Alma loved Gilbert with a love which she herself believed to be purely sisterly , and which nobody else doubted could be , since she had been at pains to make a match -- Exeter matrons ' phrasing -- between Gil and Anna , and was manifestly delighted when Gilbert obligingly fell in love with the latter . There was a small mortgage on the Murray place which Mr. Murray senior had not been able to pay off . Gilbert determined to get rid of it , and his thoughts turned to the west . His father was an active , hale old man , quite capable of managing the farm in Gilbert 's absence . Alexander MacNair had gone to the west two years previously and got work on a new railroad . He wrote to Gilbert to come too , promising him plenty of work and good pay . Gilbert went , but before going he had asked Anna to marry him . It was the first proposal Anna had ever had , and she managed it quite cleverly , from her standpoint . She told Gilbert that he must wait until he came home again before settling that , meanwhile , they would be very good friends -- emphasized with a blush -- and that he might write to her . She kissed him goodbye , and Gilbert , honest fellow , was quite satisfied . When an Exeter girl had allowed so much to be inferred , it was understood to be equivalent to an engagement . Gilbert had never discerned that Anna was not like the other Exeter girls , but was a law unto herself . Alma sat down by her window and looked out over the lane where the slim wild cherry trees were bronzing under the autumn frosts . Her lips were very firmly set . Something must be done . But what ? Alma 's heart was set on this marriage for two reasons . Firstly , if Anna married Gilbert she would be near her all her life . She could not bear the thought that some day Anna might leave her and go far away to live . In the second and largest place , she desired the marriage because Gilbert did .
She had always been desirous , even in the old , childish play-days , that XXXXX should get just exactly what he wanted .
Alma Anna Exeter Gil Gilbert MacNair Murray matrons second years