“Perhaps they may be improved.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “See what my father has to say of them.”
“Is there much distress?”
“There ought not to be, for old Dr Fogram and my father send down a handsome sum for blankets and coals every Christmas, and Uphill takes care to get its share!” He laughed. “No sinecure distributing!”
“We have not been to see the school yet.”
“A decrepit old crone, poor old body! She will soon have to give in. She can’t even keep the children from pulling off her spectacles.”
“And Sunday School?”
“Well, my father doesn’t approve of cramming the poor children. I believe the Methodists have something of the kind at Downhill; but there is no one to attend to one here, and the place is quite free of dissent.”
“Cause and effect?” said Captain Carbonel, drily.
“Would you object if we tried to teach the poor children something?” asked Mrs Carbonel, cautiously.