Later that morning Cherry went to MacMurray's to see if she could not prevail upon Anne to come over to Hurley's cottage to see King. She found Anne seated beside McCartney, who had fallen asleep. Anne was bending low over him, tears streaming down her cheeks. When she saw Cherry she got up quickly and brushed the tears impatiently from her eyes. Then she came to Cherry, where she was standing in the doorway.
"Anne—Anne," Cherry said, her voice soft with pity.
But Anne was mistress of herself now.
"How is King?" she asked, in a most matter-of-fact tone that expressed quite clearly how little she wanted anyone's sympathy.
"He's all right now," Cherry replied. "He has a bad ankle and can't walk, but it will be all right in a day or two. He asked me to bring you over."
"What does he want?"
Cherry found it hard to reply to Anne's question—it was asked with such cold directness.
"I think he wants to explain to you what he feels about——."
Anne stopped her abruptly. "Tell him it's all right. I ain't goin' to worry over a thing that I've been expectin' for weeks. Tell him it's all right."
Cherry turned to go.