She felt it ought not to have been possible for the child to be so lonely and neglected.

Granted that her unpopularity might be partly her own fault, boycotting was nevertheless hard to bear.

It was clearly somebody's business to have looked after her, and that duty ought not to have devolved upon a newcomer like herself, who only realized the necessity by the merest chance.
"What's the use of the prefects ?" Irene asked herself, but she gave up the answer, and appealed to Peachy at breakfast-time instead.
That cheery young American took the matter more seriously than Irene expected.

There was a very kind little heart hidden under her bubbles of fun.
"I'll call a meeting of the Camellia Buds right now," she declared.

"I guess we don't want any of those poor babes crying their eyes out.