"You wondered why I liked Dickens. Well, I read him so that I could get a good meal by proxy. I used to gloat over the feasts at Wardle's, and Mr. Stiggins' hot toast. And when I met you you gave me--everything. Murray Flint thinks that because I am thin and pale I am all spirit, and I'm afraid you have the same idea. You didn't dream, did you, that I was pale because I hadn't had enough to eat? And when you told me that you wanted me to be your wife I looked ahead and saw the good food and the roaring fires, and I didn't think of anything else. I honestly didn't think of you for a moment, Max. "There were days, though, when you meant more to me than just that. When we played at the Capitol--that night when we met Lafayette on the stairs! Nobody had ever played with me. But after we went to the farm I was smothered in ease. And I loved it. And I didn't love you. You were just--the man who gave me things. Do you see what I mean? And when you kissed me on the stairs it was as if I were being kissed by a nice old Santa Claus. "Everybody saw it but you. I am sure Amy knew--and Winifred Reed. You--you ought to marry Winifred, Max. Perhaps you will. You won't want me after you read this letter. And Winifred is splendid. "It was your speech to the men that waked me. I saw how big you were, and I just--shriveled up. "And you mustn't worry about me. I am not hungry any more. I feel as if I should never want anything to eat. Perhaps it is because I am older and haven't a growing appetite. And I am not any of the things you thought me. And of course you would be disappointed, and it wouldn't be fair." Having posted this, Anne had other things to do. She wrote mysterious letters, and finally came into a room where her sisters and Aunt Elizabeth were sewing, with an important-looking paper in her hand. "I am going to work, Amy." "To work!" "Yes." Amy and Ethel and Aunt Elizabeth wore white frocks, and looked very cool and feminine and high-bred. Aunt Elizabeth had a nose like Amy's and the same look of race. It was Aunt Elizabeth who said in her commanding voice: "What are you talking about, Anne?" "I am going to work in the War Risk Bureau, Aunt Elizabeth. I wrote to two senators, and they helped me." No woman of the Merryman family had ever worked in an office. Anne faced a storm of disapproval, but she stood there slim and defiant, and stated her reasons. "We need money. I don't see how we can get through a winter like the last. I can't keep my self-respect if we go on living as we did last winter." "Haven't you any pride, Anne?" "I have self-respect." She left the room a conqueror. After she had gone the three women talked about her. They did not say it openly, but they felt that there was really an ordinary streak in Anne. Otherwise she would not have wanted to work in an office.