`` Davy , '' said Marilla ominously , `` did you throw that conch down ON PURPOSE ? '' `` No , I never did , '' whimpered Davy . `` I was just kneeling here , quiet as quiet , to watch you folks through the bannisters , and my foot struck that old thing and pushed it off ... and I 'm awful hungry ... and I do wish you 'd lick a fellow and have done with it , instead of always sending him upstairs to miss all the fun . '' `` Do n't blame Davy , '' said Anne , gathering up the fragments with trembling fingers . `` It was my fault . I set that platter there and forgot all about it . I am properly punished for my carelessness ; but oh , what will Miss Barry say ? '' `` Well , you know she only bought it , so it is n't the same as if it was an heirloom , '' said Diana , trying to console . The guests went away soon after , feeling that it was the most tactful thing to do , and Anne and Diana washed the dishes , talking less than they had ever been known to do before . Then Diana went home with a headache and Anne went with another to the east gable , where she stayed until Marilla came home from the post office at sunset , with a letter from Priscilla , written the day before . Mrs. Morgan had sprained her ankle so severely that she could not leave her room . `` And oh , Anne dear , '' wrote Priscilla , `` I 'm so sorry , but I 'm afraid we wo n't get up to Green Gables at all now , for by the time Aunty 's ankle is well she will have to go back to Toronto . She has to be there by a certain date . '' `` Well , '' sighed Anne , laying the letter down on the red sandstone step of the back porch , where she was sitting , while the twilight rained down out of a dappled sky , `` I always thought it was too good to be true that Mrs. Morgan should really come . But there ... that speech sounds as pessimistic as Miss Eliza Andrews and I 'm ashamed of making it . After all , it was NOT too good to be true ... things just as good and far better are coming true for me all the time . And I suppose the events of today have a funny side too . Perhaps when Diana and I are old and gray we shall be able to laugh over them . But I feel that I ca n't expect to do it before then , for it has truly been a bitter disappointment . '' `` You 'll probably have a good many more and worse disappointments than that before you get through life , '' said Marilla , who honestly thought she was making a comforting speech .
`` It seems to me , Anne , that you are never going to outgrow your fashion of setting your heart so XXXXX things and then crashing down into despair because you do n't get them . ''
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