Anne is very excited when she receives a letter in the mail inviting her to tea with Mrs. Allan. Anne feels as if Mrs. Allan is another kindred spirit. After the disaster of the cake, Mrs. Allan was tremendously sympathetic with how bad Anne felt, understanding how much Anne had wanted to please her.

The night before the tea, Anne can hardly sleep because she is so excited. The only damper is Matthew’s prediction that it might rain the next day. Anne is hoping for sunshine. The next morning, however, proves Matthew wrong. There is not a cloud in sight. Before Anne leaves for the Allans’ house, she tells Marilla that there is something inside her that she cannot explain. All she knows is that it makes her feel like she wants to love everyone. She then wishes that she were invited to tea every day so she would feel this good all the time. If that would happen, Anne thinks it would be very easy for her to be a model child. Anne then worries about the tea; she wonders if she will know all the proper etiquette. She is so afraid that she will do something silly. Marilla tells Anne to relax and to stop thinking about herself all the time. Marilla suggests that Anne think of Mrs. Allan instead—Anne should think of what she might do to make Mrs. Allan’s day most agreeable. Anne finds this advice very helpful.

When Anne returns home after the tea, she tells Marilla that after having experienced such a wonderful time, she believes she has not lived in vain. Anne so admires Mrs. Allan that she thinks she might want to be a minister’s wife when she grows up. She thinks a minister probably would not care whether his wife had red hair. However, Anne remembers that a minister’s wife should be naturally good, and she questions whether she is capable of this. Being good all the time is as difficult for her as calculating geometry, Anne says.

Anne rambles on, telling Marilla that she believes that loving someone like Mrs. Allan or Matthew is very easy. Loving someone like Mrs. Lynde, on the other hand, is a great challenge. Anne knows she ought to love everyone, but sometimes she forgets to love people who require too much effort.

Next, Anne relates how Mrs. Allan took time to talk to her alone before she left the tea. During this time, Anne gave Mrs. Allan the details of her past. She also added the information about her troubles with geometry. Anne was completely surprised and pleased when Mrs. Allan confessed that she, too, had difficulty with math. This news encouraged Anne. She thinks she might yet turn out to be a good woman in spite of her troubles with geometry.

Finally Anne tells Marilla that as she was leaving the Allans’, Mrs. Lynde came by to announce that a new schoolteacher had been hired. The teacher is a woman named Miss Muriel Stacy. Anne thinks this is a very romantic name. Miss Stacy will be the first female teacher Avonlea has ever had. The idea of a woman teacher makes Anne extremely anxious for school to start in two weeks.