I do not blame her in the least , and I , for one , will not ask her to lower herself by helping us out of this scrape . '' `` You do n't expect me to ask her ? '' giggled Amy MacAllister , the other member of the committee . `` Irene and I have n't spoken for a hundred years . Irene is always getting ` insulted ' by somebody . But she is a lovely singer , I 'll admit that , and people would just as soon hear her as Mrs. Channing . '' `` It would n't do any good if you did ask her , '' said Olive significantly . `` Soon after we began planning this concert , back in April , I met Irene in town one day and asked her if she would n't help us out . She said she 'd love to but she really did n't see how she could when Rilla Blythe was running the programme , after the strange way Rilla had behaved to her . So there it is and here we are , and a nice failure our concert will be . '' Rilla went home and shut herself up in her room , her soul in a turmoil . She would not humiliate herself by apologizing to Irene Howard ! Irene had been as much in the wrong as she had been ; and she had told such mean , distorted versions of their quarrel everywhere , posing as a puzzled , injured martyr . Rilla could never bring herself to tell her side of it . The fact that a slur at Walter was mixed up in it tied her tongue . So most people believed that Irene had been badly used , except a few girls who had never liked her and sided with Rilla . And yet -- the concert over which she had worked so hard was going to be a failure . Mrs. Channing 's four solos were the feature of the whole programme . `` Miss Oliver , what do you think about it ? '' she asked in desperation .
`` I think Irene is the one who should apologize , '' said Miss XXXXX .
Blythe Channing Howard MacAllister Oliver Rilla Walter day programme years