Eve Marchant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_venetians_se/characters/eve_marchant)

_professional_

Hetty is a servant or companion to Eve, providing domestic support and occasional gossip.

### [Eve Marchant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_venetians_se/characters/eve_marchant)

_professional_

Hetty is a servant or companion to Eve, providing domestic support and occasional gossip.

### [Eve Marchant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_venetians_se/characters/eve_marchant)

_professional_

Hetty is a servant or companion to Eve, providing domestic support and occasional gossip.

## In the story

### [Teatime in Arcadia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_venetians_se/chapters/v-teatime-in-arcadia)

One of the younger Marchant sisters, she is hilariously amused by Vansittart's question about late dinner, revealing the family's modest means.

### [He Would Take His Time](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_venetians_se/chapters/vii-he-would-take-his-time)

Distracts the group by chasing a squirrel, illustrating her youthful innocence.

### [XVII: “She Was More Fair Than Words Can Say”](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_venetians_se/chapters/xvii-she-was-more-fair-than-words-can-say)

Hetty is excited about the gift and defends Mr. Sefton's gesture, showing her more naive and materialistic perspective.

### [XXXI: “Oh Tell Her, Brief Is Life, but Love Is Long”](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_venetians_se/chapters/xxxi-oh-tell-her-brief-is-life-but-love-is-long)

Eve's lively younger sister, now a pretty girl, who accompanies Eve and tries to distract her with travel and education.

### [A Scene of Light and Glory](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_venetians_se/chapters/xxxii-a-scene-of-light-and-glory)

Hetty has been a devoted comfort to Eve during her illness. She is youthful and enthusiastic, enchanted by the sights of Venice, unaware of the painful associations the city holds for her sister.

### [XXXIII: “Both Together, He Her God, She His Idol”](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_venetians_se/chapters/xxxiii-both-together-he-her-god-she-his-idol)

Eve's sister, who is present and concerned, accompanying Eve during her illness and travels.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_venetians_se/characters/hetty
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_venetians_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_venetians_se/characters