[Chalet 07] The Chalet School and Jo by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer

Author:Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: school stories, Juvenile, Fiction
Publisher: Distributed Proofreaders Canada
Published: 1930-03-15T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XII.

JULIET’S SECRET.

It was not till they were on the train for Oberammergau, and were speeding away from Innsbruck that Joey got her chance with Juliet. That young lady had avoided her most conspicuously since the previous evening, and it is certain that, had she known of the head-girl’s manœuvres, she would have insisted on joining some of the others. As it was, she climbed into the carriage, and took her seat on the little platform on a case without any suspicion of what was to follow. Joey mounted after her; made signs to the faithful Simone, who would have joined them, to go away, and settled down beside her friend. Simone was desperately jealous of Juliet, but she knew better than to force herself on the pair in face of Joey’s emphatic gestures, so she heaved a sigh and joined Frieda and Marie at the other end of the platform. They had noticed Jo’s action, and, full of sympathy for her, since they had guessed that something was wrong, swung their case round, so that their backs were to the other two, and Simone had, perforce, to resign herself to the inevitable. It is to be doubted, however, if she got much good of the wonderful scenery through which they passed, and which enchanted the others. She was too much occupied in wondering what it was Jo and Juliet were discussing so earnestly.

Meanwhile Juliet, having discovered what her friend had done, looked round for some means of deliverance. Short of getting up and joining another group there was nothing she could do. Owing to the play, the train was packed, and there was no room anywhere else. In any case, this must come sooner or later, and she preferred, on the whole, to get it over. So she moved up to give Jo more room, and said as cordially as she could, ‘Come along! Heaps of room here!’

Jo sat down, and there was silence for a moment. Then the younger girl drew closer to her friend.

Juliet looked at her with a half-smile. ‘What is it, baby?’

‘How did you get to know Mrs Frank and her brother?’

Juliet’s eyes darkened, and her lips set in a firm line. ‘It’s not an easy story, Jo.’

‘Can’t you tell me, then? I won’t bother if you’d rather not; but we’re almost like sisters, and things that affect you mean a lot to me.’ Jo’s eyes were wistful as she said it.

Juliet slipped a hand round the slim brown paw lying in her lap. ‘I know that, Joey. Well, I never meant to tell anyone; but you are a different story, after all, aren’t you? But I told you last night that Kay O’Hara was in her fourth year at Holloway when I was in my first.’

‘That didn’t tell me much.’

‘No; perhaps not. Well, she was. Of course, the fourth-year people are a very gorgeous lot, as a rule, and don’t have much to do with Freshers. But Kay seemed to take a fancy to me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.