`` Oh , why did n't you put on your pretty pansy dress ? '' asked Anne , when they left home . It was a hot day , and poor Janet , between her excitement and her heavy black cashmere dress , looked as if she were being broiled alive . `` Old Mrs. Douglas would think it terrible frivolous and unsuitable , I 'm afraid . John likes that dress , though , '' she added wistfully . The old Douglas homestead was half a mile from `` Wayside '' cresting a windy hill . The house itself was large and comfortable , old enough to be dignified , and girdled with maple groves and orchards . There were big , trim barns behind it , and everything bespoke prosperity . Whatever the patient endurance in Mr. Douglas ' face had meant it had n't , so Anne reflected , meant debts and duns . John Douglas met them at the door and took them into the sitting-room , where his mother was enthroned in an armchair . Anne had expected old Mrs. Douglas to be tall and thin , because Mr. Douglas was . Instead , she was a tiny scrap of a woman , with soft pink cheeks , mild blue eyes , and a mouth like a baby 's . Dressed in a beautiful , fashionably-made black silk dress , with a fluffy white shawl over her shoulders , and her snowy hair surmounted by a dainty lace cap , she might have posed as a grandmother doll . `` How do you do , Janet dear ? '' she said sweetly . `` I am so glad to see you again , dear . '' She put up her pretty old face to be kissed . `` And this is our new teacher . I 'm delighted to meet you . My son has been singing your praises until I 'm half jealous , and I 'm sure Janet ought to be wholly so . ''
Poor Janet blushed , Anne XXXXX something polite and conventional , and then everybody sat down and made talk .
cresting expected kissed looked meant meet praises put reflected said