"But didn't we agree that for a month we should try work in the morning and play in the afternoon? We are going to give it a trial."
There was silence.
Then Josie shrugged her shoulders.
"It's no good going to Ruffie to make him decide. You've got him quite over on your side. It isn't fair."
"You come over too," said Anstice, laughing; "then we shall be a very happy family."
"Did Mrs. Fergusson see the Czar being murdered? Did she see the little girls being killed?" asked Georgie breathlessly.
"No, but she heard about it, and she has seen the one poor child who is left alive."
Anstice walked away. She had announced her intentions, and thought the less discussion about it the better.
The very next morning Mrs. Fergusson appeared. She rode on a tricycle which was well known to the little girls, as they had had rides on it themselves when playing with Ivan.
Anstice had made a very comfortable room of the library. Curtains and chair-covers had been renovated, a fresh carpet put down, and the whole room cleaned and polished till everything in it looked spotless and shining. This was to be the schoolroom and only used for lessons.