“Poor Mrs. Hill, and poor Stella!” said the head mistress quietly. “Margot, you must really try to conform to English ways.”
That was all.
“Only——” as Margot confided to Gretta later on, “Gretta, what else could I have done? You see, I truly thought the baby was unhappy, so what else could I do?”
CHAPTER XII
THE HOUSE ON THE CLIFF
STELLA’S quarantine was over at last.
“And what do you think!” exclaimed the returned prodigal. “I’ve got the most exciting thing to tell you. Just wait till to-night—all of you! You will open your eyes!”
The girls addressed, being her three dormitory partners, opened their eyes instantly and widely; and with one accord, although the place was the cloak-room, and the time just five minutes before prayers on Monday morning, begged for instant disclosures.
“But I can’t!” urged Stella. “I’ve only just come, though I’m sure I begged the boy to drive quickly! And if the bell rings before I’m undressed I’ll be late.” She pulled feverishly at her coat, and tried to kick off one of her shoes at the same moment, just as Miss Read’s voice sounded urgently from the door.
“No more talking, and all the girls who are ready will go straight to their class-rooms. The prayer-bell will ring almost at once.”
With a sigh that the command should have come at such a tantalizing moment, the friends dispersed, Josy to seek the Fourth Form room, Gretta and Margot to make their way to the Upper Third, while Stella continued to undress in frantic haste in the empty cloak-room.