Kate could not see how any one could do that, kind as Douglas was, and courteous.
And there were times when Marion seemed actually to be trying to interest Fred; other times she purposely irritated him, as though she were deliberately amusing herself with him.

All this was not taking into account Marion's penurious habit of charging Kate for every facial massage and every manicure she gave her.

When Kate looked ahead to the long winter they must spend together in that cabin, she was tempted to feel as though she, for one, would be paying an exorbitant price for her timber claim.
With all that tucked away in the back of her mind, Kate still believed--or at least she successfully pretended to believe--that she liked Marion personally as much as she ever had liked her.

She did not see why any one must be absolutely blind to the faults of a friend.
She merely recognized Marion's faults.

But if she ever criticised, she condoned the criticism by saying that it was for Marion's own best interests.
Just now, while she cleared away the litter of Fred's dinner, she meditated upon the proper manner of dealing with Marion's latest defection.