Matthew Cuthbert is Surprised
- As Matthew drives to the train station at Bright River, readers learn about his shyness. Which is pretty extreme. He's afraid of all women who aren't Marilla and Mrs. Rachel Lynde because he feels like they're secretly laughing at them.
- There's no one at the station except a little girl. Matthew figures he must be early until the stationmaster tells him the train came already and Mrs. Spencer left that orphan girl for him.
- Did we mention that Matthew's also afraid of little girls? He approaches the girl. She's thin, freckled, expressive, and waiting with a carpetbag.
- Luckily for Matthew, she talks first. And instead of introducing herself, she informs Matthew that if he hadn't come she would have climbed the wild cherry tree in the distance and spent the night there.
- Matthew decides to take the girl home and let Marilla explain that there's been a mistake.
- Because the girl's extremely chatty, we get to see the drive home through her eyes. Or rather, mouth. Things she talks about: how she hated the orphan asylum, how she wishes she was better looking, how she loves fine clothes.
- To his own surprise, Matthew finds himself liking her. He tells her she can talk as much as she likes. So she goes on to tell him how she wishes her hair wasn't red.
- When they reach a road arched over with apple trees called The Avenue, the girl falls silent. When she speaks again, she explains that she got a thrill from the beauty of the place. When Matthew tells her its name, she doesn't like it and decides to call it "The White Way of Delight" instead.
- Her re-naming doesn't stop there. When they pass their neighbor's pond, she decides to call it "The Lake of Shining Waters."
- As they get close, she correctly guesses which house is Green Gables, saying it just feels like home. Awkward. Cue a very guilty Matthew.