Cherry remained silent.
"An' then for two days," Anne continued, "did you act like you understood and wanted to be friends?"
Cherry could stand the questioning no longer.
"Anne, Anne," she pleaded, "don't talk like that. Let me tell you—can't you see what it all means, Anne—I love him—I was jealous."
"Jealous?" Anne stood back from her in surprise.
"When I saw you standing——."
"You mean King?" Anne asked her suddenly.
Cherry nodded her head.
At first Anne seemed about to laugh, but the smile died on her lips.
"Listen to me," she said. "Where'd you get that? If I was goin' to pick someone right now—I'd pick King Howden. But I ain't pickin' anyone, an' I'll tell you why. Now, you get this straight. In the first place he wouldn't stand for me, that's all there is to that. He never told me, because we never talked about it—but I don't have to be told. Anyhow, all that don't matter—it's nowhere with me. There's another reason—I ain't lookin' for a partner. I wasn't goin' to tell you this—but you might as well know."