It would have hurt me dreadfully next winter at Redmond to think of that dear stone house all stripped and deserted , with empty rooms ... or far worse still , with other people living in it . But I can think of it now , just as I 've always seen it , waiting happily for the summer to bring life and laughter back to it again . '' There was more romance in the world than that which had fallen to the share of the middle-aged lovers of the stone house . Anne stumbled suddenly on it one evening when she went over to Orchard Slope by the wood cut and came out into the Barry garden . Diana Barry and Fred Wright were standing together under the big willow . Diana was leaning against the gray trunk , her lashes cast down on very crimson cheeks . One hand was held by Fred , who stood with his face bent toward her , stammering something in low earnest tones . There were no other people in the world except their two selves at that magic moment ; so neither of them saw Anne , who , after one dazed glance of comprehension , turned and sped noiselessly back through the spruce wood , never stopping till she gained her own gable room , where she sat breathlessly down by her window and tried to collect her scattered wits . `` Diana and Fred are in love with each other , '' she gasped . `` Oh , it does seem so ... so ... so HOPELESSLY grown up . '' Anne , of late , had not been without her suspicions that Diana was proving false to the melancholy Byronic hero of her early dreams . But as `` things seen are mightier than things heard , '' or suspected , the realization that it was actually so came to her with almost the shock of perfect surprise . This was succeeded by a queer , little lonely feeling ... as if , somehow , Diana had gone forward into a new world , shutting a gate behind her , leaving Anne on the outside . `` Things are changing so fast it almost frightens me , '' Anne thought , a little sadly . `` And I 'm afraid that this ca n't help making some difference between Diana and me . I 'm sure I ca n't tell her all my secrets after this ... she might tell Fred . And what CAN she see in Fred ? He 's very nice and jolly ... but he 's just Fred Wright . '' It is always a very puzzling question ... what can somebody see in somebody else ? But how fortunate after all that it is so , for if everybody saw alike ... well , in that case , as the old Indian said , `` Everybody would want my squaw . ''
It was plain that Diana DID see something in Fred XXXXX , however Anne 's eyes might be holden .
Anne Barry Byronic Diana Fred Indian Redmond Wright evening garden