Hugh looked not at me , but past me . `` Hester ! '' he exclaimed , with human fear and horror in his voice . He leaned against the door-post , the big , strong fellow , trembling from head to foot . `` I have learned , '' said Hester , `` that nothing matters in all God 's universe , except love . There is no pride where I have been , and no false ideals . '' Hugh and I looked into each other 's eyes , wondering , and then we knew that we were alone . VIII . THE LITTLE BROWN BOOK OF MISS EMILY The first summer Mr. Irving and Miss Lavendar -- Diana and I could never call her anything else , even after she was married -- were at Echo Lodge after their marriage , both Diana and I spent a great deal of time with them . We became acquainted with many of the Grafton people whom we had not known before , and among others , the family of Mr. Mack Leith . We often went up to the Leiths in the evening to play croquet . Millie and Margaret Leith were very nice girls , and the boys were nice , too . Indeed , we liked every one in the family , except poor old Miss Emily Leith . We tried hard enough to like her , because she seemed to like Diana and me very much , and always wanted to sit with us and talk to us , when we would much rather have been somewhere else . We often felt a good deal of impatience at these times , but I am very glad to think now that we never showed it . In a way , we felt sorry for Miss Emily . She was Mr. Leith 's old-maid sister and she was not of much importance in the household . But , though we felt sorry for her , we could n't like her . She really was fussy and meddlesome ; she liked to poke a finger into every one 's pie , and she was not at all tactful . Then , too , she had a sarcastic tongue , and seemed to feel bitter towards all the young folks and their love affairs .
Diana and I thought this was XXXXX she had never had a lover of her own .
In OF after because before except for that to towards