"Am I to tell him that no maid will stay with her? That she shows no desire to improve? That she mimics and angers her teachers, refuses to study and plays impish tricks like some mischievous little elf? Am I to tell him THAT?"
"Serve her jolly well right if you did. Eh, Ethel?" said Alaric. "It would," replied Ethel.
At that moment the footman and the maid both entered from the garden very much out of breath. "I've searched everywhere, madam. Not a sign of her," said Bennett.
"Not in the stables, nor up or down the road. And the DOG'S missin', madam," added Jarvis.
Ethel sprang up. "'PET'?"
"No, miss. SHE'S gnawin' a bone on the lawn. The OTHER."
"That will do," and Mrs. Chichester dismissed them.
As they disappeared through the door, the old lady said appealingly to her children:
"Where IS she?"
"Heaven knows," said Alaric.