I defended her and pointed out that it was due to her background.
Eugenie was a terror, was Miss Parker's comment. "She's a Verringer and that is about the worst tag you could fit onto anyone. Fiona's a nice little thing, however."
Matt Greenway, the riding master, who happened to be present on that occasion, added that it was difficult to believe they both came out of the same stable.
"Quite different in looks and character," said Eileen Eccles. "It's amazing. And they talk about heredity. To me, it's environment that counts."
"Presumably their environment was the same," I pointed out. "They were both brought up at the Hall apparently."
"Well, they say the mother was gentle and meek. Rather like Fiona, I imagine. As for Eugenie, she's got the Verringer devil in her."
I enjoyed those gossipy sessions and they helped me a great deal in getting to know the girls and that was a tremendous asset when dealing with them. Eileen Eccles was perhaps more interested in people than the others and she provided a great deal of information.
"We shall be stuck with Teresa again this coming summer, I gather," she said. "Her relations have written to say they'll be away for several months."
"Poor child," I said. "It must be boring for her being here all alone for the summer."
"I suppose it's too much to expect the parents to get her out to Rhodesia. No sooner would she be there than she would have to start back. I'm sorry for the girl. I am really."
I had Teresa on my mind quite a bit. When I came out of class she would often be hanging about offering to carry my books for me. I had seen the supercilious looks of Charlotte but Teresa did not seem to care, though I gathered that in the past she had been afraid of Charlotte.
Then there was the gossip about the Verringer girls.
"Eugenie," said Mademoiselle throwing up her hands in horror. "She is one naughty little girl." Frâulein Kutcher expressed the opinion that there was too much homage paid to the Verringers. It set them apart.
"I think there is something in that," said Eileen Eccles.
Matt Greenway said: "Eugenie will be a real horse-woman." As though that made up for her failings in other directions.
"They'll be very rich ... those two girls," said Eileen.
"It is not good for them to know this," put in Mademoiselle.
"But they do know it," insisted Eileen, "and it seems to have gone to Miss Eugenie's head." "How rich are they?" I asked.
"Infinitely," replied Eileen with a laugh. "I did hear something about uncle's liking to get his hands on the money."
"Uncle? You mean Sir Jason?"
"I do indeed, my dear, if you must give him his rightful title."
"Is he not rich then?"
"As Midas ... or Croesus if you prefer. But you know money has that effect on some people. The more they have, the more they want. Ever since the King favoured them and bestowed on them the Abbey lands, they have been piling it up. So have our two Little heiresses. They divide the brother's fortune when they come of age or marry, and I believe if Fiona dies it all goes to Eugenie, and if Eugenie should visit that bourn from which no traveller returns, then Fiona takes all."
"Yes," I said. "I do agree that it is a mistake for young people to know that they are rich. Though Fiona seems a very pleasant modest young girl."
"It is because you are making comparisons. Most people compared with Eugenie would seem pleasant and modest."
We all laughed.
"Oh, I am sure Fiona is," I said.
Yes, the days were passing pleasantly. I found that I could do what was expected of me and Daisy was pleased with the contribution I made to the school. She was sure my classes were getting more and more like Schaffenbrucken every day.
I very much enjoyed the riding sessions. The enthusiasm of Matt Greenway had communicated itself to the girls and most of them had that natural affinity young girls have for the horse.
Whenever we set out for rides I was always prepared for a pleasant time. Even the Hon. Charlotte seemed tolerable on a horse; it was as though at last she had found something for which she had more consideration than she had for herself. She adored her horse; and Eugenie was almost as fanatical about hers. It was interesting, I pointed out in the calefactory, how much more human Hon. Charlotte became when she was on horseback.
Very often two of us went with the girls. Daisy thought that was better than one so that there was someone in authority at the head and rear of the party.
The exercise was pleasant and I suppose I did this about twice a week, for the girls rode every day. Then Daisy had given me permission to take a horse whenever I wanted one, provided it was not during the girls' riding time. So it was a very happy arrangement.
I wrote to Aunt Patty that I was settling in and enjoying my work. I would tell her everything in detail when I arrived home for the summer holidays.
When I had a free hour or so between lessons, I made a habit of taking out the horse which I usually rode, and exploring the countryside. I liked walking but naturally one could only go a certain distance on foot, and riding gave me far more scope.
When I walked I liked to do so within the Abbey precincts and I could never do this without experiencing that uncanny feeling that I was stepping back into the past. The atmosphere was overwhelming even in the brightest sunlight and I would find myself fancying I heard footsteps following me on the flags. Once I thought I heard chanting. But I convinced myself it was the whistling of the wind. There were times when I was drawn to the ruins by an irresistible urge to be there; at such times I believe I really expected to see some manifestation of the past.
Eileen Eccles, who had made several drawings of parts of the ruins, said she felt the same. In some of her pictures she had sketched in white-clad figures. "I just found myself putting them in," she said. "It was as though they belonged."
I thought that rather strange, for she was a very prosaic person on the whole.
But it was true that no one, however matter-of-fact, could live close to such antiquity and not be affected by it.
Eileen often took her classes out to parts of the Abbey and it was not unusual to come across them seated at some vantage point, sketch books in hand. Miss Hetherington wanted the girls to have a real appreciation of their surroundings, for it was just that environment which set the Academy apart from other schools.
On this particular occasion I had no class until three thirty, and as the midday meal was over at two, I had an hour and a half in which to take a ride. It was a lovely day. We were in the middle of June and I could scarcely believe I had been so long at the school. I really felt as though I had known it for a long time. I could look back on the last weeks with satisfaction. I could do my work adequately. My English classes were as successful as I could hope for; I had one or two girls who showed great interest and to my amazement Eugenie Verringer was one of them. The Hon. Charlotte continued to be troublesome and to annoy me in a hundred ways-whispering during classes, urging others to disobedience, tormenting Teresa Hurst - in fact generally making a nuisance of herself; and she had her cronies besides Eugenie. But these were minor irritations and the inevitable lot of anyone who taught. The teacher must sometimes expect to be a target, especially if she was not very much older than the pupils.
I had evidently found the right way to keep just ahead of Charlotte and I was thankful for her devotion to horses which gave me a weapon to use against her. She would always fall short of doing something which would deprive her of one moment with her beloved horse.
These were my thoughts as I rode out on that June afternoon. I reminded myself-as I often did-of how I had been lost on my first venture and as there must be no repetition of that, I always noted well the way I came. There might not be anyone to show me the way this time. Not that Sir Jason had been much help on that other occasion. I had confirmed my suspicions, since I had been riding round a little on my own, and I knew now that he had taken me a very long way round on my way back to the town.