FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   >>  
ecret meeting of the Mafia was one of those devoted to home correspondence. The girls were alloted forty minutes during school hours: they brought their writing-cases into the class-room, and scribbled off as many letters as possible during the brief time allowed. On this particular Wednesday Dulcie was much in arrears; she wrote three letters to Sicily, one to an aunt in London, a short scrawl to Everard, and was beginning "My dear Cousin Clare," when Miss Hardy entered the room in a hurry. "Jones has to leave half an hour earlier," she announced, "and he wants to take the post-bag now. Be quick, girls, and give me your letters!" A general scramble of finishing and stamping ensued. Dulcie, who had not addressed her envelopes, folded her loose sheets anyhow, and trusted to luck that the foreign letters were not over-weight. "I can't help it if they have to pay extra on them," she confided to Carmel. "They look rather heavy, certainly, but I hadn't any thin note paper, you see." "Douglas will pay up cheerfully, I'm sure!" "How do you know that his was a heavy one?" "Oh, I can guess!" "I was only answering a number of questions he asked me. It's very unkind not to answer people's questions!" "Most decidedly! I quite agree with you!" laughed Carmel. The letters were posted in Glazebrook that evening by the factotum Jones, and Dulcie, though her thoughts might possibly follow the particular heavy envelope addressed to Montalesso, dismissed her other items of correspondence completely from her mind. She was taking a run round the garden the next morning at eleven o'clock "break," when to her immense surprise she heard a trotting of horse's hoofs on the drive, and who should appear but Everard, riding Rajah. The rules at Chilcombe Hall were strict. No visits were allowed, even from brothers, without special permission from Miss Walters. Hitherto Everard had come over only by express invitation from the head-mistress, and this had been given sparingly, at discreet intervals, and always for the afternoon. Surely some most unusual circumstance must have brought him to school at the early hour of eleven in the morning? Dulcie flew across the lawn, calling his name. At the sight of his sister Everard dismounted, and greeted her eagerly. "Hello! How are you? How's Carmel?" he began. "I say, you know, this has been a shocking business! You look better than I expected" (scanning her face narrowly). "It's a mercy
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   >>  



Top keywords:
letters
 

Everard

 

Dulcie

 

Carmel

 

brought

 
eleven
 
questions
 

morning

 
school
 

addressed


correspondence

 

allowed

 
immense
 

laughed

 
surprise
 

envelope

 
factotum
 
follow
 

possibly

 

trotting


evening

 

garden

 

taking

 

posted

 

dismissed

 

Glazebrook

 

completely

 

thoughts

 

Montalesso

 

Hitherto


sister

 
greeted
 

dismounted

 

calling

 

circumstance

 
eagerly
 

expected

 
scanning
 

narrowly

 
shocking

business
 

unusual

 
brothers
 
special
 

Walters

 

permission

 
visits
 

Chilcombe

 
strict
 

intervals