Anne glowed and looked proud, before turning her eyes down and trying to hide a grin. She hooked her arm with Mable's and continued to walk across the beach. She wasn't looking for driftwood that hard anymore. She was too fascinated with her new friend. Mable was so chatty. She knew all the questions to ask, whereas Anne usually struggled to keep a conversation going. She even asked them all at the same time, rather overwhelming Anne.

"I suppose I did... I wouldn't really know what to compare it to. I haven't done much travelin' like you. I.. I sometimes like to think about travelin' somewhere else and living there and making me own money and you know... be independent. I'd like to be able to look after me sister... and me family if owt goes wrong. But... well, it won't actually..." That was too painful to say out loud. Too definitive. She had to believe that she could help Alice. She had to believe that there was more to life, even if she pretended she did not actually believe that or desire that. Mable was probably the first she had even shared that dream with. She didn't know why. But it was too early to crush it so definitively.

"Well, and there ain't much time for playin' these days. Me sisters all got married and me mother's dead, so I have to do all the women's work. But... well... I have a scrapbook. I'll show it to you one day. And sometimes me friend Kate will lend me their magazines. I like to read the stories. Uhm. I like to..." She seemed embarrassed and hesitated. "You'll laugh..."