Chapter 3 Summary

There is no hiding Marilla Cuthbert's dismay when she discovers the odd turn in events. Anne, discerning the predicament before her, falls into despair and fits of emotion: "'I might have known it was all too beautiful to last. I might have known nobody really did want me.'" Softening, Marilla asks the little orphan girl her name. Anne asks her to call her Cordelia because it is such a lovely name, which the stern Marilla refuses. At the very least, Marilla is asked to call the girl Anne spelled with an 'e.' After supper, which Anne barely nibbles on due to being in the "depths of despair," Marilla shows her to the east gable room, a bare and unadorned bedroom that gives the sensitive young girl "shivers." Marilla, washing the supper dishes, discusses the quandary with Matthew, who faintly intimates he...