Mrs. Wyndham said to her husband: “Mark my words, you will have trouble with that child, that’s a certainty.”
Wyndham said, “I mean to do my utmost, and I am convinced that in the long run I shall conquer.”
And then Peggy went off to school with her cousins.
They had a long journey from Preston Manor to The Red Gables, and the three girls were tired long before it came to an end. Peggy went to sleep in her corner, and Jessie and Molly began whispering together. They had a first-class carriage to themselves.
Jessie said, “Well, I do wonder how she’ll get on.”
“Oh she’ll get on all right,” said Molly.
“But you see,” continued Jessie, “the difficulty is this. It was all very fine while dear old Mary Welsh was with us, looking after her every single minute of her time, but now things will have vastly changed. You see, my dear, we two are in the Upper School, and have little or nothing to do with the girls in the Lower School. I’m so terrified that she’ll get into the power of The Imp.”
“Yes, I must say I don’t like The Imp at all in connection with Peggy,” said Molly, “but I tell you what I’ve been thinking, Jess.”
“What’s that?”
“I might have a little talk with dear Mrs. Fleming, and perhaps she’ll manage that I may sometimes see Peggy.”