"Orion has told me all about it, Aunt Jane, but I don't think I'll tell. Please don't ask me."
"My dear. I insist upon knowing."
"It was not his fault, Aunt Jane, and I am almost sure he will never do it again; he is very sorry indeed. I think he will try to be good in future."
Mrs. Dolman was about to reply angrily, when a sudden memory came over her. She recalled words her brother had used.
"I will give you the children," he had said, "but you must try to be gentle with them."
She looked at Iris now, and did not speak for nearly a minute.
"Very well," she said then; "you are a queer child, but I am inclined to trust you. Only please understand that if ever there is any misconduct in the future, I shall insist on knowing everything."
"I am greatly obliged to you, Aunt Jane. I could love you for being so kind. I will promise that Orion never does anything of that sort again."
The children all filed out of the dining room. They had now, according to the rule of the day, to return to the schoolroom and lie down for an hour. This part of the daily programme was intensely distasteful to the little Dolmans, and certainly the Delaneys did not appreciate it a bit better, but at long last the wearisome lessons were over, and the little people were free.
The moment they got into the garden Philip and Conrad might have been seen scudding away as fast as their little feet could carry them. Iris, however, had watched them disappearing.