“We are awfully provoked about it,” went on Alida. “We do not intend to bother with her at all. Do we, Lola?”
Lola shrugged contemptuously. “I sha’n’t lose any sleep over her. I never liked her.”
“You never lost any sleep over admiration for anyone, Lola.” Leslie put a touch of malice in the assertion.
“I know it,” Lola replied boldly, though she reddened. She understood the remark to be a reproach.
“How is Bean, dear creature?” Leslie simulated effusion. “And how are the beanstalks? Grown clear up to the chapel steeple by this time, I don’t doubt.”
“They are back. That’s about all I can say. We aren’t on speaking terms with them, you know. By the way, Les, did Bean stand up before the Board and refuse to answer their questions? I mean last spring when the Sans got in bad. I heard she did.”
“Who told you?” countered Leslie, her face darkening.
“Nell Ray, I think. It was one of the Sans,” Lola informed.
“I always knew Nell Ray was a talker.” Leslie scowled her disapproval. “Yes, you may as well know, Bean did precisely that. It was merely a bluff. I think she had told the whole thing to Matthews before we were summoned. Very likely he sent for her when he received Dulcie’s letter. She spilled the story of the hazing and he agreed to let her get away with refusing to talk before the Board. That little prig made more trouble for me than anyone else at Hamilton.”
“I don’t think so, Leslie,” differed Lola. “It was Dulcie Vale and Bess who dished you. You always had it in for Bean and she never made a move against you.”