Jill coloured up at once.
"I like boys better than girls," she said in her stubborn tone. "I know I shan't like them."
"You must be civil and kind to them, or else I shall send you back to the school-room. But perhaps that will be no punishment. I think you must have altered your mind about governesses, Jill."
"Yes," said Jill in a different tone. "But Miss Falkner is not like a governess. She's very fond of us, she says so!"
"Extraordinary! You don't say so!"
Mona laughed again, then put Bumps off her lap.
"Now run away, small people, and remember if you appear in the garden on Wednesday, you must be in the cleanest frocks and the sweetest tempers. Otherwise you must make yourselves scarce."
"Like the children walking to the Golden City," said Bumps trotting after Jill.
Jill looked down at her with troubled eyes.