Their spirits rose again as fast as they had sunk; and it was a
lively walk through the park to the great house, with a good deal of
skipping and jumping at first, and then, near the door, a little awe
and gravity.
They were taken through a side-door of the hall to the school-room,
where Ida and her governess received them. It was the first time
that Christabel had seen her out of her beplumed hat, and she thought
her a pleasant, bright-looking little girl, not at all set up or
conceited. Her mauve muslin, flounced though it was up to her waist,
showed that it had been wise to withstand Bessie's desire for the
white muslins; but Miss Fosbrook had enough to do on her own account
with the endeavour to understand the German governess's foreign
accent, without attending to the children more than was necessary.
It was not a very remarkable day, and the pleasures of it seemed
hardly enough to justify the little girls' great excitement. There
was first the dinner at the luncheon of the parents, where the
children sat up rather formal and subdued, and not quite certain what
all the dishes might contain, a little afraid of getting what they
COULD not eat, though desirous of making experiments in this land of
wonders.
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