`` Oh , but I do mind , '' said Nancy frankly . `` I hate being an old maid . '' `` Why do n't you get married , then ? '' asked Louisa , paying an unconscious tribute to Nancy 's perennial chance by her use of the present tense . Nancy shook her head . `` No , that would n't suit me either . I do n't want to be married . Do you remember that story Anne Shirley used to tell long ago of the pupil who wanted to be a widow because ` if you were married your husband bossed you and if you were n't married people called you an old maid ? ' Well , that is precisely my opinion . I 'd like to be a widow . Then I 'd have the freedom of the unmarried , with the kudos of the married . I could eat my cake and have it , too . Oh , to be a widow ! '' `` Nancy ! '' said Louisa in a shocked tone . Nancy laughed , a mellow gurgle that rippled through the garden like a brook . `` Oh , Louisa , I can shock you yet . That was just how you used to say ` Nancy ' long ago , as if I 'd broken all the commandments at once . '' `` You do say such queer things , '' protested Louisa , `` and half the time I do n't know what you mean . '' `` Bless you , dear coz , half the time I do n't myself .
Perhaps the joy XXXXX coming back to the old spot has slightly turned my brain , I 've found my lost girlhood here .
Nancy by coz in kudos like of through to with