Sara always enjoyed receiving letters from her father.
One day Captain Crewe wrote with very exciting news.
A friend from his school days had come to visit him in India.
The man owned some land where diamonds had been found.
He asked Captain Crewe to become a partner in digging mines to find more diamonds.
Captain Crewe hoped to make a lot of money.
Sara was delighted by the idea of diamond mines.
She told Ermengarde and Lottie stories of mines filled with sparkling stones.
Ermengarde loved the stories, and Lottie insisted on hearing them every night.
Most of the other students were also very excited about the diamond mines.
Of course Lavinia was not.
One day after classes were over, she sat by the schoolroom fire talking with Jessie.
Other girls were talking or playing quietly nearby.
"I don't believe in mines full of diamonds," said Lavinia.
"If there were truly mines filled with diamonds, lots of people would be rich."
"Well, diamonds have to come from somewhere," said Jessie.
"I know, but Sara is just telling another one of her silly stories," Lavinia replied.
"Speaking of Sara," Jessie said, "do you know what I heard?
She likes to pretend that she's a real princess!
She says that being a princess has nothing to do with how you look, or what you own.
It has to do with what you think about, and how you act."
Jessie giggled and went on.
"She wants Ermengarde to be a princess too, but Ermengarde says she is too fat."
Lavinia laughed. "Sara really is ridiculous.
I think we should start calling her 'Your Royal Highness!'"
Just then Sara entered the classroom, followed by Lottie.
"There she is now, with that horrid little child," said Lavinia in a whisper.
"I suppose Lottie will be screaming about something in a minute."
Lottie joined a group of younger girls who were playing in a corner.
Sara sat on the window seat and began reading a book about the French Revolution.
She was soon lost in a story about a prison in France called the Bastille.
Lottie started running and sliding across the floor.
First she annoyed Lavinia and Jessie by making too much noise.
Then she fell and hurt her knee.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! My knee!" she howled.
Some of the other younger girls started trying to comfort her while other girls shouted at her to stop screaming.
Lavinia stood up. "Lottie, stop that noise right now, you crybaby!
If Miss Minchin hears you, she'll come in here. You'll ruin things for everybody."
"If you're quiet, I'll give you a penny," Jessie said.
"I don't want your penny." Lottie sobbed.
Then she noticed a spot of blood on her knee.
"I'm bleeding!" She started howling all over again.
Sara didn't like being interrupted when she was reading.
But she flew across the room to comfort Lottie.
"Now, Lottie," she said. "You promised that you wouldn't cry like this."
"But Lavinia called me a crybaby!" Lottie said.
"Come sit with me and I'll tell you a story," said Sara.
"Will you tell me about the diamond mines?" asked Lottie.
"The diamond mines?" said Lavinia, looking at Sara.
"You're a nasty, spoiled little thing. I'd like to slap you."
Sara turned to Lavinia. "Well, I'd like to slap you, but I won't.
We're both old enough to know better."
"Ah, yes, Your Royal Highness," Lavinia said mockingly.
"We are princesses, I believe. Or at least one of us is.
The school will be very popular now that Miss Minchin has a princess here!"
Sara felt the blood rush up into her face and tingle in her ears.
Sara's game of pretending she was a princess was the joy of her life.
It was a secret that she had not shared with many people, only her closest friends.
Now Lavinia was making fun of her in front of everyone!
Sara raised her hand and was about to slap the older girl.
Then she remembered something: if you were a princess, you did not fly into rages. And you did not hit people.
Her hand dropped by her side.
"It's true," Sara said.
"I pretend I'm a princess so that I can try to behave like one."
Lavinia blinked, and didn't know what to say.
Often when she was dealing with Sara, Lavinia didn't know how to reply.
But right now everyone in the room was waiting for her to say something.
"Dear me!" she said at last. "I hope you won't forget us when you're queen!"
"Oh, I won't," said Sara.
She did not say another word but stood quite still.
And then Lavinia took Jessie's arm and walked away.