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 to her -- was he ? -- was he ? -- yes , he was ! He was looking for her -- he was here beside her -- he was gazing down at her with something in his dark grey eyes that Rilla had never seen in them . Oh , it was almost too much to bear ! and everything was going on as before -- the dancers were spinning round , the boys who could n't get partners were hanging about the pavilion , canoodling couples were sitting out on the rocks -- nobody seemed to realize what a stupendous thing had happened . Kenneth was a tall lad , very good looking , with a certain careless grace of bearing that somehow made all the other boys seem stiff and awkward by contrast . He was reported to be awesomely clever , with the glamour of a far-away city and a big university hanging around him . He had also the reputation of being a bit of a lady-killer . But that probably accrued to him from his possession of a laughing , velvety voice which no girl could hear without a heartbeat , and a dangerous way of listening as if she were saying something that he had longed all his life to hear . `` Is this Rilla-my-Rilla ? '' he asked in a low tone . `` Yeth , '' said Rilla , and immediately wished she could throw herself headlong down the lighthouse rock or otherwise vanish from a jeering world . Rilla had lisped in early childhood ; but she had grown out of it . Only on occasions of stress and strain did the tendency re-assert itself .
She had n't lisped for a year ; and now XXXXX this very moment , when she was so especially desirous of appearing grown up and sophisticated , she must go and lisp like a baby !
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