family, but actually she came to gloat.
âMy dear, we were so horrified by what we saw at the station. Those dreadful children and everything so out of control and no uniforms! I suppose youâre going to take her away? â
Tallyâs father looked at her. âI donât think so, Virginia. Not yet, at all events. We have had some very interesting letters from Tally.â
âLetters! But she hasnât been away for a week. At Foxingham theyâre not allowed to write at all the first week while they settle back into school.â
âWell, at Delderton they write when they like, and Tally has been very good. Her letters amuse us very much.â
Actually, thought Dr. Hamilton, Tallyâs letters had done more than amuse him. They had interested him and consoled him and touched on some things that he cared about deeply.
âReally?â This was not at all what Aunt Virginia wanted to hear. âMargaret never has time for more than a few lines.â
âOf course, the letters at Foxingham are censored by the teachers,â said her husband. âJust as well, really. One doesnât want to get oneself upset by any nonsense the boys can come up with.â
âWe saw something about Foxingham in the newspaper, didnât we, May? â said Hester. âA boy who tried to run away because he was afraid of being punished.â
âWell, thatâs the kind of nonsense I mean,â said Thomas. âThere have to be punishmentsâthey have pupils there from the royal houses of Europe, so the strictest discipline must be maintained. The Archduke of Hohenlohe has just sent his nephew there, and of course the Prince of Transjordania has been there for over a year. The boy who ran away was obviously a coward. He was supposed to go to the head for a caning and he just bolted like a scared rabbit. They found him the next day, hiding in some wood about twenty miles away. If Roderick did that Iâd be ashamed, and I certainly wouldnât want to hear about it in a letter.â
âRoderick would never get into that kind of trouble, dear,â said Aunt Virginia. She turned to her brother-in-law. âWell, I suppose you know what youâre doing, James, but Iâd take Tally away at once if I were you.â She lowered her voice. âMrs. Trent-Watson, who was at the train seeing Bernard off, says sheâs seen that woman who was in charge of the children before. She says sheâs an artistsâ modelâand you know what that might mean. Life classes and all sorts of dreadful things! Of course it may not be true . . .â
Hester and May smiled. âAh, but it is true, Virginia. Weâve seen her on the walls of the swimming bath. Such a lovely girl. And Tally says sheâs a wonderful cook!â
Aunt Virginia sniffed. âWell, all I can say is I wouldnât let Margaret associate with anyone like that, not in a million years.â
After they had left and Dr. Hamilton was alone in his study, he took out his daughterâs last letter again. Tally had described a strange, slightly mad but very beautiful world, a world in which the trees and the river and the hills at Delderton seemed to be as much a part of her life as the teachers and her friends.
And she wrote that she was waiting for her first biology lesson.
âThe man who takes it is my tutor and heâs supposed to be terribly good. Heâs been all over the world and done some important scientific work. Iâm really looking forward to it.â
Dr. Hamilton missed his daughter more than he would ever admit, but he was very pleased about that last sentence. Biology, the science of life, how it had begun and where it was going . . . this was what had started him off on his studies as a doctor.
That his daughter should take the same journey made him very happy.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Matteoâs Moan
A s it happened, Tally was late for the first biology class. She had
Todd Strasser, John Hughes