went out in quest of a recipe the latter had come to borrow, she sprang
up and flew across the room to Marilla.
Oh, Miss Cuthbert, did you really say that perhaps you would let me
stay at Green Gables? she said, in a breathless whisper, as if speaking
aloud might shatter the glorious possibility. Did you really say it? Or
did I only imagine that you did?
I think you d better learn to control that imagination of yours, Anne,
if you can t distinguish between what is real and what isn t, said
Marilla crossly. Yes, you did hear me say just that and no more. It
isn t decided yet and perhaps we will conclude to let Mrs. Blewett take
you after all. She certainly needs you much more than I do.
I d rather go back to the asylum than go to live with her, said Anne
passionately. She looks exactly like a--like a gimlet.
Marilla smothered a smile under the conviction that Anne must be
reproved for such a speech.
A little girl like you should be ashamed of talking so about a lady and
a stranger, she said severely. Go back and sit down quietly and hold
your tongue and behave as a good girl should.
I ll try to do and be anything you want me, if you ll only keep me,
said Anne, returning meekly to her ottoman.
When they arrived back at Green Gables that evening Matthew met them in
the lane. Marilla from afar had noted him prowling along it and guessed
his motive. She was prepared for the relief she read in his face when
he saw that she had at least brought Anne back with her. But she said
nothing, to him, relative to the affair, until they were both out in
the yard behind the barn milking the cows. Then she briefly told him
Anne s history and the result of the interview with Mrs. Spencer.
I wouldn t give a dog I liked to that Blewett woman, said Matthew with
unusual vim.
I don t fancy her style myself, admitted Marilla, but it s that
or keeping her ourselves, Matthew. And, since you seem to want her, I
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