Marilla opened the door. She saw the odd girl in the ugly dress, with long red braids and big eyes. "Matthew Cuthbert, who’s that?" she said. "Where’s the boy?"
"There wasn’t any boy," said Matthew slowly. "There was only her." He nodded at the child. He realized he didn't even know her name.
"No boy? But there must be a boy!" insisted Marilla. "We asked Mrs. Spencer for a boy."
"Well, I asked the stationmaster, and Mrs. Spencer didn’t bring a boy," said Matthew. "I had to bring the girl home."
"Well, what do we do now?" asked Marilla.
During this conversation the child was silent. Suddenly she understood what was happening. "You don’t want me!" she cried. "You don’t want me because I’m not a boy! I should have known. Nobody ever did want me!" She burst into tears.
Neither Marilla nor Matthew knew what to do. Finally Marilla said, "Well, well, there’s no need to cry. You can stay here until we find out what happened. What’s your name?"
The child stopped crying and asked eagerly, "Will you please call me Cordelia?"
"Call you Cordelia? Is that your name?" asked Marilla.
"No, it’s not exactly my name, but I would love to be called Cordelia. It’s a beautiful name."
"I don’t know what you mean. If Cordelia isn’t your name, what is?" Marilla asked.
"Anne Shirley," the girl answered. "But Anne is such an unromantic name."
"Anne is a good, plain, sensible name," said Marilla.
"It’s all right, but I like Cordelia better. If you must call me Anne, please call me Anne spelled with an ‘e’," Anne said.
"What does it matter how it’s spelled?" asked Marilla, trying to stop a smile.
"Oh, it looks so much nicer. A-n-n looks horrible, but A-n-n-e looks more distinguished."
"Did Mrs. Spencer bring any other orphans besides you?" Marilla inquired.
"She brought Lily Jones for herself," Anne answered. "Lily is only five years old, and she is very beautiful. She has nut-brown hair. If I were very beautiful and had nut-brown hair, would you keep me?"
"No. We want a boy to help Matthew on the farm. A girl is no use. Now take off your hat, and let’s eat dinner."
Anne took off her hat, and they sat down to eat. But Anne could not eat. She nibbled at the bread and butter, and nibbled at the apple pie.
When dinner was finished, Marilla showed Anne to a spare bedroom. Anne got into bed and put her head right under the covers. "Good night," Marilla said a little awkwardly but kindly.
Suddenly Anne’s head reappeared. "How can you say it’s a good night when you know it’s the worst night I’ve ever had?" she cried. She disappeared under the covers again.
Marilla went into the kitchen and started to wash the dishes. Matthew sat on a chair, saying nothing.
"One of us will have to take the girl back tomorrow," said Marilla.
"I suppose so," said Matthew reluctantly.
"You suppose so!" Marilla echoed. "Don’t you know so?"
"Well now, she’s a real nice little thing, Marilla. It’s a pity to send her back. She likes it so much here," said Matthew.
"Matthew Cuthbert! Do you really think we should keep her?" said Marilla, astonished.
"Well, no . . . not exactly," stammered Matthew.
"Of course we cannot keep her," said Marilla. "What good would she be to us?"
"We might be some good to her," said Matthew unexpectedly.
"Matthew Cuthbert, I can see that you want to keep her. That girl has bewitched you!"
"Well now, she’s a real interesting little thing," said Matthew. "You should have heard her talk, coming from the station."
"Oh, she can talk all right. I don’t like children that talk so much. I don’t want an orphan girl, and if I did, it wouldn’t be her."
The next morning Anne awoke and sat up in bed. For a moment she couldn’t remember where she was. First she had a delightful thrill, and then a horrible memory. This was Green Gables, and they didn’t want her because she wasn’t a boy!
She got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. "I’m pretty hungry this morning," she announced. "I’m glad it’s such a sunny morning. But I like rainy mornings as well. All sorts of mornings are interesting, don’t you think? You don’t know what’s going to happen throughout the day. Anything could happen!"
"For goodness sake, be quiet!" said Marilla. Anne obeyed and was so silent that it made Marilla nervous. Matthew was also quiet, but this was natural, so the meal was a very silent one. After breakfast Anne washed the dishes, and then Marilla told her to go and play outside.
Anne ran to the door, excited. Then she stopped suddenly, came back, and sat at the table.
"What’s the matter now?" said Marilla.
"I can’t go out," said Anne. "It’s no use loving Green Gables. If I go out and meet all those trees and flowers, it’ll just be harder to leave."
Marilla thought, "In all my life, I never saw or heard anything like it! She is kind of interesting, as Matthew says. I am already wondering what she’ll say next."
But when evening came, Marilla and Anne got in the buggy and left Green Gables. They were on their way to Mrs. Spencer’s house.