"Yes, always. Shadywalk is a perfectly safe place."
"For common children, perhaps. Not for you. Do not go near Lilac Lane again. It is a mercy you have escaped safe as it is."
Escaped from what, Matilda wondered. Even a little soil to her clothes might be washed off, and she did not think she had got so much harm as that. If she could only meet Norton now, before reaching home; there would never be another chance. Matilda longed to see him, with an intensity which seemed almost as if it must bring him before her; but it did not. In vain she watched every corner and every group of boys or cluster of people they passed; Norton's trim figure was not to be seen; and the house door shut upon Matilda in her despair. She went up to her room, and kneeling down, laid her head on the table.
"It's almost tea-time," said Maria. "What is the matter now?"
But Matilda was not crying; she was in despair.
"Come!" said Maria. "Come, what ails you? Tired?—It is time to get tea, Matilda, and I want your help. What is the matter now?"
Matilda lifted a perfectly forlorn face to her sister.
"I can't go anywhere!" she said. "I am in prison. I can't go to Lilac Lane any more. I cannot do anything any more. And they want me so!"
Down went Matilda's head. Maria stood, perhaps a little conscience struck.
"Who wants you so much?"