“Oh, I suppose they all behave well enough,” carelessly replied Mathilde. “They have to. But look at their clothes, and the way they talk!”
“I never dress up much for school myself,” said Betty, who had a sound suspicion that the reason Mathilde was attaching herself to her this morning was her relation to Lucia Coletti. “And when it comes to language, do you know, some of the worst I’ve heard came from girls out of wealthy homes. So far as I’m concerned, give me the good old public schools, though I’d love to go to boarding school some time, just for the fun of it. Why, there’s Lucia now!”
Betty and Mathilde stopped in the middle of the big hall as Lucia Coletti came out of the principal’s office. Her face lit up as she saw Betty and she hurried toward the girls.
“This is—what you call luck—Betty. Good morning—and I think I met you, yesterday, Miss ——?”
“It is Mathilde Finn, Lucia,” said Betty, as Lucia looked doubtfully at Mathilde. “She has been at a private school, too, and is coming back to us now—a sophomore like the rest of us.”
Betty spoke cordially, as Betty would, and together the three made their way to their home room. But Mathilde’s manner to Lucia amused her and when lunch time came and Dotty Bradshaw fell in with her, just behind Lucia, whom Mathilde had in tow, she could not help smiling at Dotty’s comments.
“Ha!” said Dotty in a dramatic whisper. “Finny is rushing the countess, I see. Look out, Betty. She’ll cut you out with royalty.”
“Why should I mind, Dotty?” laughed Betty. “I like Lucia and I think that she’s going to take hold of things as you’d scarcely expect a girl that’s been used to everything to do. She’s got a lot of those old Romans in her, I imagine, to say nothing of what she gets of good American pep, if not so old! Oh, Dotty, I’ve got such loads to do I haven’t time to think about whether I get cut out with anybody!”
“Lessons getting on your nerves?”
“Somewhatly!”