"It was the thought of my mother's awful disappointment that tempted me to lie to Miss Martin," she said. "It all happened so quickly I scarcely had time to think clearly. I was so afraid of being expelled—I will be now, of course. Miss North is going to bring the whole thing before the Faculty to-morrow."
"Oh, no—surely she won't do that!" Blue Bonnet cried. "Did you tell her what you've just told me, Joy?"
"No. I'm not playing for sympathy. I'll take what's coming, if—if only the girls didn't have to know."
"They don't," Blue Bonnet said determinedly. "Nobody knows it but Annabel Jackson and myself. Annabel won't tell, and nobody ever knows what goes on in Faculty. Now, what is that?"
A knock had startled both girls. Blue Bonnet went to the door.
"Oh, dear," she said, "I forgot all about going to study hour. I just know that's Fraulein."
Fraulein it was.
"You were not in the study hall, Miss Ashe," she said, craning her neck to see into the room.
Blue Bonnet stepped outside and closed the door.
"No, I wasn't. I was engaged."