‘Now, see here, Panty,’ she said, shutting the box and facing the child, ‘if you don’t pipe down I shall pick you up by the slack of your breeches and carry you straight back to where you belong. You don’t like people butting in on your games, do you? Well, this is my game, and I can’t get on with it if you butt in.’

‘I’ll kill you,’ said Panty.

‘Don’t be an ass,’ said Troy mildly.

Panty scooped up a dollop of vermilion on three of her fingers and flung it wildly at Troy’s face. She then burst into peals of shrill laughter.

‘You can’t whack me,’ she shrieked. ‘I’m being brought up on a system.’

‘Can’t I!’ Troy rejoined. ‘System or no system—’ And indeed there was nothing she desired more at the moment than to beat Panty. The child confronted her with an expression of concentrated malevolence. Her cheeks were blown out with such determination that her nose wrinkled and turned up. Her mouth was so tightly shut that lines resembling a cat’s whiskers radiated from it. She scowled hideously. Her pigtails stuck out at right angles to her head. Altogether she looked like an infuriated infant Boreas.

Troy sat down and reached for a piece of rag to clean her face. ‘Oh, Panty,’ she said, ‘you do look so exactly like your Uncle Thomas.’

Panty drew back her arm again. ‘No, don’t,’ said Troy. ‘Don’t do any more damage with red paint, I implore you. Look here, I’ll strike a bargain with you. If you’ll promise not to take any more paint without asking, I’ll give you a board and some brushes and let you make a proper picture.’

Panty glared at her. ‘When?’ she said warily.

‘When we’ve asked your mother or Miss Able. I’ll ask. But no more nonsense. And especially,’ Troy added, taking a shot in the dark, ‘no more going to my room and squeezing paint on the stair rail.’

Panty stared blankly at her. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she said flatly. ‘When can I paint? I want to. Now.’

‘Yes, but let’s get this cleared up. What did you do before dinner last night?’

‘I don’t know. Yes, I do. Dr Withers came. He weighed us all. He’s going to make me bald because I’ve got ringworm. That’s why I’ve got this cap on. Would you like to see my ringworm?’

‘No.’

‘I got it first. I’ve given it to sixteen of the others.’

‘Did you go up to my room and mess about with my paints?’

‘No.’

‘Honestly, Panty?’

‘Honestly what? I don’t know where your room is. When can I paint?’

‘Do you promise you didn’t put paint…’

‘You are silly!’ said Panty furiously. ‘Can’t you see a person’s telling the truth.’