s clerks in offices, and were rather older than herself. They
were the daughters of tradesmen or clerks, and all lived at home in the
better streets of the neighbourhood. They were neatly dressed, but she
was easily the smartest of the audience. The other girls looked at her
hair and her complexion, and then at each other; and a feud began. Sally
was consoled by the evident interest of the young men, who often cast
glances in her direction. She sat demurely, as if unconscious, but in
her wicked heart there was glee at the knowledge that this same young
person Sally, once the despised companion of May Pearcey, had in a year
attained such new charm as to be attractive to these young men. She
shrugged her shoulders at the thought of it. Had she been an onlooker
she would have been amused or cynical. As she was the cynosure of the
emotional eye of the whole class she could view the natural processes of
all such gatherings with satisfaction. Her shrugs were for the
respectable and alienated girls, who were like sparrows chattering over
a brilliant intruder; to the young men she offered an air of
imperviousness to their cajoleries which made her seem to at least three
of them a young person whom it might be pleasant and titillating to
know. The general arrangement of feelings towards her was evident at the
third lesson. By the fourth it had taken a quite definite form. She had
exchanged conversation with the three men: she had smiled provokingly at
the girls. The girls mentioned her at home, and to their friends; the
young men did not mention her to anybody.

The men were all older than she, were in employment, and although some
of them were still at home the majority of them were in lodgings in
Holloway, were lonely, and were desirous of improving their positions.
This was the case with Sally's three admirers. Of the three, her
immediate favourite, because he most nearly resembled Toby in physical
type, was a thickset dark young man with a budding black moustache and
polished eyes and a strong pink upon his cheekbones. But after she had
looked at him a few times she decided that he had Jewish blood, and Jews
were among her aversions. So, although his name was Robertson, she
passed him over in favour of a tall, rather bony fair youth of about
three and twenty with smooth hair and a lean, conceited humorous face.
He had assurance, which she adored, and his great length made it queer
to be talking to him, because she had to look