Rilla rushed miserably to the room in the lighthouse which was fitted up for a temporary ladies ' dressing-room , and discovered that the stain was merely a tiny grass smear and that the gap was equally tiny where a hook had pulled loose . Irene Howard fastened it up for her and gave her some over-sweet , condescending compliments . Rilla felt flattered by Irene 's condescension . She was an Upper Glen girl of nineteen who seemed to like the society of the younger girls -- spiteful friends said because she could queen it over them without rivalry . But Rilla thought Irene quite wonderful and loved her for her patronage . Irene was pretty and stylish ; she sang divinely and spent every winter in Charlottetown taking music lessons . She had an aunt in Montreal who sent her wonderful things to wear ; she was reported to have had a sad love affair -- nobody knew just what , but its very mystery allured . Rilla felt that Irene 's compliments crowned her evening . She ran gaily back to the pavilion and lingered for a moment in the glow of the lanterns at the entrance looking at the dancers . A momentary break in the whirling throng gave her a glimpse of Kenneth Ford standing at the other side . Rilla 's heart skipped a beat -- or , if that be a physiological impossibility , she thought it did . So he was here , after all . She had concluded he was not coming -- not that it mattered in the least . Would he see her ? Would he take any notice of her ? Of course , he would n't ask her to dance -- that could n't be hoped for . He thought her just a mere child . He had called her `` Spider '' not three weeks ago when he had been at Ingleside one evening . She had cried about it upstairs afterwards and hated him . But her heart skipped a beat when she saw that he was edging his way round the side of the pavilion towards her .
Was he coming XXXXX her -- was he ?
Of So about because by for if to towards without