`` I made up a lot of extra good fudge this afternoon and we want someone to help us eat it -- before the fire -- while we tell stories . Perhaps Captain Jim will drop in , too . This is his night . '' `` No . Captain Jim is over home , '' said Leslie . `` He -- he made me come here , '' she added , half defiantly . `` I 'll say a thank-you to him for that when I see him , '' said Anne , pulling easy chairs before the fire . `` Oh , I do n't mean that I did n't want to come , '' protested Leslie , flushing a little . `` I -- I 've been thinking of coming -- but it is n't always easy for me to get away . '' `` Of course it must be hard for you to leave Mr. Moore , '' said Anne , in a matter-of-fact tone . She had decided that it would be best to mention Dick Moore occasionally as an accepted fact , and not give undue morbidness to the subject by avoiding it . She was right , for Leslie 's air of constraint suddenly vanished . Evidently she had been wondering how much Anne knew of the conditions of her life and was relieved that no explanations were needed . She allowed her cap and jacket to be taken , and sat down with a girlish snuggle in the big armchair by Magog . She was dressed prettily and carefully , with the customary touch of color in the scarlet geranium at her white throat . Her beautiful hair gleamed like molten gold in the warm firelight . Her sea-blue eyes were full of soft laughter and allurement . For the moment , under the influence of the little house of dreams , she was a girl again -- a girl forgetful of the past and its bitterness . The atmosphere of the many loves that had sanctified the little house was all about her ; the companionship of two healthy , happy , young folks of her own generation encircled her ; she felt and yielded to the magic of her surroundings -- Miss Cornelia and Captain Jim would scarcely have recognized her ; Anne found it hard to believe that this was the cold , unresponsive woman she had met on the shore -- this animated girl who talked and listened with the eagerness of a starved soul . And how hungrily Leslie 's eyes looked at the bookcases between the windows !
`` Our library is n't very extensive , '' XXXXX Anne , `` but every book in it is a FRIEND .
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