Chapter 4, The House in Bedford Square Summary and Analysis

Chapter 4 opens with the introduction of Beatrix's cousin, Caroline Hutton, who invited her to her home in Harescombe Grange when Beatrix was twenty-eight. Caroline was something of a political and religious radical and a feminist. She was against organized religion, for poverty relief, and so on. Beatrix at the time thought marriage to be "the crown of a woman's life." The visit was pleasant, and Beatrix took some photographs of animals in the countryside. One day on a trip into Gloucester, Beatrix asked to be able to sketch some of the cottages; she did so then and on many subsequent days. As she drew, she wrote the story, and composed the tale and illustrations of The Tailor of Gloucester and sent it to Wandsworth. Potter regarded the book as superior to...