“Nancy cruel!” said Miss Roy. “Excuse me one moment, Captain Richmond; I will put on my glasses. This puzzles me.”
Miss Roy adjusted her glasses and bent over the book. She was naturally a very calm woman, and was in no hurry to give herself away. She turned page after page and examined the marks of the other girls. Finally, she took the marks for conduct, diligence, intellectual employments on the 24th of August by themselves, looking separately at the page devoted to each girl.
“Well?” said Captain Richmond, who was watching her with interest.
“I cannot understand it,” she said. “It cannot possibly be true.”
“So I thought,” said the Captain.
“It cannot be true,” repeated Miss Roy. “A mark for carelessness, for forgetfulness, even for untidiness, might be possible in the case of Nancy Esterleigh, but cruelty—— No, Captain Richmond, the child could not be cruel.”
“And yet,” said the Captain, “the mark is there—most distinctly written. You observe how empty the page is—blanks in most departments—and this terrible mark for conduct. We cannot get over it.”
“It is very unaccountable,” said Miss Roy. “There must be a mistake.”
“I have thought of that,” said the Captain; “but I don’t see how there can be. My sister-in-law is extremely particular, and not at all careless.”
“You must remember,” said Miss Roy, “that she entered these marks on the very day when she was sent for in a hurry to Mrs. Rashleigh.”