There was a magnificent sunset , and the snowy hills and deep-blue water of the St. Lawrence Gulf seemed to rim in the splendor like a huge bowl of pearl and sapphire brimmed with wine and fire . Tinkles of sleigh bells and distant laughter , that seemed like the mirth of wood elves , came from every quarter . `` Oh , Diana , '' breathed Anne , squeezing Diana 's mittened hand under the fur robe , `` is n't it all like a beautiful dream ? Do I really look the same as usual ? I feel so different that it seems to me it must show in my looks . '' `` You look awfully nice , '' said Diana , who having just received a compliment from one of her cousins , felt that she ought to pass it on . `` You 've got the loveliest color . '' The program that night was a series of `` thrills '' for at least one listener in the audience , and , as Anne assured Diana , every succeeding thrill was thrillier than the last . When Prissy Andrews , attired in a new pink-silk waist with a string of pearls about her smooth white throat and real carnations in her hair -- rumor whispered that the master had sent all the way to town for them for her -- `` climbed the slimy ladder , dark without one ray of light , '' Anne shivered in luxurious sympathy ; when the choir sang `` Far Above the Gentle Daisies '' Anne gazed at the ceiling as if it were frescoed with angels ; when Sam Sloane proceeded to explain and illustrate `` How Sockery Set a Hen '' Anne laughed until people sitting near her laughed too , more out of sympathy with her than with amusement at a selection that was rather threadbare even in Avonlea ; and when Mr. Phillips gave Mark Antony 's oration over the dead body of Caesar in the most heart-stirring tones -- looking at Prissy Andrews at the end of every sentence -- Anne felt that she could rise and mutiny on the spot if but one Roman citizen led the way . Only one number on the program failed to interest her . When Gilbert Blythe recited `` Bingen on the Rhine '' Anne picked up Rhoda Murray 's library book and read it until he had finished , when she sat rigidly stiff and motionless while Diana clapped her hands until they tingled . It was eleven when they got home , sated with dissipation , but with the exceeding sweet pleasure of talking it all over still to come . Everybody seemed asleep and the house was dark and silent . Anne and Diana tiptoed into the parlor , a long narrow room out of which the spare room opened . It was pleasantly warm and dimly lighted by the embers of a fire in the grate . `` Let 's undress here , '' said Diana . `` It 's so nice and warm . '' `` Has n't it been a delightful time ? '' sighed Anne rapturously . `` It must be splendid to get up and recite there .
Do you suppose we will ever be asked XXXXX do it , Diana ? ''
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