regiment of women, by clemence dane
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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Regiment of Women, by Clemence Dane
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Title: Regiment of Women
Author: Clemence Dane
Release Date: July 17, 2012 [EBook #40264]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REGIMENT OF WOMEN ***
Produced by David Starner, Veronika Redfern and the Online
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REGIMENT OF WOMEN
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO DALLAS
ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED
LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129][130][131][132][133][134][135][136][137][138][139][140][141][142][143][144][145][146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154][155][156][157][158][159][160][161][162][163][164][165][166][167][168][169][170][171][172][173][174][175][176][177][178][179][180][181][182][183][184][185][186][187][188][189][190][191][192][193][194][195][196][197][198][199][200][201][202][203][204][205][206][207][208][209][210][211][212][213][214][215][216][217][218][219][220][221][222][223][224][225][226][227][228][229][230][231][232][233][234][235][236][237][238][239][240][241][242][243][244][245][246][247][248][249][250][251][252][253][254][255][256][257][258][259][260][261][262][263][264][265][266][267][268][269][270][271][272][273][274][275][276][277][278][279][280][281][282][283][284][285][286][287][288][289][290][291][292][293][294][295][296][297][298][299][300][301][302][303][304][305][306][307][308][309][310][311][312][313][314][315][316][317][318][319][320][321][322][323][324][325][326][327][328][329][330][331][332][333][334][335][336][337][338][339][340][341][342][343][344][345][346][347][348][349][350][351][352][353][354][355][356][357][358][359][360][361][362][363][364][365][366][367][368][369][370][371][372][373][374][375][376][377][378][379][380][381][382][383][384][385][386][387][388][389][390][391][392][393][394][395][396][397][398][399][400][401][402][403][404][405][406][407][408][409][410][411][412][413]
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THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
TORONTO
REGIMENT OF WOMENBYCLEMENCE DANE
'The monstrous empire of a
cruell woman we knowe to be
the onlie occasion of all these
miseries: and yet with silence we
passe the time as thogh the materdid nothinge appertein to us.'
JOHN KNOX, First Blast of the
Trumpet against
the Monstrous Regiment of
Women.
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY1922
All rights reserved
COPYRIGHT, 1917,
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and electrotyped. Published January, 1917.
Norwood Press:
Berwick & Smith Co., Norwood, Mass., U. S. A.
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To E. A.
Here's Our Book
As it grew.
But it's Your Book!
For, but for you,Who'd look
At My Book?
C. D.
REGIMENT OF WOMEN
Chapter I Chapter XIII Chapter XXVChapter
XXXVII
Chapter II Chapter XIV Chapter XXVIChapter
XXXVIII
Chapter III Chapter XV Chapter XXVII Chapter XXXIX
Chapter IV Chapter XVI Chapter XXVIII Chapter XL
Chapter V Chapter XVII Chapter XXIX Chapter XLI
Chapter VI Chapter XVIII Chapter XXX Chapter XLII
Chapter VII Chapter XIX Chapter XXXI Chapter XLIIIChapter VIII Chapter XX Chapter XXXII Chapter XLIV
Chapter IX Chapter XXI Chapter XXXIII Chapter XLV
Chapter X Chapter XXII Chapter XXXIV Chapter XLVI
Chapter XI Chapter XXIII Chapter XXXV Chapter XLVII
Chapter XII Chapter XXIV Chapter XXXVITranscriber's
Note
REGIMENT OF WOMEN
CHAPTER I
The school secretary pattered down the long corridor and turned into a class-room.
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The room was a big one. There were old-fashioned casement windows and
distempered walls; the modern desks, ranged in double rows, were small and
shallow, scarred, and incredibly inky. In the window-seats stood an over-populous
fish-bowl, two trays of silkworms, and a row of experimental jam-pots. There were
pictures on the wallsThe Infant Samuel was paired with Cherry Ripe, and Alfred,
in the costume of Robin Hood, conscientiously ignored a neat row of halfpenny
buns. The form was obviously a low one.Through the opening door came the hive-like hum of a school at work, but the
room was empty, save for a mistress sitting at the raised desk, idle, hands folded,
ominously patient. A thin woman, undeveloped, sallow-skinned, with a sensitive
mouth, and eyes that were bold and shining.
They narrowed curiously at sight of the new-comer, but she was greeted with
sufficient courtesy.
"Yes, Miss Vigers?"
Henrietta Vigers was spare, precise, with pale, twitching eyes and a high voice. Her
manner was self-sufficient, her speech deliberate and unnecessarily correct: her
effect was the colourless obstinacy of an elderly mule. She stared about her
inquisitively.
"Miss Hartill, I am looking for Milly Fiske. Her mother has telephonedWhere
is the class? I can't be mistaken. It's a quarter to one. You take the Lower Third
from twelve-fifteen, don't you?"
"Yes," said Clare Hartill.
"Well, butwhere is it?" The secretary frowned suspiciously. She was instinctively
hostile to what she did not understand.
"I don't know," said Clare sweetly.
Henrietta gaped. Clare, justly annoyed as she was, could not but be grateful to the
occasion for providing her with amusement. She enjoyed baiting Henrietta.
"I should have thought you could tell me. Don't you control the time-table? I only
know"her anger rose again"that I have been waiting here since a quarter past
twelve. I have waited quite long enough, I think. I am going home. Perhaps you
will be good enough to enquire into the matter."
"But haven't you been to look for them?" began Henrietta perplexedly."No," said Clare. "I don't, you know. I expect people to come to me. And I don't
like wasting my time." Then, with a change of tone, "Really, Miss Vigers, I don't
know whose fault it is, but it has no business to happen. The class knows perfectly
well that it is due here. You must see that I can't run about looking for it."
"Of course, of course!" Henrietta was taken aback. "But I assure you that it's
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nothing to do with me. I have rearranged nothing. Let me seewho takes them
before you?"
Clare shrugged her shoulders.
"How should I know? I hardly have time for my own classes"
Henrietta broke in excitedly.
"It's Miss Durand! I might have known. Miss Durand, naturally. Miss Hartill, I will
see to the matter at once. It shall not happen again. I will speak to Miss Marsham. I
might have known."
"Miss Durand?" Clare's annoyance vanished. She looked interested and a trifle
amused. "That tall girl with the yellow hair? I've heard about her. I haven't spoken
to her yet, but the children approve, don't they?" She laughed pointedly and
Henrietta flushed. "I rather like the look of her."
"Do you?" Henrietta smiled sourly. "I can't agree. A most unsuitable person. Miss
Marsham engaged her without consulting meor you either, I suppose? The nieceor daughter or something, of an old mistress. I wonder you didn't hearbut of
course you were away the first fortnight. A terrible young womanboisterous
undignifieda bad influence on the children!"
Clare's eyes narrowed again.
"Are you sure? The junior classes are working quite as well as usualbetter
indeed. I've been surprised. Of course, to-day"
"To-day is an example. She has detained them, I suppose. It has happened
beforefive minutes hereten thereevery one is complaining. ReallyI shall
speak to Miss Marsham."
"Of course, if that's the case, you had better," said Clare, rather impatiently, as she
moved towards the door. She regretted the impulse that had induced her to explain
matters to Miss Vigers. If