“I am sure she is all right at the present moment,” was Mrs. Fleming’s reply, “but that she is not all right always is equally the case. What is the reason that the poor child is disliked and treated unkindly? I could stand it and think nothing about it if it were only that intolerable girl Kitty Merrydew; but the thing seems to be growing in the school, and I must say it is like an evil weed and ought to be eradicated; it must be eradicated.” Here Mrs. Fleming stood up and put her hands behind her. “Henrietta,” she said, “advise me.”
“To the best of my power, dear friend. What advice do you want?”
“Well, things are like this. The child came down, having overheard through a mere accident some very unkind words spoken of her by one of her cousins.”
“Oh yes, I am sure of that,” replied Miss Greene. “She must have heard Jessie talking. I know Jessie doesn’t like her, but Molly does.”
“But Jessie’s not liking her will cause a great deal of mischief in the Upper School,” said Mrs. Fleming. “I have moved her into the Upper School before she is really quite, quite fit for the responsibilities and the life which the Upper School entails; but now, if one of her own cousins is her enemy, things will be almost as difficult for her in the Upper School as they were in the Lower.”
“What do you think ought to be done?” asked Miss Greene.
“I am very much puzzled to know. You see, I can’t let either of the Wyndham girls suppose that Peggy has spoken to me about them.”
“Of course not.”
“And that is what makes the difficulty,” continued Mrs. Fleming. “It is altogether most unpleasant. I little knew when I wrote to my dear friend Paul what a hornets’ nest I was bringing about my ears, and yet a sweeter child never lived, more generous, more loving, more true. How is it that the school has taken this extreme dislike to her?”
“Of course, her language——” began Miss Greene.