She bore her burden of humiliation bitterly for several days , until she was suddenly comforted by a realization that Cyrus had ceased to persecute her . He wrote no more letters , he gazed no longer in rapt adoration , he brought no more votive offerings of gum and pencils to her shrine . At first we thought he had been cured by the unmerciful chaffing he had to undergo from his mates , but eventually his sister told Cecily the true reason . Cyrus had at last been driven to believe that Cecily 's aversion to him was real , and not merely the defence of maiden coyness . If she hated him so intensely that she would rather write that note on the blackboard than sit with him , what use was it to sigh like a furnace longer for her ? Mr. Perkins had blighted love 's young dream for Cyrus with a killing frost . Thenceforth sweet Cecily kept the noiseless tenor of her way unvexed by the attentions of enamoured swains . CHAPTER XVI . AUNT UNA 'S STORY Felicity , and Cecily , Dan , Felix , Sara Ray and I were sitting one evening on the mossy stones in Uncle Roger 's hill pasture , where we had sat the morning the Story Girl told us the tale of the Wedding Veil of the Proud Princess . But it was evening now and the valley beneath us was brimmed up with the glow of the afterlight . Behind us , two tall , shapely spruce trees rose up against the sunset , and through the dark oriel of their sundered branches an evening star looked down . We sat on a little strip of emerald grassland and before us was a sloping meadow all white with daisies . We were waiting for Peter and the Story Girl . Peter had gone to Markdale after dinner to spend the afternoon with his reunited parents because it was his birthday . He had left us grimly determined to confess to his father the dark secret of his Presbyterianism , and we were anxious to know what the result had been . The Story Girl had gone that morning with Miss Reade to visit the latter 's home near Charlottetown , and we expected soon to see her coming gaily along over the fields from the Armstrong place . Presently Peter came jauntily stepping along the field path up the hill . `` Has n't Peter got tall ? '' said Cecily . `` Peter is growing to be a very fine looking boy , '' decreed Felicity .
`` I notice he 's got ever so much handsomer since his father came home , '' said XXXXX , with a killing sarcasm that was wholly lost on Felicity , who gravely responded that she supposed it was because Peter felt so much freer from care and responsibility .
Armstrong Cecily Cyrus Dan Peter Ray XVI days morning oriel