"As if they cared for that when there's a girl to save!" said Jimmy, in a tone of withering scorn. "What are boys and men for but to save plucky girls like Kitty? Oh, I say, I wish you wouldn't make so much noise, Matilda!"
"Do get up, Matty, and stop crying and pulling your hair about," said Molly.
Cecil did not speak, but her face was like a sheet.
"It is my fault," said Matilda; "it is my fault!"
"What in the world do you mean?"
Matilda sat up and stared round her. For the first time in her whole life she was completely natural; she absolutely forgot herself.
"I did it," she said; "I goaded her to it. She'll never come home; she'll be drowned, and I shall be haunted by her all the rest of my days."
"Stop talking in that way, and tell us the truth," said Cecil sternly. "What did you do? Speak at once! Oh, what a mistake we made in bringing you here!"
"You did; I wish I'd never come. I made her nearly mad. I don't care who knows now. Perhaps I wouldn't have been so bad if you hadn't been so cruel and spiteful."
"I?" said Cecil.