'Is the choice entirely your own, my child?' said George Lennox.
'Yes, it is. You 'll want me, perhaps, when you haven't got me, but I'm away to school with the others. It's right--it _is_ right.'
'Well, my Hollyhock, I thank you,' said her father. 'I shall miss you, beyond a doubt; but work has set in for me to such an extent that I have no time to attend to you, and your being in the house and uneducated has been a sore trial to me, Holly. You 'll be a good lass at school, my child. You must promise me that.'
'You 'll have a right-down lovely time, Holly,' cried Jasmine.
'But I haven't told you all the story yet,' said Hollyhock. She suddenly went up to Jasper and took his big hand. 'I was trusted by a lady, whose name I mustn't mention, with another bit of news, Jasper, boy--and, oh! it's sore it makes my heart. _You_ have to go to the lady, Jasper, boy, and so has Garnet, and so has Sapphire, and so have Opal and Emerald. In addition, the boys at Ardshiel are to go to a new Annex--under protest, no doubt; but still it has to be. You 'll be taught by men, my bonnie Precious Stones, and we lassies will have to do with the women folk.'
'Well, this is astounding,' said Jasper. 'Is it true?--Can you explain, Uncle George?'
'Yes, my boy; and I don't think you 'll mind when it's explained to you. The "lady" whom my Hollyhock wouldn't mention is your _own_ mother.'
'Mother!' cried Emerald, in a voice of rapture. 'Eh, mother, I have missed you!'
He was only a little fellow--the youngest of the Precious Stones--and he suddenly burst out crying.
'There, now, be a brave lad,' said Mrs Constable. 'No tears, my little son, for they don't become a gentleman. They don't become the son of Major Constable. Ho died fighting for his country, and no son of his and mine should be seen with tears in his eyes. You all do come back to your mummy, my children, and a lot of other boys come as well; and The Paddock is to be partly changed, so that I can mother you, my Emerald, but not teach you--no, no, none of that. There 'll be that fine gentleman, the Reverend James Cadell, to put Latin and Greek into you; and there'll be Alan Anderson to teach you games, as boys should play them; and there 'll be young Mr Maclure to help him with your English and your lessons all round. I 'll have my five Precious Stones sleeping again under my roof; and your food will be prepared by that maid of ours, Alison, of whom you have always been so fond; and old Mrs Cheke will be the housekeeper and look after your wants. And for foreign languages Mrs Macintyre will send over at certain hours each day some of her governesses. Now then, children, I think we are all going to be as happy as happy. It was decided by a wise woman that Mrs Macintyre's mixed school would eventually prove a mistake, for a good many mothers object to sending their girls to such places, although I myself see no harm in them whatsoever. But, my dear boys, we must think of Mrs Macintyre, who will have a very large school of girls. On Monday next you will see many new faces at Ardshiel, and the arrangement that you, my little loves, are to spend Saturday till Monday all together is to continue. So now do let us sing a fresh song of that wondrous bard, Robbie Burns, because I feel so absolutely Scots of the Scots to-day that I simply cannot stand any one else.