that on that account also she must go.  And then she must go because of Major Grantly.  Whether he was minded to come and speak to her that one other needed word, or whether he was not so minded, it would be better that she should be away from Silverbridge.  If he spoke it she could only answer him by the negative; she should leave herself the power of thinking that his silence had been caused by her absence, and not by his coldness or indifference.

She asked, therefore, for an interview with Miss Prettyman, and was shown into the elder sister’s room, at eleven o’clock on the Tuesday morning.  The elder Miss Prettyman never came into the school herself till twelve, but was in the habit of having interviews with the young ladies—­which were sometimes very awful in their nature—­for the two previous hours.  During these interviews an immense amount of business was done, and the fortunes in life of some girls were said to have been made or marred; as when, for instance, Miss Crimpton had been advised to stay at home with her uncle in England, instead of going out with her sisters to India, both of which sisters were married within three months of their landing in Bombay.  The way in which she gave her counsel on such occasions was very efficacious.  No one knew better than Miss Prettyman that a cock can crow most effectively in his own farmyard, and therefore all crowing intended to be effective was done by her within the shrine of her own peculiar room.

‘Well, my dear, what is it?’ she said to Grace.  ’Sit in the arm-chair, my dear, and we can then talk comfortably.’  The teachers, when they were closeted with Miss Prettyman, were always asked to sit in the arm-chair, whereas a small, straight-backed, uneasy chair was kept for the use of the young ladies.  And there was, too, a stool of repentance, out against the wall, very uncomfortable indeed for young ladies who had not behaved themselves so prettily as young ladies generally do.

Grace seated herself, and then began her speech very quickly.  ’Miss Prettyman,’ she said, ’I have made up my mind that I will go home, if you please.’

’And why should you go home, Grace?  Did I not tell you that you should have a home here?’ Miss Prettyman had weak eyes, and was very small, and had never possessed any claim to be called good-looking.  And she assumed nothing of the majestical awe from any adornment or studied amplification of the outward woman by means of impressive trappings.  The possessor of an unobservant eye might have called her a mean-looking, little old woman.  And certainly there would have been nothing awful in her to anyone who came across her otherwise than as a lady having authority in her own school.  But within her own precincts, she did know how to surround herself with a dignity which all felt who approached her there.  Grace Crawley, as she heard the simple question which Miss Prettyman had asked, unconsciously acknowledged the strength of the woman’s manner.  She already stood rebuked for having proposed a plan so ungracious, so unnecessary, and so unwise.