Page:The Fruit of the Tree (Wharton 1907).djvu/277

Rh “I know she’s cleverer than I am, and more amusing, and can tell you about plants and animals and things … and I daresay she tells you how tiresome and stupid I am.…”

She sprang up suddenly, abashed by Cicely’s astonished gaze, and by the governess’s tremulous attempt to continue to treat the scene as one of “Mamma’s” most successful pleasantries.

“Don’t mind me—my head aches horribly. I think I’ll rush off for a gallop on Impulse before dinner. Miss Dill, Cicely’s nails are a sight—I suppose that comes of grubbing up wild-ﬂowers.”

And with this parting shot at Justine’s pursuits she swept out of the school-room, leaving pupil and teacher plunged in a stricken silence from which Cicely at length emerged to say, with the candour that Miss Dill dreaded more than any punishable offense: “Mother’s prettiest—but I do like Justine the best.”

It was nearly dark when Bessy mounted the horse which had been hastily saddled in response to her order; but it was her habit to ride out alone at all hours, and of late nothing but a hard gallop had availed to quiet her nerves. Her craving for occupation had increased as her life became more dispersed and agitated, and the need to ﬁll every hour drove her to excesses of bodily exertion, since other forms of activity were unknown to her. [ 261 ]