“Drove her out,” said Peggy, in a whisper. Then, after a pause, she said in a low, awed whisper, “into the black night.”
“Peggy, come and sit by me and tell me of this thing.”
Peggy looked up with dry eyes, which were shining brightly. “I said I’d tell, but I can’t—now.”
“Peggy, is that right?”
“I can’t—now,” repeated Peggy.
“My dear little girl, I think you ought.”
“I can’t—now,” repeated Peggy. Then she added: “You see, God is punishing her, I needn’t.”
Thus it came to pass that Kitty Merrydew left the school of The Red Gables.
Kitty’s aunt wrote a long, apologetic letter to Mrs. Fleming. The letter was full of bitter regrets for Kitty’s conduct, which she hoped Mrs. Fleming would overlook, although she naturally could not expect her to take the girl back to the school again. Mrs. Fleming did not know what that conduct was—she never did know, for Peggy never told. After a time she wrote to Miss Merrydew, proposing a foreign school, a strict school for her young niece, where the girl would be watched, and, if possible, her character reformed. Mrs. Fleming offered to pay the fees of that school herself.
The Howard miniature was, after all, adjudged to Alison Maude, which fact gave universal and sincere gratification.