At the age of eleven, Anne was taken from the Hopetown orphanage to the neighbouring province of Prince Edward Island, which she regarded as her true home ever after. Unfortunately, she arrived by mistake — her sponsors, the siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, wanted to adopt a boy to help them on their farm, but the neighbour with whom they had sent the message was certain they had requested a girl instead. Matthew quickly became fascinated by the girl's good-hearted spirit, charming enthusiasm, and lively imagination, and wanted her to stay at Green Gables from the very first. Marilla's reaction was to send her back to the orphanage, but she was eventually won over by Anne's quirky "joie de vivre" — and by the fact that another woman, much harder than herself, was set to take Anne should Marilla decline to keep her. The American scholar Joseph Brennan noted that for Anne "all things are alive", as she imagines trees by the roadside welcoming her to Green Gables while a leaning plum tree makes her think that it is offering a veil just for her. Anne at one point says "Maples are such social things" and likes Lover's Lane because "...you can think out loud there without people calling you crazy."