I wish I had always been as brown and plain as the brownest and plainest girl at the fishing village over there . Well , what do you think of Miss Cornelia ? '' The abrupt change of subject shut the door on any further confidences . `` Miss Cornelia is a darling , is n't she ? '' said Anne . `` Gilbert and I were invited to her house to a state tea last week . You 've heard of groaning tables . '' `` I seem to recall seeing the expression in the newspaper reports of weddings , '' said Leslie , smiling . `` Well , Miss Cornelia 's groaned -- at least , it creaked -- positively . You could n't have believed she would have cooked so much for two ordinary people . She had every kind of pie you could name , I think -- except lemon pie . She said she had taken the prize for lemon pies at the Charlottetown Exhibition ten years ago and had never made any since for fear of losing her reputation for them . '' `` Were you able to eat enough pie to please her ? '' '' I was n't . Gilbert won her heart by eating -- I wo n't tell you how much . She said she never knew a man who did n't like pie better than his Bible . Do you know , I love Miss Cornelia . '' `` So do I , '' said Leslie . `` She is the best friend I have in the world . '' Anne wondered secretly why , if this were so , Miss Cornelia had never mentioned Mrs. Dick Moore to her .
Miss XXXXX had certainly talked freely about every other individual in or near Four Winds .
Anne Cornelia Exhibition Gilbert Leslie Moore brownest confidences heart years