nd; Brook Bank existed for the
little maidens belonging to the shopkeepers and small farmers of and
near the town. Nowadays a high-school would ignore such distinctions and
absorb them all--whether for better or worse is a matter of opinion. But
as things were, I don't think any harm came from the division of
classes; thanks in great measure, very probably, to the good sense and
feeling of the heads of the two schools. On the rare occasions on which
the Misses Scarlett met the Misses Green--at great parish entertainments
or fancy fairs--the latter gave precedence to the former with ready and
smiling deference, sure to be graciously acknowledged by old
white-haired Miss Scarlett with a kindly hand-shake or 'Many thanks,
Miss Green;' the younger sisters following suit. For the Scarletts were
well-born, much better born, indeed, than some of their pupils, and the
Greens had got themselves educated with difficulty, and in their present
position were higher on the social ladder than any of their progenitors
had ever been--higher socially and more successful practically than they
themselves had in past days dared to hope to be. Financially speaking,
it was well known in Thetford that the Greens had made a much better
thing of their school than the Scarletts. The Scarletts were inclined to
be too liberal and too generous. Their boarders were in many instances
the children of former friends or connections, who found it convenient
to trade upon such ties when the questions and difficulties of education
arose, and to suggest that _their_ daughters might be taken on a
different footing.

In a side-street running out of the market-place stood a few well-built,
old, red-brick houses, which were considered among the 'best' residences
in Thetford. No two of them were exactly alike: some were nearly twice
as large as the others; one was high and narrow, its neighbour short and
broad. They were only alike in this, that they all opened straight on to
the wide pavement, and had walled-in, sunny gardens at the back.

In one of the smaller of these houses--a prim, thin-looking house, too
tall for its breadth--lived a maiden lady, well known by some of the
Thetford folk, not indeed _unknown_ to any, for she had made her home in
the town for many years. Her name was Miss Mildmay, or to be quite
correct, Miss Alison Mildmay. For the actual Miss Mildmay was her
niece, a very young girl whom you will hear more about presently.

Miss Alison Mil