1、CHRONICLES OF AVONLEA1CHRONICLES OFAVONLEA by L.M.MONTGOMERY TO THE MEMORY OF Mrs.William A.Houston,A DEARFRIEND,WHO HAS GONE BEYONDCHRONICLES OF AVONLEA2I.The Hurrying of Ludovic Anne Shirley was curled up on the window-seat of Theodora Dixssitting-room one Saturday evening,looking dreamily afar at
2、 some fairstarland beyond the hills of sunset.Anne was visiting for a fortnight of hervacation at Echo Lodge,where Mr.and Mrs.Stephen Irving werespending the summer,and she often ran over to the old Dix homestead tochat for awhile with Theodora.They had had their chat out,on thisparticular evening,a
3、nd Anne was giving herself over to the delight ofbuilding an air-castle.She leaned her shapely head,with its braidedcoronet of dark red hair,against the window-casing,and her gray eyeswere like the moonlight gleam of shadowy pools.Then she saw Ludovic Speed coming down the lane.He was yet farfrom th
4、e house,for the Dix lane was a long one,but Ludovic could berecognized as far as he could be seen.No one else in Middle Grafton hadsuch a tall,gently-stooping,placidly-moving figure.In every kink and turnof it there was an individuality all Ludovics own.Anne roused herself from her dreams,thinking i
5、t would only be tactfulto take her departure.Ludovic was courting Theodora.Everyone inGrafton knew that,or,if anyone were in ignorance of the fact,it was notbecause he had not had time to find out.Ludovic had been coming downthat lane to see Theodora,in the same ruminating,unhastening fashion,forfif
6、teen years!When Anne,who was slim and girlish and romantic,rose to go,Theodora,who was plump and middle-aged and practical,said,with atwinkle in her eye:There isnt any hurry,child.Sit down and have your call out.Youveseen Ludovic coming down the lane,and,I suppose,you think youll be acrowd.But you w
7、ont.Ludovic rather likes a third person around,and sodo I.It spurs up the conversation as it were.When a man has been comingto see you straight along,twice a week for fifteen years,you get rathertalked out by spells.Theodora never pretended to bashfulness where Ludovic wasconcerned.She was not at al
8、l shy of referring to him and his dilatoryCHRONICLES OF AVONLEA3courtship.Indeed,it seemed to amuse her.Anne sat down again and together they watched Ludovic comingdown the lane,gazing calmly about him at the lush clover fields and theblue loops of the river winding in and out of the misty valley be
9、low.Anne looked at Theodoras placid,finely-moulded face and tried toimagine what she herself would feel like if she were sitting there,waitingfor an elderly lover who had,seemingly,taken so long to make up hismind.But even Annes imagination failed her for this.Anyway,she thought,impatiently,if I wan
10、ted him I think Id findsome way of hurrying him up.Ludovic SPEED!Was there ever such amisfit of a name?Such a name for such a man is a delusion and a snare.Presently Ludovic got to the house,but stood so long on the doorstepin a brown study,gazing into the tangled green boskage of the cherryorchard,
11、that Theodora finally went and opened the door before heknocked.As she brought him into the sitting-room she made a comicalgrimace at Anne over his shoulder.Ludovic smiled pleasantly at Anne.He liked her;she was the onlyyoung girl he knew,for he generally avoided young girls-they made himfeel awkwar
12、d and out of place.But Anne did not affect him in this fashion.She had a way of getting on with all sorts of people,and,although theyhad not known her very long,both Ludovic and Theodora looked upon heras an old friend.Ludovic was tall and somewhat ungainly,but his unhesitating placiditygave him the
13、 appearance of a dignity that did not otherwise pertain to him.He had a drooping,silky,brown moustache,and a little curly tuft ofimperial,-a fashion which was regarded as eccentric in Grafton,wheremen had clean-shaven chins or went full-bearded.His eyes were dreamyand pleasant,with a touch of melanc
14、holy in their blue depths.He sat down in the big bulgy old armchair that had belonged toTheodoras father.Ludovic always sat there,and Anne declared that thechair had come to look like him.The conversation soon grew animated enough.Ludovic was a goodtalker when he had somebody to draw him out.He was
15、well read,andfrequently surprised Anne by his shrewd comments on men and mattersCHRONICLES OF AVONLEA4out in the world,of which only the faint echoes reached Deland River.Hehad also a liking for religious arguments with Theodora,who did not caremuch for politics or the making of history,but was avid
16、 of doctrines,andread everything pertaining thereto.When the conversation drifted into aneddy of friendly wrangling between Ludovic and Theodora over ChristianScience,Anne understood that her usefulness was ended for the time being,and that she would not be missed.Its star time and good-night time,she said,and went away quietly.But she had to stop to laugh when she was well out of sight of thehouse,in a green meadow bestarred with the white and gold of daisies.Awind,odour-freighted,blew daintily