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Updated: June 12, 2025
Whenever I begin to feel scratchy I must make an excuse and get over to the Percivals for an hour to be soothed down. I do hope they are in to-day!" But alas! the butler announced "Not at home," in reply to Darsie's inquiry, then, seeing the blank disappointment on the young face, he added graciously: "The young ladies are out for a ride. They will probably be home about four o'clock.
Nor was Darsie's own position free from anxiety, for once in a term it was the prerogative of the brigade to surprise the captain, and woe befall her prestige if, on that occasion, she were found wanting! Coat, skirt, and slippers lay nightly on a chair by her bedside, together with the inevitable pile of notebooks, and she felt a burden off her mind when the alarm had come and gone.
She flashed a radiant smile at Darsie's reddening face, then jumped up to greet her other guests of the evening, three in number, who appeared at that moment, each carrying her own precious portion of milk. "Modern Languages" being in the ascendant, indulged in a little "shop" as a preliminary, accompanied by the sighs, groans, and complaints incidental to the subject.
For the first few minutes the search was pursued in almost complete silence, but as time went on there came the sound of one triumphant cry after another, as a busy searcher was rewarded by a sudden sight of the longed-for paper wrapping. Darsie's envious eyes beheld one young girl running gaily past, with no less than three trophies carried bag-like in the folds of a chiffon scarf. Three!
"What did your brother say?" asked Darsie with natural feminine curiosity, whereupon Noreen answered with unabashed candour "He said you were `a rummy little frump, and that he would take very good care to have an engagement for to-day as many miles as possible away from home!" "Did he, indeed!" The colour rose in Darsie's cheeks. "Well, I'm very glad he did.
His grey eyes looked very handsome and agreeable lit up with the twinkling light of amusement, and Darsie's spirits rose still a degree higher as he whistled to the dogs and turned round with the evident intention of accompanying her home. "We'll come along with you. It doesn't matter where we go so long as we have a run. Bound for the Manor, I suppose? How's the old lady?
Ralph seated himself by her side, rested an elbow on his knees, the thumb and first finger of the uplifted hand supporting his chin. His eyes searched Darsie's face with anxious scrutiny. "You didn't hear anything about me before you left Newnham?" "Hear what? No! What was there to hear?" Ralph averted his eyes, and looked across the patch of garden.
Mrs Percival made no attempt at private conversation, and showed no trace of "ulterior motive" in manner or conversation, which was a huge relief to Darsie's mind. She was not in a mood for serious conversation; what she wanted was the usual Percival offering of praise, admiration, and petting, and this was bestowed upon her with even more than the usual generosity.
The little crowd of girls pressed forward to read the lists. Darsie peered with the rest, but saw nothing but a mist and blur. Then a voice spoke loudly by her side; Hannah's voice: "First Class! Hurrah!" Whom did she mean? Darsie's heart soared upward with a dizzy hope, her eyes cleared and flashed over the list of names. Hannah Vernon Mary Bates Eva Murray many names, but not her own.
Always graceful and alert, she sailed triumphant through the trying years, with straight back, graceful gait, and eyes a-shine with a happy self-confidence. "I am here!" announced Darsie's eyes to an admiring world. "Let the band strike up!"
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