“Leave my things alone,” she said rudely.
“They’re not specially yours,” replied Leila. “The dolls’ house belongs to us both.”
“Much you do for it,” said Chrissie contemptuously. “It’d be all choked with dust like ‘in a dirty old house lived a dirty old man,’ if it depended on you.”
“It’s in a nice mess just now, any way,” remarked Leila. “Well, I’m going down to the schoolroom. You can do as you please.”
The last words were like a spur to impetuous Christabel.
“You shan’t go off and put all the blame on me to Miss Earle,” she exclaimed, starting up. “I’m coming too. Nurse,” she went on, “Nurse,” so loudly, that the bedroom door opened and Nurse and Fanny hurried out in alarm.
Chrissie looked up coolly. She had an irritating way of getting cool herself as soon as she saw that she had irritated others.
“You needn’t stare so,” she said. “It’s only about my toys and things. I want them left exactly as they are, till after lesson-time this afternoon—exactly as they are. Don’t you hear what I say, Nurse?” waxing impatient again.
“It’s impossible, Miss Chrissie,” replied Nurse. “Master Jasper and I couldn’t get to the table for our dinner; and even if we sat over at the other side, Fanny’d be sure to tread on some of those dainty little chairs and things and break them.”
Chrissie, as a matter of fact, saw the force of this, but she would not seem to give in, so she contented herself with making a scape-goat of the nursery-maid.