`` Oh , what is the matter ? '' she cried anxiously . `` I 'm -- I 'm forty today , '' sobbed Janet . `` Well , you were nearly that yesterday and it did n't hurt , '' comforted Anne , trying not to smile . `` But -- but , '' went on Janet with a big gulp , `` John Douglas wo n't ask me to marry him . '' `` Oh , but he will , '' said Anne lamely . `` You must give him time , Janet `` Time ! '' said Janet with indescribable scorn . `` He has had twenty years . How much time does he want ? '' `` Do you mean that John Douglas has been coming to see you for twenty years ? '' `` He has . And he has never so much as mentioned marriage to me . And I do n't believe he ever will now . I 've never said a word to a mortal about it , but it seems to me I 've just got to talk it out with some one at last or go crazy . John Douglas begun to go with me twenty years ago , before mother died . Well , he kept coming and coming , and after a spell I begun making quilts and things ; but he never said anything about getting married , only just kept coming and coming . There was n't anything I could do . Mother died when we 'd been going together for eight years . I thought he maybe would speak out then , seeing as I was left alone in the world .
He was real kind and feeling , and did everything he could XXXXX me , but he never said marry .
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