"Katherine, dear, are you ready to go? We need to be at the bonfire in a half hour!" Anne called up the stairs, attempting to force down her elated emotions.
"Yes, of course!" Katherine called. Anne could hear her footsteps, first closing the door, briskly hurrying down the corridor, and greeting her at the top of the stairs. Quickly descending the staircase, her many-layered dress covering her feet, Katherine greeted Anne with a smile.
"What is the hurry, dear?" Katherine asked. "You are certainly excited this evening!" she noted, taking a blue, plaid shawl and wrapping it tightly around her shoulders. Going into the kitchen, Katherine came back to the staircase landing, her glasses placed evenly on the bridge of her nose. "I can't forget these, now can I? I won't be able to see any of the fine gentlemen you claim there will be at this bonfire, now could I?"
Anne laughed her typical, beautiful, smiling laugh. Katherine thought it was much heartier tonight, however. "Anne, what is going on inside your head?" the teacher seemed rather concerned. "What has happened to you?"
"Oh, Katherine, can I not feel happy?"
"It seems to be much more than just simple happiness, I'll tell you that. Trust me, Anne. I am a teacher, and I am excellent at discerning emotions. I am anything but stupid." Katherine grinned at her own remark, holding the door wide for the young woman who, unbeknownst to anyone else in Avonlea, had recently become engaged to Gilbert Blythe.
The bonfire was a great distraction for Anne—she was able to introduce the terribly shy Katherine to a few potential suitors and finally reunite with her best childhood friend, Diana Wright. Upon locking eyes with her bosom friend, Anne smiled, running to her.
"Oh, Anne! It is so good to finally see you again! It has been ages!" Diana laughed. "Please, tell me! Any news?"
"Yes, something I expect you will be quite pleased with, my dear. Now, I haven't told anyone this—not Marilla, not Katherine—no one. Gilbert and I are engaged. He "proposed this afternoon—I finally came to my senses and accepted!"
"What? Anne Shirley! You must be kidding around—are you serious? You and Gilbert? Engaged? To-be husband and wife? Oh, I am so happy for you! Congratulations!" Diana embraced her best friend and then pulled back, thinking that Anne was simply radiant. Her eyes, a silent grey, were sparkling bright, her face flushed, and her hair all in place. The girl looked so happy.
"Marilla? Oh, Marilla?" Anne opened the front door, Katherine brushing past and going up the stairs. She was tired from the evening and wished to retire.
"Oh, Anne! You're back so early! I thought you would be out for at least the next two hours or so. Why so soon?"
"I was tired, Katherine was growing tired of the crowd, and our day has both been extremely eventful…" Anne stopped, a smile crossing her face. "Marilla, there is something I need to tell you." She began, taking the elderly woman's hands. "Gilbert and I…Gil and I…we're engaged. He proposed to me this afternoon and I accepted."
"Anne Shirley! Oh, what did I tell you! God matched you two up…it was simply a matter of time…regardless of how ridiculously stubborn you were being…all good things take time! Anne, this is fantastic! Oh, I am so elated! Have you told anyone else?" Marilla asked, her eyes going back and forth over Anne's beautiful face.
"Just Diana. We met up at the bonfire, and I just couldn't resist. I should have told you first, I'm sorry, but the opportunity presented itself and…"
"Oh, my beloved, I am not angry. Not in the least! I am offering my heartfelt congratulations! I can rest easy now knowing that my girl is marrying the finest man in Avonlea!" Marilla smiled.
The next day, Anne arose at six in the morning with the birds chirping, welcoming the sunrise, the horses out back neighing and whinnying to signify that they were hungry and could not go an hour more without food, the floorboards creaking as Marilla dressed in her bedroom, also preparing to start the day. Anne had much to do. She was to eat a quick breakfast, commence chores with the horses, find a two hour block during the waking hours to write, and sometime later in the afternoon meet up with Gilbert. They were planning on taking a stroll down the lane, just like they used to in their old schooldays.
"Anne!" Gilbert turned around and saw his beloved fiancé briskly walking down the gravel road. "Oh, how are you? How was the bonfire last evening?"
"There will be more for the bonfire later. Right now, it's just you and I. Gilbert; I simply cannot believe that we are engaged! In a few short months, we shall be husband and wife! We can take this stroll again, arm in arm, knowing that I am yours and you are mine…and I will be Mrs. Dr. Anne Blythe!" she smiled at the prospect.
"Ah…" Gilbert was happy, imagining that moment. "We will have children together, and maybe we can even fix up Green Gables and live there…"
"Ha…I would want nothing more. My life would be complete." Anne sighed, her hand running against the tall grasses that crowded the edges of the road. Her other hand was grasping Gilbert's left hand. Anne stopped, Gilbert a few moments later, coming back to her. "I can't believe how foolish I was to reject you the first time you asked me…" she trailed off.
"Oh, Anne, that was a year ago—it's behind us. We can just be thankful that we're together now, right? Why dwell on the past! I believe that we were both a tad immature then…" Gilbert reasoned with Anne. After his statement, the young, blissful couple walked in silence, hand in hand, simply enjoying each other's presence. It was rare when the two actually had time alone together, with Anne so engrossed in her writing and chores, and Gilbert preparing for medical school—the lovebirds could hardly find time to be with the other.
"So. You say you want to come back to Green Gables, no matter where else life takes us, Anne?" Gilbert asked, looking into her grey eyes.
"Yes, Gil. More than anything. I've accomplished my first goal in life—being with you—now it's time for my second—to live here at Green Gables. Now, I'm not completely selfish and I do fully realize that we, in all reality, will have to live elsewhere for a few years, with your practice and whatnot, however in the end I would want nothing more than to come back to Green Gables and raise our family. If we could spend our most formative years here…just think, Gil! Us, here! Where we both grew up, fell in love, married…it doesn't make any sense to live any place else. What do you think?"
"I agree…we'll see where we sit after I graduate with my M.D., I might have a position here in Avonlea, or I could be called off to the Yukon Territories."
"Oh, Gil, I hope not! That is clear cross Canada! That would be horrible…"
"It is entirely a possibility, though, Anne. We don't know. Nothing can be 100% determined or counted on." Gilbert said, linking her arm with his.
By that point in time, Anne and Gilbert had reached the end of the lane, taking a right towards Green Gables. Walking up the porch steps, Anne kissed Gilbert a goodbye, clasping his hand one more time before smiling and walking slowly into the house. Marilla sat seated at the dining table, in the chair nearest the black, cast-iron stove. "You were out again with Gilbert, I presume?" she asked inquisitively, picking up her ball of red yarn. The graceful woman had been working on a new shawl for days and had been getting rather upset and frustrated with the whole ordeal of knitting.