Vashti's Fate — page 155: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

130 MEANWHILE AT EVERLEIGH. Frank had taken it into his head to follow his oldest sis- ters example, and go away to school. He was tired of being schooled by woman, he declared, and as in Vashti’s case, opposition only strengthened his determination. Off he went in midwinter, to the preparatory school at New Haven, in spite of Miss Margery Gresham. Always grave, she grew somber at these inroads upon her rule. Miss Dale, from having failed so signally in her plan of becoming prime minister to Mrs. Everleigh, was subject to continued and repeated attacks of fidgets, greatly to the ~ annoyance of Miss Margery and Nora particularly, for dur- ing these seasons she managed to make herself quite dis- -agreeable to both. People she did not like, Miss Dale had a wonderful faculty of annoying ;. or rather, people who did not like her. Often she asked of Miss Gresham the most impudent questions, questions that blanched her face with a singular emotion, that Miss Dale could not for her life put an interpretation on, or give name to, but with so in. nocent, and even blundering an air, as to quite banish from Miss Gresham’s mind all suspicion as to her intentions. ‘“‘Stupid,” was the severest expression Miss Gresham ever applied to Miss Dale. Mrs. Everleigh missed her children; the poor invalid lady was very fond of Frank’s bright, dashing face and ways; and her eldest born, her Vashti, with all her waywardness, made too much stir amid the monotony of her sickly existence not to be sadly missed. Besides, her little loving Nora had changed singularly. The sweet, winsome face drooped somehow so sadly, and she went about with a strange, slow step, very unlike her usual bounding elasticity. If not sorrowful, she was at least thoughtful to pensiveness. The fact was that the child, in- heriting with her brother and sister an exquisitively sensi- ‘s vr : ’ a oo “ A. a a * =