Book: Rainbow Valley
Quotes of Book: Rainbow Valley
And so," said Miss Cornelia, "the double wedding is to be sometime about the middle of this month." There was a faint chill in the air of the early September evening, so Anne had lighted her ever ready fire of driftwood in the big living room, and she and Miss Cornelia basked in its fairy flicker. "It is so delightful-especially in regard to Mr. Meredith and Rosemary," said Anne. "I'm as happy in the thought of it, as I was when I was getting married myself. I felt exactly like a bride again last evening when I was up on the hill seeing Rosemary's trousseau." "They tell me her things are fine enough for a princess," said Susan from a shadowy corner where she was cuddling her brown boy. "I have been invited up to see them also and I intend to go some evening. I understand that Rosemary is to wear white silk and a veil, but Ellen is to be married in navy blue. I have no doubt, Mrs. Dr. dear, that that is very sensible of her, but for my own part I have always felt that if I were ever married I would prefer the white and the veil, as being more bride-like." A vision of Susan in "white and a veil" presented itself before Anne's inner vision and was almost too much for her. "As for Mr. Meredith," said Miss Cornelia, "even his engagement has made a different man of him. He isn't half so dreamy and absent-minded, believe me. I was so relieved book-quoteAll the many familiar things that had once made life sweet had a flavour of bitterness now. Norman Douglas made periodical irruptions also, bullying and coaxing Ellen by turns. It would end, Rosemary believed, by his dragging Ellen off with him some day, and Rosemary felt that she would be almost glad when it happened. Existence would be horribly lonely then, but it would be no longer charged with dynamite. She was roused from her unpleasant reverie by a timid little touch on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Una Meredith. "Why, Una, dear, did you walk up here in all this heat?" "Yes," said Una, "I came to-I came to-" But she found it very hard to say what she had come to do. Her voice failed-her eyes filled with tears. "Why, Una, little girl, what is the trouble? Don't be afraid to tell me." Rosemary put her arm around the thin little form and drew the child close to her. Her eyes were very beautiful-her touch so tender that Una found courage. "I came-to ask you-to marry father," she gasped. Rosemary was silent for a moment from sheer dumbfounderment. She stared at Una blankly. "Oh, don't be angry, please, dear Miss West," said Una, pleadingly. book-quoteWhat do I smell?" interrupted Carl, sniffing. They all smelled it now. A most delectable odour came floating up on the still evening air from the direction of the little woodsy dell below the manse hill. "That makes me hungry," said Jerry. "We had only bread and molasses for supper and cold ditto for dinner," said Una plaintively. Aunt Martha's habit was to boil a large slab of mutton early in the week and serve it up every day, cold and greasy, as long as it lasted. To this Faith, in a moment of inspiration, had give the name of "ditto", and by this it was invariably known at the manse. "Let's go and see where that smell is coming from," said Jerry. They all sprang up, frolicked over the lawn with the abandon of young puppies, climbed a fence, and tore down the mossy slope, guided by the savory lure that ever grew stronger. book-quoteCarl had the clear, bright, dark-blue eyes, fearless and direct, of his dead mother, and her brown hair with its glints of gold. He knew the secrets of bugs and had a sort of freemasonry with bees and beetles. Una never liked to sit near him because she never knew what uncanny creature might be secreted about him. Jerry refused to sleep with him because Carl had once taken a young garter snake to bed with him; so Carl slept in his old cot, which was so short that he could never stretch out, and had strange bed-fellows. Perhaps it was just as well that Aunt Martha was half blind when she made that bed. Altogether they were a jolly, lovable little crew, and Cecilia Meredith's heart must have ached bitterly when she faced the knowledge that she must leave them. "Where would you like to be buried if you were a Methodist?" asked Faith cheerfully. This opened up an interesting field of speculation. "There isn't much choice. The place is full," said Jerry. "I'd like that corner near the road, I guess. book-quote
