Alexander MacNair had gone to the west two years previously and got work on a new railroad . He wrote to Gilbert to come too , promising him plenty of work and good pay . Gilbert went , but before going he had asked Anna to marry him . It was the first proposal Anna had ever had , and she managed it quite cleverly , from her standpoint . She told Gilbert that he must wait until he came home again before settling that , meanwhile , they would be very good friends -- emphasized with a blush -- and that he might write to her . She kissed him goodbye , and Gilbert , honest fellow , was quite satisfied . When an Exeter girl had allowed so much to be inferred , it was understood to be equivalent to an engagement . Gilbert had never discerned that Anna was not like the other Exeter girls , but was a law unto herself . Alma sat down by her window and looked out over the lane where the slim wild cherry trees were bronzing under the autumn frosts . Her lips were very firmly set . Something must be done . But what ? Alma 's heart was set on this marriage for two reasons . Firstly , if Anna married Gilbert she would be near her all her life . She could not bear the thought that some day Anna might leave her and go far away to live . In the second and largest place , she desired the marriage because Gilbert did . She had always been desirous , even in the old , childish play-days , that Gilbert should get just exactly what he wanted . She had always taken a keen , strange delight in furthering his wishes . Anna 's falseness would surely break his heart , and Alma winced at the thought of his pain . There was one thing she could do .
Anna 's tormenting suggestion had fallen XXXXX fertile soil .
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