I do n't suppose I 'll be much in the house anyhow , except for meals . But what a shame it all is ! Her life must be a hard one . '' `` It is . But she does n't like to be pitied . '' Leslie had gone back into the house and now met them at the front door . She greeted Owen Ford with cold civility , and told him in a business-like tone that his room and his supper were ready for him . Dick , with a pleased grin , shambled upstairs with the valise , and Owen Ford was installed as an inmate of the old house among the willows . CHAPTER 24 THE LIFE-BOOK OF CAPTAIN JIM `` I have a little brown cocoon of an idea that may possibly expand into a magnificent moth of fulfilment , '' Anne told Gilbert when she reached home . He had returned earlier than she had expected , and was enjoying Susan 's cherry pie . Susan herself hovered in the background , like a rather grim but beneficent guardian spirit , and found as much pleasure in watching Gilbert eat pie as he did in eating it . `` What is your idea ? '' he asked . `` I sha 'n' t tell you just yet -- not till I see if I can bring the thing about . '' `` What sort of a chap is Ford ? '' `` Oh , very nice , and quite good-looking . '' `` Such beautiful ears , doctor , dear , '' interjected Susan with a relish . `` He is about thirty or thirty-five , I think , and he meditates writing a novel . His voice is pleasant and his smile delightful , and he knows how to dress . He looks as if life had n't been altogether easy for him , somehow . ''
Owen Ford came over the next evening with a note to Anne from XXXXX ; they spent the sunset time in the garden and then went for a moonlit sail on the harbor , in the little boat Gilbert had set up for summer outings .
Dick Ford Gilbert JIM Leslie Susan fulfilment home house valise