Nan

"Nan" by Lucy Maud Montgomery is a charming and poignant tale about the life of a young girl named Nan who navigates the challenges of growing up, family dynamics, and the journey of self-discovery. Set against the backdrop of rural Canada, the story explores Nan's relationships with her friends and family, her dreams, and the trials she faces as she strives to find her own identity. Montgomery's signature lyrical prose captures the beauty of nature and the complexities of human emotions, making "Nan" a touching exploration of youth and the passage of time.

• Short story

								
Nan was polishing the tumblers at the pantry window, outside of which
John Osborne was leaning among the vines. His arms were folded on the
sill and his straw hat was pushed back from his flushed, eager face as
he watched Nan's deft movements.

Beyond them, old Abe Stewart was mowing the grass in the orchard with
a scythe and casting uneasy glances at the pair. Old Abe did not
approve of John Osborne as a suitor for Nan. John was poor; and old
Abe, although he was the wealthiest farmer in Granville, was bent on
Nan's making a good match. He looked upon John Osborne as a mere
fortune-hunter, and it was a thorn in the flesh to see him talking to
Nan while he, old Abe, was too far away to hear what they were saying.
He had a good deal of confidence in Nan, she was a sensible,
level-headed girl. Still, there was no knowing what freak even a
sensible girl might take into her head, and Nan was so determined when
she did make up her mind. She was his own daughter in that.

However, old Abe need not have worried himself. It could not be said
that Nan was helping John Osborne on in his wooing at all. Instead,
she was teasing and snubbing him by turns.

Nan was very pretty. Moreover, Nan was well aware of the fact. She
knew that the way her dark hair curled around her ears and forehead
was bewitching; that her complexion was the envy of every girl in
Granville; that her long lashes had a trick of drooping over very
soft, dark eyes in a fashion calculated to turn masculine heads
hopelessly. John Osborne knew all this too, to his cost. He had called
to ask Nan to go with him to the Lone Lake picnic the next day. At
this request Nan dropped her eyes and murmured that she was sorry, but
he was too late--she had promised to go with somebody else. There was
no need of Nan's making such a mystery about it. The somebody else was
her only cousin, Ned Bennett, who had had a quarrel with his own girl;
the latter lived at Lone Lake, and Ned had coaxed Nan to go over with
him and try her hand at patching matters up between him and his
offended lady-love. And Nan, who was an amiable creature and
tender-hearted where anybody's lover except her own was concerned, had
agreed to go.

But John Osborne at once jumped to the conclusion--as Nan had very
possibly meant him to do--that the mysterious somebody was Bryan Lee,
and the thought was gall and wormwood to him.

"Whom are you going with?" he asked.

"That would be telling," Nan said, with maddening indifference.

"Is it Bryan Lee?" demanded John.

"It might be," said Nan reflectively, "and then again, you know, it
mightn't."

John was silent; he was no match for Nan when it came to a war of
words. He scowled moodily at the shining tumblers.

"Nan, I'm going out west," he said finally.

Nan stared at him with her last tumbler poised in mid-air, very much
as if he had announced his intention of going to the North Pole or
Equatorial Africa.

"John Osborne, are you crazy?"

"Not quite. And I'm in earnest, I can tell you that."

Nan set the glass down with a decided thud. John's curtness displeased
her. He needn't suppose that it made any difference to her if he took
it into his stupid head to go to Afghanistan.

"Oh!" she remarked carelessly. "Well, I suppose if you've got the
Western fever your case is hopeless. Would it be impertinent to
inquire why you are going?"

"There's nothing else for me to do, Nan," said John, "Bryan Lee is
going to foreclose the mortgage next month and I'll have to clear out.
He says he can't wait any longer. I've worked hard enough and done my
best to keep the old place, but it's been uphill work and I'm beaten
at last."

Nan sat blankly down on the stool by the window. Her face was a study
which John Osborne, watching old Abe's movements, missed.

"Well, I never!" she gasped. "John Osborne, do you mean to tell me
that Bryan Lee is going to do that? How did he come to get your
mortgage?"

"Bought it from old Townsend," answered John briefly. "Oh, he's within
his rights, I'll admit. I've even got behind with the interest this
past year. I'll go out west and begin over again."

"It's a burning shame!" said Nan violently.

John looked around in time to see two very red spots on her cheeks.

"You don't care though, Nan."

"I don't like to see anyone unjustly treated," declared Nan, "and that
is what you've been. You've never had half a chance. And after the way
you've slaved, too!"

"If Lee would wait a little I might do something yet, now that Aunt
Alice is gone," said John bitterly. "I'm not afraid of work. But he
won't; he means to take his spite out at last."

Nan hesitated.

"Surely Bryan isn't so mean as that," she stammered. "Perhaps he'll
change his mind if--if--"

Osborne wheeled about with face aflame.

"Don't you say a word to him about it, Nan!" he cried. "Don't you go
interceding with him for me. I've got some pride left. He can take the
farm from me, and he can take you maybe, but he can't take my
self-respect. I won't beg him for mercy. Don't you dare to say a word
to him about it."

Nan's eyes flashed. She was offended to find her sympathy flung back
in her face.

"Don't be alarmed," she said tartly. "I shan't bother myself about
your concerns. I've no doubt you're able to look out for them
yourself."

Osborne turned away. As he did so he saw Bryan Lee driving up the
lane. Perhaps Nan saw it too. At any rate, she leaned out of the
window.

"John! John!" Osborne half turned. "You'll be up again soon, won't
you?"

His face hardened. "I'll come to say goodbye before I go, of course,"
he answered shortly.

He came face to face with Lee at the gate, where the latter was tying
his sleek chestnut to a poplar. He acknowledged his rival's
condescending nod with a scowl. Lee looked after him with a satisfied
smile.

"Poor beggar!" he muttered. "He feels pretty cheap I reckon. I've
spoiled his chances in this quarter. Old Abe doesn't want any
poverty-stricken hangers-on about his place and Nan won't dream of
taking him when she knows he hasn't a roof over his head."

He stopped for a chat with old Abe. Old Abe approved of Bryan Lee. He
was a son-in-law after old Abe's heart.

Meanwhile, Nan had seated herself at the pantry window and was
ostentatiously hemming towels in apparent oblivion of suitor No. 2.
Nevertheless, when Bryan came up she greeted him with an unusually
sweet smile and at once plunged into an animated conversation. Bryan
had not come to ask her to go to the picnic--business prevented him
from going. But he meant to find out if she were going with John
Osborne. As Nan was serenely impervious to all hints, he was finally
forced to ask her bluntly if she was going to the picnic.


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