So many people had been kind to her, and what is more, interested in her welfare.

She rose quietly and walked to the middle of the semicircle.
Grace and her chums were in an agony of fear lest poor Anne should break down, and so distress them all except the unkind Miriam.

However, they need not have troubled themselves.

Anne fixed her eyes on the far wall of the dining room and commenced to recite "The Raven" in a clear, musical voice that deepened as she repeated the stanzas.

The girls forgot the shabby little figure in its ill-fitting black silk and saw only Anne's small, white face and glowing eyes.