Her love made her afraid of being unduly indulgent, indeed.

She had an uneasy feeling that it was rather sinful to set one's heart so intensely on any human creature as she had set hers on Anne, and perhaps she performed a sort of unconscious penance for this by being stricter and more critical than if the girl had been less dear to her.

Certainly Anne herself had no idea how Marilla loved her.

She sometimes thought wistfully that Marilla was very hard to please and distinctly lacking in sympathy and understanding.

But she always checked the thought reproachfully, remembering what she owed to Marilla.
"Anne," said Marilla abruptly, "Miss Stacy was here this afternoon when you were out with Diana." Anne came back from her other world with a start and a sigh.
"Was she?
Oh, I'm so sorry I wasn't in.