But I guess my wicked streak ran out just when I needed it to depend on . Besides , you see , I 've thought of Lou Carroll all these years as she was when I knew her -- handsome and saucy and proud . But that poor creature in there is n't any more like the Lou Carroll I knew than you are -- not a mite . The old Lou Carroll is dead already , and my spite is dead with her . Will you come in and see her ? '' `` Well , no , not just now . She would n't know me , and Mrs. Joel says strangers kind of excite her -- a pretty bad place the hotel would be for her at that rate , I should think . I must go and tell Peter about it , and I 'll send up some of my black currant jam for her . '' When Mrs. Stapp had gone , Mrs. March went back to her guest . Lou Baxter had fallen asleep with her head pillowed on the soft plush back of her chair . Mrs. March looked at the hollow , hectic cheeks and the changed , wasted features , and her bright brown eyes softened with tears . `` Poor Lou , '' she said softly , as she brushed a loose lock of grey hair back from the sleeping woman 's brow . Nan Nan was polishing the tumblers at the pantry window , outside of which John Osborne was leaning among the vines . His arms were folded on the sill and his straw hat was pushed back from his flushed , eager face as he watched Nan 's deft movements . Beyond them , old Abe Stewart was mowing the grass in the orchard with a scythe and casting uneasy glances at the pair . Old Abe did not approve of John Osborne as a suitor for Nan . John was poor ; and old Abe , although he was the wealthiest farmer in Granville , was bent on Nan 's making a good match . He looked upon John Osborne as a mere fortune-hunter , and it was a thorn in the flesh to see him talking to Nan while he , old Abe , was too far away to hear what they were saying . He had a good deal of confidence in Nan , she was a sensible , level-headed girl . Still , there was no knowing what freak even a sensible girl might take into her head , and Nan was so determined when she did make up her mind .
She was his own daughter XXXXX that .
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