Linnæa was forthwith subjected to a string of small questions, which she answered mostly in monosyllables. The whispered remark had been overheard by the sensitive child, and her heart had begun to harden towards girls and governess alike. Some of the pupils made advances at first, but Linnæa met them all with a suspicion and distrust that chilled and disappointed. Therefore, incredible as it may seem, at the age of sixteen, and after seven years at Meldon Hall, Linnæa March was utterly without a friend in the school. CHAPTER II. THE “NEW GIRL.” “And was her grandfather really an earl?” “And shall we have to call her Lady Gwendoline when we speak to her?” “I wonder what she is like; I am dying to see her!” “She is coming to-night; but perhaps Miss Elder won’t trot her out until to-morrow.” What an excited hubbub was going on in Meldon Hall schoolroom. The girls had been told that a new pupil would arrive that night. This alone, in mid-term, would have been enough to arouse some interest, but when it got abroad by some means or another that the importation was a beauty, an heiress, and related to an earl, their excitement knew no bounds. Marion Edwards, perched on the back of a chair, gave out what she had heard, and a little more, to an admiring audience who took Marion’s words for vastly more than they were worth. In every school there are one or two leading spirits, and Meldon Hall had at present two leaders--Marion Edwards and Edith Barclay. Edith was the clever, studious girl of the school; and amongst those who were inclined to be industrious, she was looked up to with great reverence. Marion was handsome, rich, and had an aptitude for making witty remarks, which made her at once admired and feared by her “set.” The two leaders were quite friendly; they were in no wise rivals of each other, being altogether different in disposition and aims. Edith loved study for study’s sake, and had secret thoughts of entering a profession. Marion cared nothing for her lessons, but easily managed to get along in a superficial way; she was an only daughter and rich, and was looking forward to entering society after she left school. Marion’s feelings were divided between pleasure at the prospect of knowing a girl whose grandfather was an earl, and a secret fear that this rich beauty might want to queen it even over her, and that her set might forsake her for the greater light.