`` And I 'm doubly glad , for Charlotta the Fourth is away . Her mother is sick and she had to go home for the night . I should have been very lonely if you had n't come ... even the dreams and the echoes would n't have been enough company . Oh , Anne , how pretty you are , '' she added suddenly , looking up at the tall , slim girl with the soft rose-flush of walking on her face . `` How pretty and how young ! It 's so delightful to be seventeen , is n't it ? I do envy you , '' concluded Miss Lavendar candidly . `` But you are only seventeen at heart , '' smiled Anne . `` No , I 'm old ... or rather middle-aged , which is far worse , '' sighed Miss Lavendar . `` Sometimes I can pretend I 'm not , but at other times I realize it . And I ca n't reconcile myself to it as most women seem to . I 'm just as rebellious as I was when I discovered my first gray hair . Now , Anne , do n't look as if you were trying to understand . Seventeen CA N'T understand . I 'm going to pretend right away that I am seventeen too , and I can do it , now that you 're here . You always bring youth in your hand like a gift . We 're going to have a jolly evening . Tea first ... what do you want for tea ? We 'll have whatever you like . Do think of something nice and indigestible . ''
There were sounds XXXXX riot and mirth in the little stone house that night .
as at for if in like of that to with