After their confrontation, the two girls maintained a frosty distance. Danica could tell Mrs. Wilson noticed right away that something was wrong, but she didn’t comment on it. Most likely the landlady had enough experience housing young women under her roof that she knew these things had a tendency to blow over.
As she made her way to the school, however, Danica couldn’t help fretting over what Clara had said. The other girl might have been trying to be deliberately spiteful, but at the same time, Danica knew that she would have to be more careful. If there was even the slightest hint of impropriety, she knew her job would be on the line. And she had to maintain that pretense for as long as necessary. If the trustees decided to dismiss her because they thought she was a “loose woman” — de
