to work for what they get."
She and Bruce exchanged a look of satisfaction
before she turned back to us.
"I want to reiterate what I told you about your
behavior at Greenwood. Should I be called by the
principal because of some misbehavior, the
consequences will be dire for you, I assure you." "What could be more dire than having to stay at
Greenwood?" Gisselle muttered.
"There are other schools, farther away, with
rules far stricter than the rules at Greenwood." "You mean reform schools," Gisselle said. "Gisselle," I said, "stop arguing. It's no use." She gazed at me with her teary eyes.
I shook my head. "She almost had me
committed once. She's capable of anything." "That's enough," Daphne snapped. "Go up and
pack your clothes and remember my warnings about
your behavior at school. I don't want to hear a bad
word. It's enough that Pierre went and died and left
me to be guardian over the offspri
ng resulting from
his wild indulgences. I don't have the time nor the
emotional strength for it."
"Oh, you have the strength, Daphne," I said.
"You have the strength."
She stared at me a moment and then put her
hand on her chest. "My heart is beating a mile a
minute, Bruce. I have to go up. Will you see to it that
they do what they're told and the limousine is here to
take them to school in the morning?"
"Of course," he said.
I rose quickly and pushed my sister out of the
parlor. Maybe she realized it now; maybe she
understood that when Daddy died, we had become