Mable's eyes turned to a new corner of the house as Anne explained them to her, hands close to her chest like she was afraid to touch something and ruin it.  Anne even had her own bed, in her own home!  True she used to share it, but it was all hers now.

"I used to sleep beside my brother, when we were younger," she said.  "Though it was mostly in grass or hay... Alice is a beautiful name!  Where's she now?"

Anne hadn't said she moved out, but if she wasn't staying here anymore, Mable figured she must have.  Was she independent, like Anne wanted to be one day?  Or maybe married to a handsome man and eating wonderfully lavish dinners every night?  Mable hoped she was.