Anne, starting out alone in the morning, went down Lover’s Lane as far as the brook. Here Diana met her, and the two little girls went on up the lane under the leafy arch of maplesā ā€”ā€œmaples are such sociable trees,ā€ said Anne; ā€œthey’re always rustling and whispering to youā€ā ā€”until they came to a rustic bridge. Then they left the lane and walked through Mr. Barry’s back field and past Willowmere. Beyond Willowmere came Violet Vale⁠—a little green dimple in the shadow of Mr. Andrew Bell’s big woods. ā€œOf course there are no violets there now,ā€ Anne told Marilla, ā€œbut Diana says there are millions of them in spring. Oh, Marilla, can’t you just imagine you see them? It actually takes away my breath. I named it Violet Vale. Diana says she never saw the beat of me for hitting on fancy names for places. It’s nice to be clever at something, isn’t it? But Diana named the Birch Path. She wanted to, so I let her; but I’m sure I could have found something more poetical than plain Birch Path. Anybody can think of a name like that. But the Birch Path is one of the prettiest places in the world, Marilla.ā€

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