‘Dear Miss Bettany,’ Captain Carrick had written,—‘Perhaps you will be surprised at what I am going to say. Possibly you will think and say very hard things about me. That is my misfortune. However, let me break to you at once the news that I am presenting you with my daughter Juliet. Circumstances over which I have no control force me to leave Europe at once with my wife. A sulky schoolgirl will only be an encumbrance to us, added to which I have very little money. At least you have been paid a term’s fees, and I dare say you can make the girl useful to you, and repay yourself for her food and clothes in that way.
‘If, in the future, I find myself able to afford to keep her again, I will send for her. Until you hear from me to this effect, she is in your hands and at your mercy.
‘I regret that I am forced to these measures, but I see nothing else for it. Of course, if you like, you can send her to the nearest orphan asylum; but I have more faith in your goodness of heart. For your own convenience, I may as well tell you that neither my wife nor I have any relatives, so search for them will be as useless as search for us. Juliet can tell you that much herself.—Au revoir!
‘Lindley F. C. Carrick.’

It's very 1920s: the charming cad who's persona non grata at the clubs of the British Raj

He’s an awfully bad hat. They do say that he was practically kicked out of here—had made the place too hot to hold him. But it’s only gossip so far, and there may be no foundation for it.

I find it moving that Juliet is worried this might happen because her parents have abandoned her before. I can’t see her telling Madge or anyone else that she thought that might happen – she’s had no reason to trust any other adults in her life and I don’t think it would have been acceptable for a child to speak out against her parents in this way.

It’s a lovely insight into Grizel’s character, from her initial assumption that Juliet must have a stepmother through to her losing interest in Juliet once she stops being a “bad girl”. It demonstrates the hardness in her. EBD was writing such good characters here with a lot of depth to them.

The one thing that never made sense to me (other than all the inexplicable puzzlement) is the idea Juliet gets that she's a foundling. The Carricks seem like the last people in the world to adopt a child/take on a ward!

I never saw it as that odd, either - I imagine that Juliet often longed for a lovely woman to come out of the wood work, and claim to be her long lost mother, or something...

I think the whole Juliet story line is completely plausible. Unfortunately, there are parents like the Carricks, parents who are into their own relationship but not into the children. Of the two, Captain Carrick is the slightly better parent, because he at least shows a modicum of guilt at abandoning Juliet. Mrs. Carrick shows no affection or concern whatsoever.

Maybe the Carricks were sexually insatiable too, although, somehow, I don't think that Mrs C would have such a discontented expression if that were the case

I have to say I find it less genuinely chilling (though it's a really good subplot) than some of the other, later Bad Parent situations which, unfortunately, EBD simply doesn't analyse as much because they're very much 'background', rather than part of the 'at school' plotline the way the Carrick storyline is.

For me the most horrible abandonment subplot has to be poor Betty Wynne-Davies, whose parents die and who is sent to boarding school when she is only six because one trustee doesn't want to be bothered with her and the other is abroad. The really sad thing is that no-one at the nurturing CS noticed that Betty had been to all intents and purposes completely neglected, when normally they would do everything they could to help her - see Jacynth.

Of course perhaps EBD only dreamt up the abandonment subplot to excuse Betty's behaviour - even the worst villains need to be redeemed. But it's horribly plausible all the same.

I always imagine Lindley as being a gambler and womaniser - perhaps also passing fraudulent cheques, or something. Maybe they want to get rid of Juliet because she is costing money that might otherwise be spent on booze and cards!

I wonder if Mary Welsey had read CS and was channeling Juliet when she wrote A Sensible Life. The heroine, Flora, was the daughter of Anglo-Indians (in the EBD sense of British in India) and her parents had no time for her. Mind you, in that case it was because they were so sexually enthralled by each other that there was no room for anyone else (and there was another reason too, but it would be a spoiler in case anyone hasn't read the book, although it would also fit in with what Juliet thinks, sort of).
Maybe the Carricks were sexually insatiable too, although, somehow, I don't think that Mrs C would have such a discontented expression if that were the case

That sounds distinctly possible. When my little sister was a baby and only fostered with us, pre-adoption, we would send her out for the day with her birth mother (since the idea at the time was to get the two of them back together) and she would come back wearing little more than rags - the nice outfit we'd dressed her in would have been sold for drug money. Even her milk tokens were swapped for cigarettes. Sad though it is, some parents do place their vices ahead of their children.