“I am glad you paid me a compliment, my dear,” answered his wife. “Audrey certainly does credit to my training. But I trust Miss Henderson will break that naughty girl in; she certainly needs it.”
The next morning the girls went back to school; and Evelyn, who had quite forgotten what she had done to the book, and who had provided herself secretly with a great packet of delicious sweetmeats which she intended to distribute amongst her favorites, was still in high spirits.
School began, the girls went to their different classes, Evelyn stumbled badly through her lessons, and at last the hour of recess came. The girls were all preparing to leave the schoolroom when Miss Thompson asked them to wait a moment.
“Something most painful has occurred,” she said, “and I trust whichever girl has done the mischief will at once confess it.”
Evelyn’s face did not change color. A curious, numb feeling got round her heart; then an obstinate spirit took possession of her.
“Not for worlds will I tell,” she thought. “Of course Miss Thompson is alluding to the book.”
Yes, Miss Thompson was. She held the beautifully bound copy of Ruskin in her hand, opened it where the title-page used to be, and with tears in her eyes looked at the girls.
“Some one has torn four pages out of the beginning of this book,” she said. “I left it here by mistake yesterday. I took it up this morning to continue a lecture which I was preparing for the afternoon, and found what terrible mischief had been done. I trust whoever has done this will at least have the honor to confess her wrong-doing.”
Silence and expressions of intense dismay were seen on all the young faces.
“If it were my own book I should not mind so much,” said the governess; “but it happens to belong to Miss Henderson, and was given to her by her favorite brother, who died two months afterwards. I had some difficulty in getting her to allow me to use it for this lecture. Nothing can replace to her the loss of the inscription written in her brother’s own hand. The only possible chance for the guilty person is to tell all at once. But, oh! who could have been so cruel?”