I find the first couple of chapters quite hard to get into, especially having just finished Cricket Term. The first chapter is rather dull. As a child I just found it a bit boring; reading it now I feel desperately sad for Ginty - telling Patrick she loves him, only for him to immediately pretend that she is someone else ('Rosina') and then not be sure if he loves her back. I'm not convinced at this point that Ginty is pretending to be Rosina, I think this is Ginty as herself, effectively giving herself away. And she's so pathetically submissive to Patrick.
Ginty being submissive is one thing, but then Nicola is too, and I feel like giving her a good shake. Compare her casual acceptance of Tim's renewal of friendship with her pathetic eagerness to sweep out the hawkhouse and generally follow Patrick around. It doesn't seem to occur to Nicola when she gets annoyed with Ann for being willing to do her job of clearing the table, that she has just done the exact same thing for Patrick. (without the additional reason that Ann has, which is to help her mother get them all to the dentist on time.)