Mother couldn't object to that, surely.
Oh, how wonderful and romantic it would be! Would Ken say anything--he
must mean to say something or why should he be so particular about
seeing her alone? What if it rained--Susan had been complaining about
Mr. Hyde that morning! What if some officious Junior Red called to
discuss Belgians and shirts? Or, worst of all, what if Fred Arnold
dropped in? He did occasionally.
The evening came at last and was all that could be desired in an
evening. The doctor and his wife went to the Manse, Shirley and Miss
Oliver went they alone knew where, Susan went to the store for household
supplies, and Jims went to Dreamland. Rilla put on her georgette gown,
knotted up her hair and bound a little double string of pearls around
it. Then she tucked a cluster of pale pink baby roses at her belt. Would
Ken ask her for a rose for a keepsake? She knew that Jem had carried to
the trenches in Flanders a faded rose that Faith Meredith had kissed and
given him the night before he left.
Rilla looked very sweet when she met Ken in the mingled moonlight and
vine shadows of the big veranda. The hand she gave him was cold and she
was so desperately anxious not to lisp that her greeting was prim and
precise. How handsome and tall Kenneth looked in his lieutenant's
uniform! It made him seem older, too--so much so that Rilla felt rather
foolish.
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