Marilla has been gone from home most of the day, having joined other women in the community for an Aid meeting. She is not a woman who is easily excited, but she feels excited now to be finally coming home. As she walks along the lane toward her house, she anticipates a warm fire burning in the kitchen stove and dinner at least started. She told Anne to have food ready by five.

However, when Marilla opens the door to the kitchen, the room is dark and cold. There is no food on the table and Anne is not there. When Matthew comes in from the field, though he is hungry and disappointed that dinner is not ready, he suggests that Marilla not be too hard in her feelings toward Anne; she always has a good excuse when she has forgotten to do some chore. This does little to improve Marilla’s mood. Instead she remembers all the times Anne has done something wrong. She does not understand why Anne cannot learn to keep her mind on practical things instead of writing stories and thinking up new ways to improve her imagination.

As Marilla builds a fire and begins to cook the food, she thinks back to the meeting she attended that day. Mrs. Lynde had been all too eager to condemn Anne, Marilla tells Matthew. This had irritated Marilla and she had been about ready to jump to Anne’s defense when Mrs. Allan, the minister’s wife, promptly countered Mrs. Lynde’s remarks by saying that Anne was the smartest and sweetest girl she has ever known. Marilla was awfully proud hearing Mrs. Allan praise Anne. It made Marilla feel as if she were doing a good job in raising Anne, despite all the criticism Mrs. Lynde was eager to hand out.

By the time dinner is finished, Anne is still not home. Marilla is not worried, though she remains ready to give the girl a talking to about obeying her rules. When Marilla goes upstairs to retrieve a candle from Anne’s room, she is shocked to find Anne lying on her bed in the cold and dark. She wants to know what is the matter with Anne and asks if she is sick.

Anne responds that she is not sick; she is terribly depressed. When Marilla asks Anne to get out of bed, the girl slithers off and sits on the floor. She asks that Marilla not look at her. Marilla wants to know Anne’s reason for this. When Marilla looks more closely, she is shocked to see that Anne’s hair has turned green.

Anne says she met a peddler who convinced her that if she used the dye he sold her, her red hair would turn the most beautiful raven black. Anne believed the man and tried it. However, as Marilla can see, the dye did not do what it was supposed to do.

Over the next few days, Anne washes her hair several times, but no matter how hard she scrubs, the green color will not go away. In the end, she must ask Marilla to cut all her hair off. When Anne finally returns to school, all traces of green have been removed. However, Anne is left with a very shaggy head, which she finds quite ugly. Anne is very thankful that only Diana knows the reason for the new hairdo, and Diana has sworn to keep her secret.