had never, by word or look, hinted that she did not
thoroughly approve of Peter. Yet she just smiled and said, “I
see, dear,” without so much as a blink of the eyes. Kate was
puzzled.
On returning to school, Kate had an interview with Miss
Carter. The Headmistress seemed quite resigned to the fact
that Pallas had left so suddenly after such a short stay at
the school.
“I think we did her good, Kate,” she said, smiling. ‘“Don’t
you think so?”
“I hope we did,” Kate agreed.
“I’m sure of it—she was very depressed and difficult
when she came here, but at the end of term I thought she
looked a changed girl, lively, cheerful, full of beans. A great
improvement, and I must congratulate you. You did what I
expected you to do. Now, did you enjoy your holiday in
Greece?”
“Very much,” Kate said politely.
After a few remarks about her own holidays in Greece in
past years, Miss Carter dismissed her, and Kate went down
to her class with a heavy heart. Now, she thought, it’s all
over. I can forget the entire episode. With Pallas gone, there
was nothing to remind her of Marc.
She met Peter in the High Street some weeks later. He was
talking abstractedly to a thin, brown-faced girl whose
untidy clothes and intense face put her in the student body.
Kate’s eyes met Peter’s, and he blinked, then smiled,
without rancour. “Hi, Kate!” he called, lifting a hand.
She smiled back but did not stop. Some other girl, she
thought, was going to have to learn that for Peter the only