That autumn Wilmet came home elevated by the news that the head teacher was going to retire at Christmas, and that she was to be promoted to her place of forty pounds a year. Her successor was coming immediately to be trained, being in fact the daughter of Miss Pearson's sister, who had married an officer in the army. She had been dead about three years, and the girl had been living in London with her father, now on half pay, and had attended a day-school until he married again, and finding his means inadequate to his expenses, and his wife and daughter by no means comfortable together, he suddenly flitted to Jersey to retrench, and made over his daughter of seventeen to her aunts to be prepared for governess-ship.
This was the account Miss Pearson and Miss Maria gave to Wilmet, and Wilmet repeated to Geraldine, who watched with some interest for the first report of the new-comer.
'She is rather a nice-looking little thing,' was the first report, 'but I don't know whether we shall get on together.'
The next was, 'Miss Maria has been begging me to try to draw her out. They are quite distressed about her, she is so stiff and cold in her ways with them, and they think she cries in her own room.'
'Poor thing, how forlorn she must be! Cannot _you_ comfort her, Mettie?'
'She will have nothing to say to me! She is civil and dry, just as she is to them.'
'How do you know anything about it, little one?' said Wilmet.
'I heard her talking away to Lizzie Bruce in the arbour at dinner-time. Her face looked quite different then from what it does in school.'
'Then I hope she is settling down to be happier,' said Wilmet thoughtfully; but, having watched Angela out of hearing, she added, 'Not that I think Lizzie Bruce a good friend; she is rather a weak girl, and is flattered by Carry Price making a distinction between her and some of the others.'
'When is Carry Price ever going to leave school?'
'When she can play Mendelssohn well enough to satisfy Mr. Bevan. I wonder Lady Price does keep her on here; but in the meantime we can only make the best of her.'
A day or two later, Wilmet and Angela came in from school eager, indignant, and victorious.
'You _did_ manage it well!' the younger was saying. 'I was so glad you saw for yourself.--Just fancy, Cherry, there were Carry Price and Lizzie Bruce turning out all the most secret corners of Miss Knevett's work-box, laughing at them, and asking horrid impertinent questions, and she was almost crying.'