`` It is to be hoped that he wo n't be so absent-minded as to propose to Ellen by mistake , '' was the only malicious thing she allowed herself to say to a sympathetic sister Drew . Emmeline bore no further grudge towards Rosemary . When all was said and done , an unencumbered bachelor was far better than a widower with four children . It had been only the glamour of the manse that had temporarily blinded Emmeline 's eyes to the better part . A sled with three shrieking occupants sped past Mr. Meredith to the pond . Faith 's long curls streamed in the wind and her laughter rang above that of the others . John Meredith looked after them kindly and longingly . He was glad that his children had such chums as the Blythes -- glad that they had so wise and gay and tender a friend as Mrs. Blythe . But they needed something more , and that something would be supplied when he brought Rosemary West as a bride to the old manse . There was in her a quality essentially maternal . It was Saturday night and he did not often go calling on Saturday night , which was supposed to be dedicated to a thoughtful revision of Sunday 's sermon . But he had chosen this night because he had learned that Ellen West was going to be away and Rosemary would be alone . Often as he had spent pleasant evenings in the house on the hill he had never , since that first meeting at the spring , seen Rosemary alone . Ellen had always been there . He did not precisely object to Ellen being there . He liked Ellen West very much and they were the best of friends . Ellen had an almost masculine understanding and a sense of humour which his own shy , hidden appreciation of fun found very agreeable . He liked her interest in politics and world events . There was no man in the Glen , not even excepting Dr. Blythe , who had a better grasp of such things . `` I think it is just as well to be interested in things as long as you live , '' she had said .
`` If you 're not , it does n't seem to me XXXXX there 's much difference between the quick and the dead . ''
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