III


'And to think,' said Alice, 'that this is the very last evening we shall
ever pass here!'

'I don't see why you should be so very sorry for that,' replied May; 'I
should have thought that you must have had enough of the place. Why, you
have been here nearly ten years! I never would have consented to remain
so long as that.'

'I didn't mind; we have been very happy here, and to say good-bye, and
for ever, to friends we have known so long, and who have been so good to
us, seems very sad--at least, it does to me.'

'It is all very well for you,' said Olive; 'I dare say you have been
happy here, you have always been the petted and spoilt child of the
school. Nothing was ever too good for Alice; no matter who was wrong or
what was done, Alice was sure to be right.'

'I never knew anyone so unreasonable,' said Cecilia. 'You grumble at
everything, and you are always dying of jealousy of your sister.'

'That's not true, and you haven't much to talk of; after beating your
brains out you only just got the prize for composition. Besides, if you
like the convent as much as I dare say you do, although you aren't a
Catholic, you had better stop here with my sister.'

'Oh, Olive! how can you speak to Cecilia in that horrid way? I am