"Yes, we do."
"And you want to go to him?"
"Yes, mamma."
"And you don't love me? You don't want to stay with me?"
Sophy glanced for a moment at her sisters.
"Papa's so kind to us," she said.
"And I'm not kind?" asked Harriet with a sneering laugh. "When you're older, my dears, thank me for having been kind—really kind. It's really kind to teach you not to play these tricks—these mean and disgraceful little tricks."
All the children rose slowly and shrank back. They tried to get behind Suzette Bligh. Harriet laughed again when she saw the manœuvre.
"You needn't stay, Suzette," she said. "I know how to manage my own children."
Suzette was very white, and was trembling all over; it seemed as if her legs would hardly support her.