A servant knocked at the door and brought in Priscilla’s first breakfast. The man laid the coffee and rolls on a little table by the girl’s bedside, and Priscilla sat up and enjoyed her simple meal, eating it with appetite When she had come to the last crumb a sudden thought forced itself on her mind: “What is the matter with Annie? How strangely Annie looked at me last night! Why has she taken each a violent antipathy to me? What have I done to annoy her?”
The thought had scarcely come to Priscilla when she heard a light tap at her door, and in reply to her “Come in,” Annie entered.
“I thought you would be awake and having your breakfast, Priscie.”
Annie tripped lightly forward. She seated herself on Priscie’s bed.
“Isn’t it a glorious morning?” said Priscie. “Isn’t the view lovely?”
“I suppose so,” replied Annie in an indifferent tone. “But, to tell the truth,” she added, “I have not had time either to think of the beauty of the morning or the beauty of the view.”
“You surprise me,” said Priscilla. “I can never think of anything else. Why, we are just here for that,” she continued, fixing her great dark-grey eyes on Annie’s face.
“Just here for that?” laughed Annie. “Oh, you oddity! we are not here for anything of the kind. We are staying at Interlaken because Lady Lushington thinks it fashionable and correct to spend a little time here in the autumn. From Zermatt, I understand, we are going to Lucerne, and then presently to the Italian lakes; that is, Mabel and Lady Lushington are going to the Italian lakes. Of course, you and I will have to go back to the dreary school.”
“Oh, but the school is not dreary,” said Priscilla.
“I am glad you find it agreeable; it is more than I do.”