So Marcella came to live with us in Bridgeport . I say `` us '' advisedly . She slept and ate in her aunt 's house , but every house in the village was a home to her ; for , with all our little disagreements and diverse opinions , we are really all one big family , and everybody feels an interest in and a good working affection for everybody else . Besides , Marcella was one of those children whom everybody loves at sight , and keeps on loving . One long , steady gaze from those big grayish-blue black-lashed eyes of hers went right into your heart and stayed there . She was a pretty child and as good as she was pretty . It was the right sort of goodness , too , with just enough spice of original sin in it to keep it from spoiling by reason of over-sweetness . She was a frank , loyal , brave little thing , even at eight , and would n't have said or done a mean or false thing to save her life . She and I were right good friends from the beginning . She loved me and she loved her Aunt Sara ; but from the very first her best and deepest affection went out to Doctor John Haven , who lived in the big brick house on the other side of Miss Sara 's . Doctor John was a Bridgeport boy , and when he got through college he came right home and settled down here , with his widowed mother . The Bridgeport girls were fluttered , for eligible young men were scarce in our village ; there was considerable setting of caps , I must say that , although I despise ill-natured gossip ; but neither the caps nor the wearers thereof seemed to make any impression on Doctor John . Mrs. Riddell said that he was a born old bachelor ; I suppose she based her opinion on the fact that Doctor John was always a quiet , bookish fellow , who did n't care a button for society , and had never been guilty of a flirtation in his life . I knew Doctor John 's heart far better than Martha Riddell could know anybody 's ; and I knew there was nothing of the old bachelor in his nature . He just had to wait for the right woman , that was all , not being able to content himself with less as some men can and do . If she never came Doctor John would never marry ; but he would n't be an old bachelor for all that . He was thirty when Marcella came to Bridgeport -- a tall , broad-shouldered man with a mane of thick brown curls and level , dark hazel eyes . He walked with a little stoop , his hands clasped behind him ; and he had the sweetest , deepest voice . Spoken music , if ever a voice was . He was kind and brave and gentle , but a little distant and reserved with most people .
Everybody in Bridgeport liked him , but only a very few ever passed the inner gates of his confidence or were admitted XXXXX any share in his real life .
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