I cannot give all the particulars with regard to my life at the school,
which was called Villa Bella Vista, although I cannot tell why; perhaps
because from the upper windows you could catch a glimpse of the Champs
Elysees. Be that as it may, it was in some ways a Bella Vista for me, a
very great change from my old life in the dark house near the ancient
college, from poverty to luxury, from dullness to sunshine, from the
commonplace school to one which was the best that it was possible for a
school to be. The Baroness von Gablestein was a woman of great
integrity of mind and great uprightness of bearing, and her strong
personality she managed more or less to impress on all the girls. Of
course, there were black sheep in this fold, as there must be black
sheep in every fold; but Hermione and I soon found our niche, and made
friends with some of the nicest girls. We liked our lessons; we took
kindly to French and German; Italian would follow presently. French and
German were now the order of the day. In short, we were contented.
We had not been a fortnight at the school Bella Vista before we began to
feel that we had always lived there. Were we not part and parcel of the
house? Were not its interests ours, the girls who lived there our
friends, and the life we lived the only one worth living? We did not
acknowledge to ourselves that we felt like this, but nevertheless we
did.
As to Augusta--well, for the first few days she was as grumpy and
unsociable as girl could be. Then there came a change over her, and I
knew quite well what had caused it. The post was delivered in the
evening, and there was a letter addressed to Augusta. She took it up
languidly. She seemed to feel no interest whatever in anything. I
watched her without daring to appear to do so. We were in our own
little sitting-room at that time, and Rosalind Mayhew was having supper
with us. This treat was always allowed on Saturday evenings. The girls
could ask one another to have supper, only giving directions downstairs
with regard to the transference of the food to the different rooms.
Rosalind was our guest on this occasion.
Augusta laid her letter by her plate; she put one hand on the table, and
presently took up the letter and glanced at it again. I did not dare to
say, "Won't you read it?" for had I done so that would have provoked her
into putting it into her pocket, and not glancing at it perhaps until
the following morning, or goodness knows when. So, glancing at
Hermione, I proposed that those who had finished supper should go and
stand on the balcony for a little. We all went except Augusta, who
remained behind. I kept one ear listening while I chatted with my
companions. It seemed to me that I certainly _did_ hear the rustle of
paper--the sort of rustle that somewhat stiff paper would make when it
is taken out of its envelope. Then there was utter stillness, and
afterwards a wild rush and a door slammed. I looked into the
sitting-room. It was empty.
"She has read it, has she not?" said Hermione.
"Oh, hush, hush!" I whispered. "Don't say a word."
"Are you talking about that queer, half-mad girl?" said Rosalind.
"Oh, I'm sure she will be all right in the future," I said.
Rosalind changed the conversation to something else.
"By the way, Dumps, Comtesse Riki has taken a most violent fancy to
you."
"What! to me?" I asked.
"Yes; and the Baroness Elfreda to Hermione."
Now, Comtesse Riki was a very delicately made, exquisitely pretty girl,
of the fairest German type. Elfreda, on the contrary, was short and
exceedingly fat, with a perfectly square face, high cheek-bones, and a
quantity of hay-coloured hair which she wore in two very tight plaits
strained back from her face.
Hermione shrugged her shoulders.
"They're both awfully nice; don't you think so?" said Rosalind.
"I have scarcely given them a thought," I answered.
My mind was still dwelling on the letter which Augusta had received.
Presently Rosalind left us, and Hermione and I wondered what the result
would be.
"Go to her door and knock, and see if she will come out and tell us;
won't you, Dumps?" said Hermione.