With her friend restored to her, that evening was the happiest she
had spent for some time.
For many succeeding weeks, Mavis passed her mornings with Jill, or
Miss Nippett, or both; and most of her afternoons and all of her
evenings at the academy. The long hours, together with the
monotonous nature of the work, greatly taxed her energies, lessened
as these were by the physical stress through which she was passing.
She obtained infrequent distraction from the peculiarities of the
pupils. One, in particular, who was a fat Jewess, named Miss Hyman,
greatly amused her. This person was desperately anxious to learn
waltzing, but was handicapped by bandy legs. As she spun round and
round the room with Mr Poulter, or any other partner, she would
close her eyes and continually repeat aloud, "One, two, three; one,
two, three," the while her feet kept step with the music.
Otherwise, her days were mostly drab-coloured, the only thing that
at all kept up her spirits being her untiring faith in Perigal--a
faith which, in time, became a mechanical action of mind. Strive as
she might to quell rebellious thoughts, now and again she would rage
soul and body at the web that fate, or Providence, had spun about
her life.
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