The expression of Christian's face changed; the softness went out of it. She kept staring straight before her.
"We agreed, did we not, Christian," said Miss Peacock, "not to say anything with regard to the special trouble which took place before you came to Penwerne Manor?"
"Oh, yes!"
"Before you came, I must own that I was as much distressed at the thought of the other girls knowing as at the grave misdemeanor itself. I resolved not to tell the girls. To my astonishment, you, Christian, begged of me to allow you to tell all the school exactly what had happened. Neither Jessie nor I approved of the plan, knowing, as we do, what schoolgirls are—how they love to tease, to torment and worry, sometimes even to bully. I can scarcely think that any girl in my school would willfully bully another, but of course I am not sure."
Miss Peacock looked hard at Christian as she spoke; but Christian's face, now absolutely pale, revealed nothing.
"The final arrangement was that you were to tell, if you still wished it, at the end of a month. The month has expired; you are now at liberty to stand with me before the entire school and tell your story. And when your story is finished, I am at liberty to tell the school why I counseled you to keep it a secret, and how much I admire your bravery in revealing it. Thus I stand between you and the school as a shield. I put the school on its honor not to worry you, not to reproach you, not to bring up the past. That is the present position. Are you still of the same mind, Christian? Do you wish to take the bull by the horns—to once and for all explain to the school what you have done? Would not this, after all, be the best way out of your troubles? To each noble heart in the school your conduct must appeal, and each girl worth anything must love you all the better for your courage."
When Miss Peacock had finished speaking, Christian rose and stood before her mistress, and said in a low voice:
"And you now counsel me to tell?"
Miss Peacock looked at her thoughtfully.
"I do," she said. "Yes, on the whole, I emphatically do."