You know so much more than you did when you were only twelve . '' `` Well , what became of Cordelia and Geraldine ? '' asked Diana , who was beginning to feel rather interested in their fate . `` They grew in beauty side by side until they were sixteen . Then Bertram DeVere came to their native village and fell in love with the fair Geraldine . He saved her life when her horse ran away with her in a carriage , and she fainted in his arms and he carried her home three miles ; because , you understand , the carriage was all smashed up . I found it rather hard to imagine the proposal because I had no experience to go by . I asked Ruby Gillis if she knew anything about how men proposed because I thought she 'd likely be an authority on the subject , having so many sisters married . Ruby told me she was hid in the hall pantry when Malcolm Andres proposed to her sister Susan . She said Malcolm told Susan that his dad had given him the farm in his own name and then said , ` What do you say , darling pet , if we get hitched this fall ? ' And Susan said , ` Yes -- no -- I do n't know -- let me see ' -- and there they were , engaged as quick as that . But I did n't think that sort of a proposal was a very romantic one , so in the end I had to imagine it out as well as I could . I made it very flowery and poetical and Bertram went on his knees , although Ruby Gillis says it is n't done nowadays . Geraldine accepted him in a speech a page long . I can tell you I took a lot of trouble with that speech . I rewrote it five times and I look upon it as my masterpiece . Bertram gave her a diamond ring and a ruby necklace and told her they would go to Europe for a wedding tour , for he was immensely wealthy . But then , alas , shadows began to darken over their path . Cordelia was secretly in love with Bertram herself and when Geraldine told her about the engagement she was simply furious , especially when she saw the necklace and the diamond ring . All her affection for Geraldine turned to bitter hate and she vowed that she should never marry Bertram .
But she pretended XXXXX be Geraldine 's friend the same as ever .
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