Walter half lay on the low slung tree branch, peacefully daydreaming and reflecting about nonsensical musings. There was a pleasant hum in the atmosphere of bees collecting pollen from the copious flowers in the garden at Ingleside and it was punctuated only sporadically by the chirps of a robin or a blue-jay. Occasionally, Walter's thoughts strayed from contemplation about everyday life to a few strands of poetry forming in his mind, inspired by the tranquil splendor of the beautiful spring afternoon. So immersed was he in his thoughts, that he didn't even notice when the two Meredith sisters, accompanied by his brother Jem, emerged into the garden through the back gate of the house. It was difficult to rouse Walter when he was deeply engrossed in one of his reveries.
Una Meredith was feeling shy and inhibited as she walked a pace or two behind Jem and Faith. Although nothing had been acknowledged by the two in public, the whole harbor knew about the mutual and steadily flourishing affection between the oldest Blythe boy and the minister's eldest daughter. Una felt like she was imposing herself into a private affair whenever she was left alone in the company of Jem and her sister, though they barely ever took notice of her; so immersed were they in their hushed conversations at all of their meetings. But Una was used to being ignored. She was often overlooked whenever her beautiful and vivacious sister was in the near vicinity and it left no animosity in her. Her timid and composed nature had taken it as just another fact of life. Another was that no matter how much she pined over a certain dark haired and misty eyed poet, the possibility of him returning her ardor was almost unfeasible.
It was then that Una spied the subject of her thoughts resting on a nearby willow bough and her cheeks colored at his very sight. Faith and Jem were almost a yard ahead of her by now, giving no indication that they were ever aware that Una had been accompanying them at the beginning of the walk. Una decided to stop and drink in the pensive and exquisite picture in front of her for a second.
Walter's grey eyes were open but they seemed to be looking intently at something beautiful and remarkable he alone could see. One of his hands was crossed behind his shoulder while his other arm and one of his legs spilled carelessly over the branch. But it was the sight of his mouth formed in the barest hint of an unconscious smile that made Una's heart skip a beat and made her blush even more. Her head told her to be reasonable and not get so absorbed in a man who had always treated her only with brotherly affection, but her heart refused to listen.
The silent battle between Una's mind and heart raged on as she surreptitiously kept her gaze on the man she loved.
Walter's thoughts had by then moved onto the more mundane aspects of life and he lightly chuckled as he remembered his days back at Rainbow Valley and how once Shirley had become attached to a squirrel family and would only return home after hours of being offered bribes of Susan's tastiest confectionaries. He suddenly heard a lilting laughter behind him and turned around to see two familiar heads- one golden-brown and one auburn- bent close to each other, with their backs turned towards him. Quickly shrugging off any impulsive feelings that might have risen at the sight of Faith, Walter lay back on the willow branch. He had recently come to fully accept that Faith's heart belonged to his brother alone and no one could replace him. He also could not betray one of his own siblings, especially when it came to matters of love. He still cared for Faith and it would be a long time before those feelings completely disappeared, but Walter was pleased to note that their intensity were decreasing day by day and he could even contemplate coming to love Faith like a sister one day.
As his thoughts about Faith ebbed away, the image of a dark haired girl with dusky blue eyes formed in his mind. His reflections about the serene girl with the soulful, wistful gaze- who had recently started to pique his interests- made him remember two stanzas of a poem from a long-forgotten book:
"Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee…"