"What a nice girl Rosamund Cunliffe seems!" was her first remark.
"Oh! don't begin by praising her," said Lucy. "I don't think I can quite stand it."
"What is the matter, my dear? You are little Lucy Merriman, are you not—the daughter of Mrs. Merriman and the Professor?"
"I am."
"And this house has always been your home?"
"I was born here," said Lucy almost tearfully.
"Then, of course, you feel rather strange at first with all these girls scattered about the place. But when lessons really begin, and you get into working order, you will be different. You will have to take your place with the others in class, and everything is to be conducted as though it were a real school."
"I will do anything you wish," said Lucy, and she turned a white face, almost of despair, towards Miss Archer. "I will do anything in all the world you wish if you will promise me one thing."
Miss Archer felt inclined to say, "What possible reason have you to expect that I should promise you anything?" but she knew human nature, and guessed that Lucy was troubled.
"Tell me what you wish," she said.