"Do many of the girls believe this story against her, Clara?"
"Well, some do, but a great many do not. I daresay she'll never hear it herself; I'm sure I hope she won't, for it would make her very unhappy. Is it really true that her people are so poor?"
"They have been rather badly off, hitherto; but it will be different for them in future, if all goes well. Mr. Wyndham has lately accepted a very good appointment as editor of one of the best paying papers in London."
"Oh, I am glad!" Clara exclaimed heartily; "I suppose Agnes does not know that?"
"I expect not. Oh, Clara, I am so grieved at what you have told me! I don't know what I ought to do about it."
"I am afraid there is nothing to be done," returned Clara, with a grave shake of her head.
"I am really afraid there is not," agreed Ann. "It has often crossed my mind that Agnes might suspect one of our servants of having taken her purse, and that was bad enough, but this—oh, this is dreadful! I call it positively wicked to speak of a suspicion, specially one based on such slight grounds. I wonder if I had better speak to Agnes about it?"
"I should not; I should let her go. She does not actually say that Violet has stolen her purse, only that she suspects her of having done so, and she says she has a right to think what she likes. My opinion is that she did not mean this story, which she has trumped up against Violet, to become so generally known, for she told it as a secret in the first place; of course it did not remain a secret long, then she got frightened—I know she did because she tried to hush the matter up—but she couldn't take back her words. She allowed her temper to get the better of her discretion when she spoke of Violet as she did just now."
"Do you think she really suspects Violet of having stolen her purse?" asked Ann; and the expression of deep concern and anxiety on her face was intensified as her companion nodded assent.
At that point their conversation was interrupted by Violet herself, who joined them in the best of spirits. She and her partner had won the set of tennis they had been playing, and she was pleased and triumphant on that account. With her customary quickness she noticed that both Ann and Clara looked embarrassed, and she jumped to the conclusion that they had been talking about her, and, in consequence, when she and Ann were walking home together, a half hour later, she said:—