Yes, the children did regret. Young children can’t keep feelings like anger and hatred for long. The collective sense of guilt tormented them. The joy they experienced under the sunlight for an hour vanished. A kind of uncomfortable gloom and silence fell among them. They looked at one another with remorsefulness. They couldn’t meet each other’s glances. They felt as if someone had driven them like so many stakes into the floor.
One of the girls said, “Margot”. Another girl whispered, “go on.” They could perceive only silence behind the door. They unlocked the door even more slowly and let Margot out. After all, all her descriptions of the Sun turned out to be correct. They had unjustly punished her. Their arrogance and aversion had abandoned them. They were guilt-driven. They did not know how to appease her. They were penitent but had no words to seek Margot’s forgiveness.
