“He asked after you almost as soon as he arrived, Bessie says,” Elsie said.

“Did he?” I said with almost no enthusiasm.

Their smiles wilted.

“Well, you did say he was good-looking,” Emma practically bellowed with frustration.

“Good-looking is not enough as far as I’m concerned. I don’t expect to have interest in any boy who isn’t. When you realize that there has to be a lot more, you’re an adult. Children have crushes; young women have flings with young men, not boys. I haven’t thought of Arthur since he left.”

One thing I would never need, no matter what had just happened to me, was other girls finding me beaus.

They looked disappointed. They had probably promised him they would bring me over this afternoon. It made them seem more important, and they could enjoy a romance vicariously.

“But I’m bored, so I’ll come,” I said, rescuing their smiles. “I’ll go change.”

I closed the door on them so they knew I wasn’t going to invite them in and up to my room to watch me get into my cycling clothes, fix my hair, and maybe put some tint on my cheeks. Then again, I thought the bike ride would bring enough of a flush to them. For a little while, this felt like some sort of vengeance I was taking out on Garland. I could easily go on with my life and simply forget him, forget what had happened, and never give it another thought. But then I told myself what my mother often told me: The easiest person to lie to is yourself.

When I came down again, my mother had put up some tea for her friends and saw me in my divided skirt.

“And where are you going?”

“With my friends to visit Bessie Raymond. It’s only a little over a mile.”

“Well, you be home before dark,” she said, and was suddenly suspicious. “I thought you were still exhausted from your horrible experience. You complained about the train ride so much the railroad would pay to lock you up and keep you from talking about it.”

“Being home has revived me,” I said.

She looked at me skeptically but nodded.

Elsie and Emma leaped to their feet when I stepped out. They had been lying on the lawn.

“We were beginning to think you weren’t coming,” Emma said.

“Well, here I am. I just don’t jump into my clothes and go out. Let me get my cycle.”

I took it from the shed, and we started cycling. It was a relatively easy ride, with just a few small hills. For most of it, we pedaled side by side, even though they both had trouble keeping up with me.

“Have you seen that man you danced with at the Wexler gala?” Elsie asked.