expressing their
delight with the lovely place. The gentlemanly little Constables and
the charming little Flower Girls were present, and gave a delightful
effect. Even Hollyhock condescended to go to the school on this one
occasion to see what it was like, more particularly as that horrid
Magsie was going there as one of the maids. As for the rest of the
Lennoxes, they were simply wild to go to school, and Mr Lennox was now
as keen to see them there as he had at first been opposed to the whole
idea. But he was the sort of man who would force none of his children,
and if Hollyhock preferred to stay at home with him--why, she might.
He rather suspected that she would soon come round.

CHAPTER VII.

THE OPENING OF THE GREAT SCHOOL.

The parents of the pupils were more than delighted at the thought of
their children being educated in such a home of beauty and romance.

Now Ardshiel, by means of Miss Delacour and Mrs Macintyre, had been
very much spoken of before the opening day. Those English girls and
boys who were to go there, and the girls and boys from Edinburgh, were
all wild with delight; and, in truth, it would be difficult to find a
more lovely place than that which Ardshiel had been turned into. The
story of the drowned man and the deep lake and the mourning bride was
carefully buried in oblivion. Magsie of course knew the story, but
Magsie wisely kept these things to herself; and even Mrs Macintyre, the
mistress of the school, had not been told the story.

On a Monday in the middle of September Ardshiel looked gay of the gay.
The sun shone with great brilliancy. The French mesdemoiselles, the
Swiss fraeuleins, and the gentle Italian signorinas were all present.
In addition there were English mistresses and some teachers who had
taken high degrees at Edinburgh University. Certainly the place was
charming. The trees which hung over the tranquil lake, the lovely
walks where girls and boys alike could pace up and down, the
tennis-courts, the hockey-field, the football-ground reserved for the
boys, and the lacrosse-field designed for both girls and boys, gave
promise of intense enjoyment; and when the guests sat down to
lunch--such a lunch as only Mrs Macintyre could prepare--they felt that
they were indeed happy in having secured such a home for the education
and delight of their darlings.

Hollyhock and her sisters sat in a little group at one side of the long
table, and a lady, the mother of M