A New England Nun
by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
In about half an hour Joe Dagget came. She heard his heavy step on the walk and rose and took off her pink and white apron. Under that was still another—white linen with a little cambric edging on the bottom; that was Louisa's company apron. She never wore it without her calico sewing apron over it unless she had a guest. She had barely folded the pink and white one with methodical haste and laid it in a table drawer when the door opened and Joe Dagget entered. He seemed to fill up the whole room. A little yellow canary that had been asleep in his green cage at the south window woke up and fluttered wildly, beating his little yellow wings against the wires. He always did so when Joe Dagget came into the room.
"Good-evening," said Louisa. She extended her hand with a kind of solemn cordiality.
"Good-evening, Louisa," returned the man, in a loud voice.
She placed a chair for him, and they sat facing each other, with the table between them. . . .
Presently, Dagget began fingering the books on the table. There was a square red autograph album and a Young Lady's Gift-Book, which had belonged to Louisa's mother. He took them up one after the other and opened them; then laid them down again, the album on the Gift-Book.
Louisa kept eyeing them with mild uneasiness. Finally she rose and changed the position of the books, putting the album underneath. That was the way they had been arranged in the first place.
Dagget gave an awkward little laugh. "Now what difference did it make which book was on top?" he said.
Louisa looked at him with a deprecating smile. "I always keep them that way," she murmured.
"You do beat everything," said Dagget, trying to laugh again. His large face was flushed.
Adapted from Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's "A New England Nun," 1899.
A.)He is excited to read Louisa’s books.
B.)He is uncomfortable in Louisa's house.
C.)He feels awkward about expressing his love for Louisa.
D.)Louisa amuses him and makes him laugh.