But no direct reply was ever given to this question, either by Rosalie’s mother, who was always made to look uncomfortable when it was asked by the Miss Pockets, or by Rosalie’s father who always seemed to jut out his nose at it and make the Miss Pockets look thinner and colder than ever.
On the morning of her eighth birthday, Rosalie received from the Miss Pockets by post an illuminated text provided with a piece of red cord for hanging on the wall and inquiring, rather abruptly,
“Who Hath Believed Our Report?”
Rosalie thought at first this was a plaintive question directly from the Miss Pockets in their capacity as school-teachers and therefore as licensed makers of reports; but immediately afterwards saw “Isaiah” printed under it in discreet characters—
“Who Hath Believed our Report? —Isaiah.”
and concluded that it was Isaiah who had believed it. On the back was written in the tall, thin handwriting of the Miss Pockets, “To our dear little pupil Rosalie, on her eighth birthday, from Agnes and Lydia Pocket.”
In the afternoon, the Miss Pockets called at the rectory and there was evidently some high mystery about their visit. Rosalie was in the study looking for a drawing pin wherewith to affix her illuminated card to the wall. Hilda ran in. “The Miss Pockets. Where’s father? Come out,” and Rosalie was hurriedly run out and shut into the dining-room, leaving the vindication of Isaiah in the matter of the report on the table. Opening the door to a chink, Rosalie saw the Miss Pockets, shivering, the permanent decoration on the nose of the elder Miss Pocket very conspicuous and agitatedly swinging, ushered into the study, and presently her father follow his jutty nose into the study after them, and very shortly after that the Miss Pockets driven out as it were by the jutty nose and looking thinner and colder than ever before. Miss Lydia Pocket, who had lost the appendage to her nose and looked curiously undressed and indelicate without it, was saying feebly, “But it was understood. We always thought it was understood.”
They shuddered away; and when Rosalie went into the study immediately afterwards to recover her card, there was upon the word Isaiah, as though somebody had literally thrown doubt upon his belief of the report, a large damp spot.
On the following day, Rosalie began lessons with Hilda.