"I did not send it, Miss Julian," she answered at last. "I did not even know it had been sent till I heard the other girls talking about it."
"Do you know who sent it?"
"I—I think so."
"Who was it, then?"
Monica was silent.
"A girl in this school?"
Monica shook her head.
"Was it one of the Fairhurst Priory girls? This girl with whom you correspond?"
Again Monica was silent.
"Come, Monica," said Miss Julian. "I must know the truth. I shall be obliged to think the worst of you if you don't speak up frankly. Can you explain why this girl wrote such a letter to you?" and she picked up from the table the letter Irene had purloined. "Do you think this is a very nice kind of letter to receive from a girl in another school? Listen to this, for instance: 'Do you still hate rules and regulations and persons in authority? ... Don't you think it would be fun to put a little spoke in their wheels, I mean in St. Etheldreda's hopes of winning the shield? I know how clever you are and how full of ideas. I should love to see if you could pull it off.' That does not sound very loyal to your school, does it?"