He was too proud to come again . And then I sulked because he did n't come . I might have sent for him perhaps , but I could n't humble myself to do that . I was just as proud as he was ... pride and sulkiness make a very bad combination , Anne . But I could never care for anybody else and I did n't want to . I knew I would rather be an old maid for a thousand years than marry anybody who was n't Stephen Irving . Well , it all seems like a dream now , of course . How sympathetic you look , Anne ... as sympathetic as only seventeen can look . But do n't overdo it . I 'm really a very happy , contented little person in spite of my broken heart . My heart did break , if ever a heart did , when I realized that Stephen Irving was not coming back . But , Anne , a broken heart in real life is n't half as dreadful as it is in books . It 's a good deal like a bad tooth ... though you wo n't think THAT a very romantic simile . It takes spells of aching and gives you a sleepless night now and then , but between times it lets you enjoy life and dreams and echoes and peanut candy as if there were nothing the matter with it . And now you 're looking disappointed . You do n't think I 'm half as interesting a person as you did five minutes ago when you believed I was always the prey of a tragic memory bravely hidden beneath external smiles . That 's the worst ... or the best ... of real life , Anne . It WO N'T let you be miserable . It keeps on trying to make you comfortable ... and succeeding ... even when you 're determined to be unhappy and romantic . Is n't this candy scrumptious ?
I 've eaten far more than is good XXXXX me already but I 'm going to keep recklessly on . ''
as because beneath between for if like of than to