Jims , being an astute infant , sensed trouble in the atmosphere and realized that it was up to him to clear it away . He turned his face up to Rilla , smiled adorably and said , clearly and beguilingly , `` Will -- Will . '' It was the very first time he had spoken a word or tried to speak . Rilla was so delighted that she forgot her grudge against him . She forgave him with a hug and kiss . Jims , understanding that he was restored to favour , cuddled down against her just where a gleam of light from the lamp in the living-room struck across his hair and turned it into a halo of gold against her breast . Kenneth sat very still and silent , looking at Rilla -- at the delicate , girlish silhouette of her , her long lashes , her dented lip , her adorable chin . In the dim moonlight , as she sat with her head bent a little over Jims , the lamplight glinting on her pearls until they glistened like a slender nimbus , he thought she looked exactly like the Madonna that hung over his mother 's desk at home . He carried that picture of her in his heart to the horror of the battlefields of France . He had had a strong fancy for Rilla Blythe ever since the night of the Four Winds dance ; but it was when he saw her there , with little Jims in her arms , that he loved her and realized it . And all the while , poor Rilla was sitting , disappointed and humiliated , feeling that her last evening with Ken was spoiled and wondering why things always had to go so contrarily outside of books . She felt too absurd to try to talk . Evidently Ken was completely disgusted , too , since he was sitting there in such stony silence . Hope revived momentarily when Jims went so thoroughly asleep that she thought it would be safe to lay him down on the couch in the living-room . But when she came out again Susan was sitting on the veranda , loosening her bonnet strings with the air of one who meant to stay where she was for some time . `` Have you got your baby to sleep ? '' she asked kindly . Your baby ! Really , Susan might have more tact . `` Yes , '' said Rilla shortly .
Susan laid her parcels on the reed table , XXXXX one determined to do her duty .
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