Chapter 24
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was splitting wood. Anne perch perched herself on a block and talked the concert over with him, sure of an appreciative and sympathetic listener in this instance at least.
“Well now, I reckon it’s going to be a pretty good concert. And I expect you’ll do your part fine,” he said, smiling down into her eager, vivacious little face. Anne smiled back at him. Those two were the best of friends and Matthew thanked his starrs stars many a time and oft that he had nothing to do with bringing her up. That was Marilla’s (begin subscript)^(end subscript)(begin superscript)exclusive(end superscript) duty; if it had been his he would have been worried over frequent conflicts between inclination and duty said duty. As it was, he was free to “spoil Anne”—Marilla’s phrasing—as much as he
TEXT ANNOTATION
"many a time and oft": From Signior Antonio's "Many a Time and Oft" monologue, Act I, scene 3 of The Merchant of Venice.