"Miss Clark," she began, after she had done a few stitches, "isn't it jolly without Tom?"
"Very," said Miss Clark, with a great sigh of relief.
"I don't think Tom meant to be disagreeable," said May, turning Miss Clark's silks over with careless fingers; "but he's a boy, and boys are very tiresome animals, Miss Clark."
"How many times have you been engaged?" and May leant her elbows upon the table and regarded the governess with interested eyes.
[Illustration: "How many times have you been engaged?"]
"Twice," answered Miss Clark, in a low voice.
"And he was nice?" May inquired, with vivid interest.
"I thought them both nice at the time," Miss Clark returned, with a sigh and a smile. "But--oh, here is Flossie ready to go down. Flossie, my dear, how quick you have been!"
"But I'm quite tidy, Miss Clark," Flossie replied. "I wish Tom would be quick. I say, Sarah, don't you wish you were going down, too?"
"Sarah's quite happy with Miss Clark and me," put in May; "ain't you, Sarah?"
"Oh, are you? Then I shall tell Ma you said you didn't want to go down to see her, then," Flossie retorted.
Poor Sarah's eyes filled with tears, and she turned to May in the hope of getting protection from her.
"Take no notice," said May superbly. "You'll get used to Flossie after a bit. She's a regular tell-tale; but she won't tell Ma, for Ma won't listen. She never does. Ma never will listen to tales, not even from Tom."
Flossie began to laugh uproariously, as if it was the greatest joke in the world to tease Sarah, who had yet to learn the peculiar workings of a Stubbs character. Then Miss Clark interrupted with a remark that Flossie's sash was not very well tied.
"Come here and let me tie it properly," she said sharply; and, as Flossie knew that any shortcoming would be sharply noticed and commented upon when she got downstairs, she turned obediently round and allowed Miss Clark to arrange her garments to her satisfaction. By that time Tom was ready, and the two went down together.
"Thank goodness," remarked May piously. "Now, Miss Clark, we shall have a little peace."
May was destined to have even a greater peace for her little chat with the governess than she had anticipated, for a few minutes after Flossie and Tom had gone downstairs one of the maids came up and said that the mistress wished Miss Sarah to come down at once. Miss Sarah, she added, was not to stay to dress more than she was then.