“You’ll have them all the same,” said Maggie. “They are my present to you. Surely you won’t refuse my present?”
“But such a very rich and handsome present we ought not to accept,” said Molly.
“Nonsense, girls! I shall be unhappy unless you wear them. When I return to mother—which, alas! I must do before many days are over—I shall send you the bracelets.”
“I wish you wouldn’t, Maggie,” said Belle Tristram; “for I am certain father and mother would not like us to wear jewelry while we are so young.”
“Well, then,” said Maggie, “I will give them to you when we all meet at Aylmer House. You must take them; you know you promised you would. You will hurt me most frightfully if you don’t.” 61
As Molly and Isabel certainly did not wish to hurt Maggie, they remained silent, and during the rest of the walk the three girls scarcely spoke. Meanwhile Cicely and Merry entered the Manor House and waited impatiently for the return of their father and mother.
“We must get everything extra nice for them,” said Cicely to her sister. “I do think it is so wonderfully splendid of them to send us to school.”
The sun had already set, and twilight had come on; but it would be quite impossible for Mr. and Mrs. Cardew to arrive at the Manor until about ten o’clock. What, therefore, was the amazement of the girls when they heard carriage-wheels in the distance!
“Father and mother could not possibly have done their business and caught the early train,” said Merry in some excitement. “Who can be coming now?”
The next moment their doubts were set at rest, for Aneta Lysle entered the hall.