Anne has been asked to do a recitation for a charity concert in Avonlea. Matthew tells Anne how proud he is of her, but Marilla, who feels the same way, refrains from making her feelings known. She does not want to spoil the girl. Instead, all Marilla says is that she does not think it proper for young girls to be going out at night without a chaperone.

Diana is in Anne’s bedroom, helping Anne choose what to wear and how to fix her hair. Diana will not be performing, but she has a reputation for fashion and Anne is relying on her friend to make the right decisions. When they are finished, they call to Marilla, who thinks Anne looks proper, but worries about the dress she is wearing. It is one for which Matthew had bought the material. Marilla never did like the organdy. She thinks it is too light and too frilly, and she worries that Anne will get cold. However, after Marilla leaves Anne’s bedroom, she smiles to herself, pleased that Anne looks so pretty.

Diana asks if Anne is nervous, but Anne says she has done so many recitations in school that she has no qualms about this one. She knows one of the other girls is going to recite a funny piece, so she has chosen something that is rather melancholic. Anne says she would rather make people cry than laugh.

When Anne arrives at the hotel and is taken to the dressing room, she shrinks away from the other girls and women she finds there. Although she had felt very pretty and elegant at home, she feels very poor and shabby when she compares herself to the women at the hotel. They are dressed in silks and laces, with diamonds around their necks. Anne has a single, small flower Diana had picked from one of her garden bushes. The other women have fancy flowers obviously from a florist. Her only wish, as she stands there waiting to perform, is to be back at Green Gables.

Once she gets to the stage, Anne feels even worse. The lights are dazzling. The strong perfume from the other women is bewildering. She wishes she could sit in the audience with Jane and Diana. To make things worse, Anne learns that a professional elocutionist, who had been staying at the hotel, has agreed to perform. The woman, Anne notices, has a “marvelously flexible voice and wonderful power of expression.” After this woman’s performance, the audience wildly applauds her. Upon hearing this woman, Anne feels completely embarrassed for ever thinking she was a performer. As she has this thought, Anne notices Gilbert in the audience. Seeing him tightens her resolve. She will not fail in front of Gilbert. She will show him that she is capable of rising to the occasion. She will perform as well as she can.

When she is finished, not only does Anne receive a stunning applause but the audience shouts for an encore.