"I expect so."
"Lorraine, I can't believe you! I know Mrs. Forrester too well to imagine that she would allow you to carry on such a clandestine correspondence as this."
"But Mother likes Morland," persisted Lorraine, "and I had to write to him, to send him Rosemary's list of pieces. She asked me to let him have them soon."
Miss Kingsley looked frankly puzzled.
"Morland?" she said inquiringly. "The letter is addressed to an individual named 'Jack'."
Then a great light broke across Lorraine. In her relief she almost laughed. Her suppressed chuckle was fortunately taken for a subdued sob.
"Oh, Miss Kingsley!" she cried. "Did you get the letter out of the hollow tree?"
The head mistress nodded gravely.
"Then it's all a mistake—it wasn't—written to anybody real. It was only a little bit of fun we had among ourselves. Pa—I mean one of us—made up 'Jack' and wrote his letters, and another of us answered them. It was only nonsense!"
"Did you write this?" asked Miss Janet grimly, handing a sheet of note-paper across the table.