There was a moment’s awkward pause, then “Is Tommy tired of holiday and ready for school?” Miss Lavinia asked, smiling.
Mrs. Tregennis found difficulty in answering. “’Tis just about that I’ve come, please, Miss,” she said, after some hesitation. “You see, Miss, all the others is goin’, too, and there’s nothin’ at all to pay, an’ we’m only poor, an’ they say the learnin’s to be of the best, and all the other boys be goin’, so I suppose our Tommy did ought to go, too.”
“Go? Where?” But even as Miss Lavinia’s lips framed the question she knew what the answer would be.
“To the new Council School, Miss Lavinia,” faltered Mrs. Tregennis.
Then the two women looked at each other without speaking. Both were troubled, and there seemed nothing more to say.
It was Mrs. Tregennis who broke the silence. “We know what we owe you, Miss Lavinia, his Daddy an’ me. You’ve done a lot for our Tommy, Miss. He’ve come on well and learnt a lot. Not only schoolin’ I’m thinkin’ of, Miss Lavinia, but in his manners an’ all, an’ in doin’ right and tryin’ to be brave. He’ll not get that at the new school, I’m thinkin’.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Tregennis,” Miss Lavinia was smiling bravely. “Tommy has always been one of my best little boys, and, for myself, I am very sorry that he must go.”
Again there was a pause. Miss Lavinia seemed to pass through a little struggle with herself. Then, “And did you say there were others?” she asked.
Mrs. Tregennis flushed deeply. “Yes, Miss Lavinia, Ma’am, and didn’t you know, Miss? All they boys be goin’: Jimmy Prynne, and David Williams and the Tomses, an’ all of they.”