IT is a trite saying that the powers of evil help those who are on their side. That night, by a misadventure, Cecil dropped the letter which Miss Forester had written to her. By a more cruel misadventure Matilda picked it up. Cecil and Molly had both written to Miss Forester; their letters had reached the post in time to catch the London mail. Their minds were quite light and happy on the subject. To make all safe, Cecil intended to destroy Miss Forester's letter before she went to bed that night. Kate's bedroom was on the drawing-room floor, but Matilda, Molly, and Cecil slept on the floor above. Cecil carried her portfolio under her arm; it was packed with letters, slips of paper, and small documents of all kind. Miss Forester's letter, among others, had been crowded into this overfull receptacle; it slipped out, no one knew how. Quick as thought, Matilda put her foot on it. Cecil did not notice the circumstance. Matilda slipped the letter into her pocket, reached her bedroom, and danced about.
"Now I have it," she said to herself; "now I am safe; no one can accuse me now of having eavesdropped. I am safe; I know exactly what to do in the future."
She went to bed, hugging the precious letter in her hand; she slept with it under her pillow, put it away in a locked drawer early the next morning, and came down to breakfast in high spirits. When she entered the room, she heard Cecil mentioning the fact that she missed a letter.
"I must have dropped it last night," she said. "I have searched everywhere for it."
"Whose letter is it?" asked Molly, looking up innocently.
"It is one Miss Forester wrote to me."
"Oh, have you heard from Miss Forester?" inquired Kate. "Is there any news? Did she say anything about me?"
"She hopes you are getting better," said Cecil calmly. "She is very anxious that we should work specially hard next term."
"I hope she will allow me to work," said Kate. "I am sure I long for it with all my heart and soul. After what Mr. Danvers said yesterday, I suppose I ought to give up classics."