The half-sovereign was conscience money, Aldred reflected sadly, as she returned to the fireside after bidding her friend good-bye. There was neither real pleasure nor merit in her gift, only a wish to make expiation for a fault that she dared not openly confess. She was like the Norman barons of old who gave large sums to the Church, to try to atone for the sins they still went on committing. She had no intention of explaining or setting the matter of the chair right, and her most earnest hope was that Mabel had succeeded in turning away the suspicions of the other girls from her, or, at least, in closing their mouths.
"They won't like to mention it any more, from fear of offending Mabel," she thought. "There's not one of them who would risk a quarrel. I expect I'm safe enough, and needn't worry about it: but oh, dear! Mabel thinks I'm so generous, and everything that's noble and splendid and good; I wonder what she would say, if she knew me as I really am!"
CHAPTER XIII
Aldred pays a Visit
Miss Bardsley, after nearly six weeks' absence from school, returned to her work with renewed zeal, and under her judicious rule the Fourth Form was once more the abode of order and attention, Miss Webb's brief interlude was soon an old story, and Aldred, except for the inward monitor that insisted on recalling unpleasant things, was troubled with no awkward reminiscences, or demands for an explanation which she was not prepared to give. The days were so full and so busy at the Grange that the girls were generally occupied with the affairs of the moment, and they had neither time nor inclination for recollections of an episode that had reflected so little credit upon the Form.
The spring term was often called "Indoor Science Term", because on Wednesday evenings Miss Drummond gave lectures that were intended as a preparation for the botanical and zoological rambles held during the summer. In May, June, and July the girls would be taken to search for wild flowers upon the downs, and for marine specimens of all kinds on the beach; and it was Miss Drummond's object to enable them to understand beforehand what they were likely to find. Sometimes she had a magic lantern and sometimes a microscope, and always she had something interesting to tell and to show, whether it was the marvels of plant life or the wonders of the seashore; and she could make her nature stories sound as thrilling as human ones.
There were attendances also at concerts and University Extension lectures at Chetbourne, to which the school went in relays; Miss Drummond liked to keep her girls in touch with the outside world, and did not wish them to remain continually shut up in the Grange, as if it were a nunnery. At mealtimes, though she banned politics, she generally discussed the news of the day and any great events that were happening, so that nobody could plead ignorance of current topics. At the Debating Society all kinds of questions were aired and argued, the opposing papers being entrusted to members of the Fifth and Sixth Forms, though the Lower School was allowed to express its opinion. The meetings were conducted in a strictly business-like and orderly manner worthy of a college society, having been organized by Miss Forster and Miss Bardsley, who were both well versed in Girton traditions. Aldred enjoyed them immensely, and, finding several opportunities of putting in a few words, did not hesitate to avail herself of her chances. She was not shy, and had perhaps inherited a propensity for discussion from her barrister father, so she was able to do herself ample justice, and to reflect credit upon the Fourth Form.
"You simply squashed Freda on the subject of Socialism," said Mabel, after one particularly successful little speech. "Her thesis went all to pieces when you nailed her to the point, and she couldn't prove anything. I wish I had such clear brains! You see the weak spots in people's arguments immediately, and then you can bowl them over like ninepins."
Mabel herself had no gift of eloquence, so she appreciated Aldred's powers all the more, and was immensely proud of her success.
"I can't imagine how I lived before you came to school," she sometimes remarked. "I was a wheel without an axle. Now everything I do centres round you, and the best of it is that Mother likes you too!"