CHAPTER VI
CECILY REVEALS HERSELF
That night the two girls held a council of war.
“It’s perfectly plain to me,” said Marcia, “that that poor little thing is right under Miss Benedict’s thumb. I think the way she’s treated is scandalous—not allowed to go out, or speak to, or associate with, any one! And scared out of her wits all the time, evidently. What on earth is she there for, anyhow?”
Janet scorned to reply to the old, unanswerable question. Instead she remarked:
“She’s breaking her heart about it, too. I can see that. And, Marcia, wasn’t it strange—what she said just at the last—that she loved us, and that we were all she had to care for! Where can all her relatives and family be? Miss Benedict certainly can’t be a relative, for Cecily calls her ‘Miss.’ To think of that lovely l
