Oh no, she would never be _friends_ with her again--_never_! Such a thing was impossible; but nevertheless she loved--she loved Hollyhock, with a sort of craving which caused her to long to see the bright glint in her eyes and the bonnie smile round her lips. As for Jasmine, she was less than nothing in Leucha's eyes. Hollyhock, although she would not say it for the world, was all in all to the miserable, proud, silly girl.
Hollyhock's heart was also aching for Leucha, and her anxiety was great with regard to what was taking place at The Garden. Would Jasmine and Jasper between them have any effect on Leuchy? Hollyhock felt for the first time in her life feverish, miserable, and anxious. She could not sleep well at nights; her nights were haunted by dreams of Leucha and the wicked things she herself had done as a mere frolic. But there was no news from The Garden, and she had to bear her restless suffering as best she could. Gladly now would she have submitted to Leuchy's kisses, if Leuchy would come back to her friend.
Meg walked with pious mien about the grounds of Ardshiel; her conscience was at rest. She won the affections of a certain number of the new Scots girls, and tried her best to set them against Hollyhock; but there was a magical influence about Hollyhock which prevented any girl being set against her; and although the girls _did_ say that Meg had a sturdy conscience, and that she must be very happy to have made her confession, yet as the evening hour drew on they returned, as though spell-bound, to Hollyhock's side to listen with fascinated eyes and half-open mouths to her tales of bogies and ghosties.
Poor Hollyhock was feeling so restless and despairing that she threw extra venom into her narratives, making the ghosts worse than any ghosts that were ever heard of before, and the bogies and witches more subtle and more vicious. Meg did not dare to come near, but she looked with contempt at her friends who were so easily drawn to Hollyhock's side.
Meanwhile, at The Garden the days and hours were passing. Mr Lennox was entirely absorbed with his work, and saw little or nothing of his children. What little he did see of Leucha he disliked, and he thought his dear Hollyhock far too kind to her. On the following Sunday he would speak to Hollyhock, and tell her not to play those silly tricks again. Otherwise he had no time to consider the matter.