"I don't want to say anything, only that Dolly and I are sorry about Bridget, and we are—I must say it frankly—not at all fond of Janet."
"Maybe you're prejudiced; she's a pretty creature, and seems to mean well."
The great bell in the yard at Court Macsherry sounded a tremendous peal for supper.
"That's right," said the squire heartily; "that's a grateful sort of sound when a man is starving, as I happen to be. Let me give you my arm, Miss Percival. I'll never breathe what you have said, of course; but I should be glad if you could do a kindness to my girl next term."
"I will do my very utmost to help her," said Evelyn heartily.
The guests had now assembled in the great dining hall, where a groaning board awaited them.
The squire looked down the long table. Biddy was nowhere to be seen.
"Where can the girl be?" he said under his breath. Somebody else remarked her absence, and Patrick immediately started up to go and look for her.