She took an undecided step to the right, as though to pass Jane and flee into the house.
"Don't go, Alicia. Let's get together and straighten things out." Jane laid a gentle hand on the other girl's arm. "I'm sure we can. You promised last year to be my friend. Have you forgotten that?"
"How can I be the friend of a girl who talks about me?" Alicia cried out bitterly. "A girl who only pretends friendship?"
"So, that's it. I thought as much. Now tell me what I said about you."
Something in Jane's steady glance caused Alicia's eyes to waver.
"You told Ethel Lacey that you wished you didn't have to invite me to go with you girls to the Inn the other night, but you felt that you could hardly get out of it. That I expected you to do it. You know that's not true. I'd never intrude where I wasn't wanted."
"Did Ethel tell you this?" Jane asked composedly.
"No. Someone else overheard you say it," retorted Alicia.
"And that 'someone else'?"
"I won't tell you. I promised I wouldn't."