People who had heard her called handsome met her and were disappointed . People who had heard her called plain saw her and wondered where other people 's eyes were . Anne herself would never believe that she had any claim to beauty . When she looked in the glass all she saw was a little pale face with seven freckles on the nose thereof . Her mirror never revealed to her the elusive , ever-varying play of feeling that came and went over her features like a rosy illuminating flame , or the charm of dream and laughter alternating in her big eyes . While Anne was not beautiful in any strictly defined sense of the word she possessed a certain evasive charm and distinction of appearance that left beholders with a pleasurable sense of satisfaction in that softly rounded girlhood of hers , with all its strongly felt potentialities . Those who knew Anne best felt , without realizing that they felt it , that her greatest attraction was the aura of possibility surrounding her ... the power of future development that was in her . She seemed to walk in an atmosphere of things about to happen . As they picked , Charlotta the Fourth confided to Anne her fears regarding Miss Lavendar . The warm-hearted little handmaiden was honestly worried over her adored mistress ' condition . `` Miss Lavendar is n't well , Miss Shirley , ma'am . I 'm sure she is n't , though she never complains . She has n't seemed like herself this long while , ma'am ... not since that day you and Paul were here together before . I feel sure she caught cold that night , ma'am . After you and him had gone she went out and walked in the garden for long after dark with nothing but a little shawl on her . There was a lot of snow on the walks and I feel sure she got a chill , ma'am . Ever since then I 've noticed her acting tired and lonesome like . She do n't seem to take an interest in anything , ma'am . She never pretends company 's coming , nor fixes up for it , nor nothing , ma'am . It 's only when you come she seems to chirk up a bit .
And the worst sign XXXXX all , Miss Shirley , ma'am ... '' Charlotta the Fourth lowered her voice as if she were about to tell some exceedingly weird and awful symptom indeed ... `` is that she never gets cross now when I breaks things .
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