But even Anne 's imagination failed her for this . `` Anyway , '' she thought , impatiently , `` if I wanted him I think I 'd find some way of hurrying him up . Ludovic SPEED ! Was there ever such a misfit of a name ? Such a name for such a man is a delusion and a snare . '' Presently Ludovic got to the house , but stood so long on the doorstep in a brown study , gazing into the tangled green boskage of the cherry orchard , that Theodora finally went and opened the door before he knocked . As she brought him into the sitting-room she made a comical grimace at Anne over his shoulder . Ludovic smiled pleasantly at Anne . He liked her ; she was the only young girl he knew , for he generally avoided young girls -- they made him feel awkward and out of place . But Anne did not affect him in this fashion . She had a way of getting on with all sorts of people , and , although they had not known her very long , both Ludovic and Theodora looked upon her as an old friend . Ludovic was tall and somewhat ungainly , but his unhesitating placidity gave him the appearance of a dignity that did not otherwise pertain to him . He had a drooping , silky , brown moustache , and a little curly tuft of imperial , -- a fashion which was regarded as eccentric in Grafton , where men had clean-shaven chins or went full-bearded . His eyes were dreamy and pleasant , with a touch of melancholy in their blue depths . He sat down in the big bulgy old armchair that had belonged to Theodora 's father . Ludovic always sat there , and Anne declared that the chair had come to look like him . The conversation soon grew animated enough . Ludovic was a good talker when he had somebody to draw him out . He was well read , and frequently surprised Anne by his shrewd comments on men and matters out in the world , of which only the faint echoes reached Deland River . He had also a liking for religious arguments with Theodora , who did not care much for politics or the making of history , but was avid of doctrines , and read everything pertaining thereto .
When the conversation drifted into an eddy of friendly wrangling between Ludovic and Theodora over Christian Science , Anne understood that her usefulness was ended XXXXX the time being , and that she would not be missed .
As at by for if in into of on with