Story summary
The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor summary
- 8 min read
- 10 parts
A fourteen-year-old from the Arizona desert drags a rattlesnake home, then travels by train to a Kentucky rose wedding.
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The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 4 h 20 min3 h 25 min fast, 5 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 62,100 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1906by Annie F. Johnston
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor in short
The story follows Mary Ware from a desert ranch to a Kentucky mansion during a June house party. She arrives talkative, tender in her pride and sure she is sunburned. In a few weeks she gets a lesson in manners, a sermon from Betty, a stage triumph and a heartbreak she does not quite understand.
What The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor is about
What would you do if you spent three years on a desert ranch, then got an invitation to a rose wedding in Kentucky? Fourteen-year-old Mary Ware drags a dead snake home, desperate to learn who has written to her sister Joyce. The letter changes her summer.
The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor is a novel by Annie F. Johnston, part of her series about Lloyd Sherman and her friends. It tells of a second house party at The Locusts, where Eugenia Forbes will marry, with Lloyd as maid of honor. You get tableaux on a moonlit lawn, a raccoon hunt, a cake full of lucky charms and a quiet question about honor.
Who it’s for. This book suits readers who love old-fashioned girls' stories, Southern house parties, wedding customs, schoolgirl friendships and big, talkative families. Fans of Anne of Green Gables will feel at home.
The story in 10 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
A secret letter sets two households buzzing
At Warwick Hall, a girls' school, Betty Lewis sits writing in the garden. A freshman brings her a special-delivery letter from her godmother, Mrs. Sherman. It announces a second house party at The Locusts in June. Eugenia Forbes will be married there in a rose wedding, and Lloyd will be maid of honor. The bridesmaids will wear pale pink chiffon.
Lloyd runs down to the willow seat, sure something terrible has happened. She finds a sample of the chiffon and guesses part of the secret. Then she stops herself. A maid of honor, she says, should be too honorable to pry. Her friends laugh, but the little scene shows what the whole book is about.
The story jumps to Arizona, where the postman finds Mary Ware pounding a dead rattlesnake with a club. The letter is from The Locusts, and Mary is invited too. She bursts into tears and laughter. The Wares are not rich, so the invitation feels like a miracle. Honor and happiness both begin with a letter.
- 2Start free to read
Mary's secret beauty cure goes badly wrong
Mary spends the weeks before the trip sewing dresses from bargain remnants.
- 3Start free to read
The Locusts welcomes a dreamer to her promised land
Mary calls Kentucky her promised land, because her mother has told her so many stories of it.
- 4Start free to read
A plan to outwit Girlie Dinsmore backfires gently
Mrs. Sherman, seeing Mary left out among the bridesmaids, arranges a playmate.
- 5Start free to read
Betty's little sermon teaches Mary to forget herself
On the morning the bride arrives, Mary rises at five to wash her face in dew, an old charm for beauty that Mom Beck told her.
- 6Start free to read
A moonlit tableau shows Mary can step in and shine
At The Beeches, the girls join a house party where Mrs. Walton and Miss Allison stage a lawn fete with living pictures.
- 7Start free to read
Something blue carries an old promise to a friend
A day of rain brings the bride's cake charms.
- 8Start free to read
A raccoon hunt, a wedding and a midnight nightmare
Mrs. Sherman plans a raccoon hunt in the woods.
- 9Start free to read
Honor is tested by jealousy, friendship and ambition
Honor shows itself in small choices.
- 10Start free to read
Clovers, rings and rhymes give the story its shape
Small symbols return all through the book.
Read all 10 key ideas, then the whole book
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Check yourself
What does Mary's treatment of Girlie teach her?
Right. “Being clever is not the same as being kind.”Not quite. “Being clever is not the same as being kind.”
Why does Betty give Mary a red diary?
Right. “Betty shows her own row of little good-times books, where she records only happy hours.”Not quite. “Betty shows her own row of little good-times books, where she records only happy hours.”
Why does Lloyd refuse to accept Phil's turquoise as a ring?
Right. “She tells the story of the three weavers, which her father told her, and she has promised him to wait until she is grown.”Not quite. “She tells the story of the three weavers, which her father told her, and she has promised him to wait until she is grown.”
Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Mary Ware A fourteen-year-old from the Arizona desert, talkative and sensitive, who longs to overcome her awkwardness and make something of herself.
- Lloyd Sherman The Little Colonel, seventeen, graceful and proud, who tries to live up to her family's ideals and keep a promise to her father.
- Betty Lewis Lloyd's close friend and Mrs. Sherman's goddaughter, a young writer who edits her school magazine and gives Mary wise advice.
- Joyce Ware Mary's older sister, an artist who travels with her to Kentucky and serves as a bridesmaid at Eugenia's wedding.
- Eugenia Forbes The bride, stylish and devoted to old wedding customs, who is marrying Stuart Tremont at The Locusts in June.
- Phil Tremont The best man, a civil engineer who once let a careless streak get the better of him and now hopes to win Lloyd's respect.
- Rob Moore A tall, teasing neighbor and old friend of Lloyd, who keeps Mary's secret and likes her honest tongue.
- Bernice Howe A Valley girl who is fond of Alex Shelby and bitterly jealous when he pays attention to Lloyd.
How it ends (spoiler)
Rob must leave the Valley early with his family, and he says goodbye to Lloyd at the measuring tree. He carves a four-leaf clover beside her height mark and recites a farewell wish for her. She tells him that he showed her where to find the third leaf, the leaf of honor. They clasp hands, and she walks back to the house without looking behind her, while the old locust trees see Rob watching her go.
Famous lines
I only mark the hours that shine.
The inscription on the Warwick Hall sundial, written by Betty in Mary's diary. It reminds Mary to remember happy moments and not dwell on embarrassments.
Fortune has at last turned in our favor!
Mary's family saying, which she chants. It captures the joy of a family that has waited a long time for good news.
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Questions about The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor
What is The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor about?
It follows Mary Ware, a fourteen-year-old from Arizona, on a June house party at The Locusts in Kentucky, where Lloyd Sherman is maid of honor at Eugenia Forbes's rose wedding. Friendship, honor and wedding customs fill the story.
Who is the Little Colonel?
The Little Colonel is Lloyd Sherman, a spirited girl from Kentucky who got the nickname as a child because of her proud, commanding ways. She is seventeen in this book, and she is also called the Princess and Queen of Hearts.
Do I need to read the earlier Little Colonel books first?
No. The story explains who each person is as it goes, and it recalls the first house party in light, friendly touches. Mary is new to the Valley, so you meet everyone along with her.
What is the four-leaf clover legend in the book?
Doctor Bradford tells of Abdallah, who searched for the shamrock of Paradise. Its leaves stand for kindness, faithfulness and wisdom, and the fourth leaf, perfect happiness, is lost until Paradise. The girls debate whether it can be earned.
Is The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor worth reading?
It is a warm, funny story with lively dialogue, short chapters and lovely wedding scenes. Mary's blunders and Lloyd's honorable choices are easy to follow, and the book gives a good picture of old-fashioned Kentucky home life.
Cite this page
“Summary of The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor: the key points in 3 minutes.” Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/pages/the-little-colonel-maid-of-honor-summary.
Library of Alexandria. (2026). Summary of The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor: the key points in 3 minutes. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/the-little-colonel-maid-of-honor-summary
“Summary of The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor: the key points in 3 minutes.” Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/the-little-colonel-maid-of-honor-summary.
@misc{the_little_colonel_maid_of_honor_summary_2026,
title = {Summary of The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor: the key points in 3 minutes},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/the-little-colonel-maid-of-honor-summary}
}
Cite this edition
Johnston, Annie F. The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-little-colonel-maid-of-honor.
Johnston, A. F. (2026). The Little Colonel: Maid of honor. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-little-colonel-maid-of-honor (Original work published 1906)
Johnston, Annie F. The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-little-colonel-maid-of-honor.
@book{johnston2026little,
author = {Johnston, Annie F.},
title = {The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-little-colonel-maid-of-honor},
note = {First published 1906}
}
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