She was pushed and pulled and hugged and among it all she managed to whisper to Jane : `` Oh , wo n't Matthew and Marilla be pleased ! I must write the news home right away . '' Commencement was the next important happening . The exercises were held in the big assembly hall of the Academy . Addresses were given , essays read , songs sung , the public award of diplomas , prizes and medals made . Matthew and Marilla were there , with eyes and ears for only one student on the platform -- a tall girl in pale green , with faintly flushed cheeks and starry eyes , who read the best essay and was pointed out and whispered about as the Avery winner . `` Reckon you 're glad we kept her , Marilla ? '' whispered Matthew , speaking for the first time since he had entered the hall , when Anne had finished her essay . `` It 's not the first time I 've been glad , '' retorted Marilla . `` You do like to rub things in , Matthew Cuthbert . '' Miss Barry , who was sitting behind them , leaned forward and poked Marilla in the back with her parasol . `` Are n't you proud of that Anne-girl ? I am , '' she said . Anne went home to Avonlea with Matthew and Marilla that evening . She had not been home since April and she felt that she could not wait another day . The apple blossoms were out and the world was fresh and young . Diana was at Green Gables to meet her . In her own white room , where Marilla had set a flowering house rose on the window sill , Anne looked about her and drew a long breath of happiness . `` Oh , Diana , it 's so good to be back again . It 's so good to see those pointed firs coming out against the pink sky -- and that white orchard and the old Snow Queen .
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