changes and then I have to get acquainted with it all over again.”
“Well, I suppose there is no use in saying anything to you.”
“There is no need, Phil. I’m in the dust. This has spoiled everything
backwards. I can never think of Redmond days without recalling the humiliation
of this evening. Roy despises me—and you despise me—and I despise myself.”
“You poor darling,” said Phil, melting. “Just come here and let me comfort
you. I’ve no right to scold you. I’d have married Alec or Alonzo if I hadn’t met
Jo. Oh, Anne, things are so mixed-up in real life. They aren’t clear-cut and
trimmed off, as they are in novels.”
“I hope that NO one will ever again ask me to marry him as long as I live,”
sobbed poor Anne, devoutly believing that she meant it.