Harebell flung herself into her arms.
"I can't say, but I never tell lies, do I? Do I? Aunt Diana says I do."
"And does Peter say you do?"
Mrs. Garland looked at her small son very keenly.
"No—no!" he stammered. "I never said she did. It isn't my fault!"
"She's going to be sent to school, and she doesn't like it," said Nan. "Her aunt is angry with her."
Mrs. Garland tried to discover what had happened, but neither Peter nor Harebell would tell her, and Nan was as much in the dark as she was.
Miss Forster interrupted them, and lessons began. Harebell naturally did hers very badly, but Miss Forster saw she was much upset and made allowances. When twelve o'clock came, they went into the garden to play. Harebell left the others, and wandered round the paths in the shrubbery, feeling very miserable.
"I'm not a bit like a child who is inside the Door," she told herself. "I've been in a temper with Peter, and I'm sure I oughtn't to be. Jesus Christ wasn't angry when He was ill-treated, and I know He doesn't want me to be. But it's very hard not to call Peter names. He is the meanest—sneakiest—oh, I mustn't! But how can I love him when it's all his fault, and not mine at all!"
It was a hard struggle with Harebell. Her sense of justice was great, and her punishment she knew was not deserved. But before she left the Rectory she went up to Peter.