`` Oh , they MEANT to be -- I know they meant to be just as good and kind as possible . And when people mean to be good to you , you do n't mind very much when they 're not quite -- always . They had a good deal to worry them , you know . It 's very trying to have a drunken husband , you see ; and it must be very trying to have twins three times in succession , do n't you think ? But I feel sure they meant to be good to me . '' Marilla asked no more questions . Anne gave herself up to a silent rapture over the shore road and Marilla guided the sorrel abstractedly while she pondered deeply . Pity was suddenly stirring in her heart for the child . What a starved , unloved life she had had -- a life of drudgery and poverty and neglect ; for Marilla was shrewd enough to read between the lines of Anne 's history and divine the truth . No wonder she had been so delighted at the prospect of a real home . It was a pity she had to be sent back . What if she , Marilla , should indulge Matthew 's unaccountable whim and let her stay ? He was set on it ; and the child seemed a nice , teachable little thing . `` She 's got too much to say , '' thought Marilla , `` but she might be trained out of that . And there 's nothing rude or slangy in what she does say . She 's ladylike . It 's likely her people were nice folks . '' The shore road was `` woodsy and wild and lonesome . '' On the right hand , scrub firs , their spirits quite unbroken by long years of tussle with the gulf winds , grew thickly . On the left were the steep red sandstone cliffs , so near the track in places that a mare of less steadiness than the sorrel might have tried the nerves of the people behind her .
Down at the base XXXXX the cliffs were heaps of surf-worn rocks or little sandy coves inlaid with pebbles as with ocean jewels ; beyond lay the sea , shimmering and blue , and over it soared the gulls , their pinions flashing silvery in the sunlight .
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