cooking. Dyeing my hair cured me of vanity. I never think about my hair
and nose now--at least, very seldom. And today s mistake is going to
cure me of being too romantic. I have come to the conclusion that it is
no use trying to be romantic in Avonlea. It was probably easy enough in
towered Camelot hundreds of years ago, but romance is not appreciated
now. I feel quite sure that you will soon see a great improvement in me
in this respect, Marilla.
I m sure I hope so, said Marilla skeptically.
But Matthew, who had been sitting mutely in his corner, laid a hand on
Anne s shoulder when Marilla had gone out.
Don t give up all your romance, Anne, he whispered shyly, a little
of it is a good thing--not too much, of course--but keep a little of it,
Anne, keep a little of it.
CHAPTER XXIX. An Epoch in Anne s Life
ANNE was bringing the cows home from the back pasture by way of Lover s
Lane. It was a September evening and all the gaps and clearings in the
woods were brimmed up with ruby sunset light. Here and there the lane
was splashed with it, but for the most part it was already quite shadowy
beneath the maples, and the spaces under the firs were filled with a
clear violet dusk like airy wine. The winds were out in their tops, and
there is no sweeter music on earth than that which the wind makes in the
fir trees at evening.
The cows swung placidly down the lane, and Anne followed them dreamily,
repeating aloud the battle canto from _Marmion_--which had also been part
of their English course the preceding winter and which Miss Stacy had
made them learn off by heart--and exulting in its rushing lines and the
clash of spears in its imagery. When she came to the lines
The stubborn spearsmen still made good
Their dark impenetrable wood,
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