Smiling
Ken pushed a strand of hair out of his eyes and knocked on the door of one of the guest rooms in his parent's house, where Rilla and Anne currently resided, even though he wasn't sure if it had been a wise thing to come. After all Rilla had had him sent away the last times and furthermore it was rather late.
He had, due to both his family's relationships and his remarkably good leaving certificate, gotten a job at an renowned newspaper in Toronto immediately upon graduating, which on one hand was, of course, very good, but on the other also proved to be very time-consuming.
Especially right now, with the wedding and the following honeymoon coming up, he had to work twice as much and therefore on most days hardly came home before nine o'clock in the evenings.
Today proved to be no exception and a quick glance at his watch told Ken that it was shortly before ten o'clock already.
Just at that moment the door opened and, like so often in the last few days, Ken was greeted by Anne with a friendly "Hello Kenneth".
"Good evening" he nodded politely, "is Rilla there, by any chance?"
Anne never got the chance to answer, because just then Rilla herself appeared in the doorway, carrying her coat and hat.
"Say Ken, do you even realise how late it is? I've waited for ages!" she exclaimed, pretending to be angry with him, but her eyes were twinkling merrily.
If Ken was surprised by her presence and her obviously good mood, he didn't let it show, but instead apologised "I'm sorry. There were some problems with tomorrow's issue I had to take care of."
"Well, it seems as if I'd better get used to sentences like this one, right Mother?" Rilla asked challengingly, but without so much as a side-glance at her fiancé.
Anne chose not to say anything, but laughed softly and handed Rilla her gloves, which she took with a grateful smile.
"We'll be going then" Ken informed his future mother-in-law, "I'll have her back in an hour or so."
"All right. Have fun, you two" Anne wished, before closing the door and leaving Ken and Rilla to themselves.
They wandered along the streets of Toronto, with Rilla talking cheerfully over this and that and Ken listening silently and watching her.
"...and then Persis and I..." Rilla stopped her chatting and looked up at Ken.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
Ken shook his head no "Nothing, why?"
"Well, you've been starring at me the whole time" Rilla explained, "so either I'm looking strange or something is the matter."
"You're looking not strange, but very pretty and I like your hair best, when it's down anyway" Ken responded, evading her question.
Rilla laughed "Oh, if that's the case, I'll make sure to remember it."
"I do hope so" he grinned.
"But" Rilla continued, ignoring him, "if it is not my looks, then there has to be something else."
"I just thought that you haven't been this happy and carefree for a very long time now" Ken answered, serious again.
Rilla nodded thoughtfully "You're right, I guess. You see, I had some troubles getting used to Toronto, the lifestyle and the people here, but today I talked to your mother and she helped me very much."
"How so?" Ken enquired.
"She helped me to realise, what really is important" Rilla explained, "that I'm here to marry you and that it's worth it and... and that it's never as bad as it seems."
"So you'll be all right?" Ken asked, clearly concerned, "because if I can help you somehow..."
"No, it's fine. I'm just a bit stressed at the moment, but it'll sort itself out, I'm sure" Rilla assured him and smiled, as if to further prove her words.
"All right. Now, close your eyes please" Ken commanded grinning.
Rilla obviously was confused by his request, but did as she was told to anyhow and let Ken lead her. She heard him open and either a door or a gate and felt the pavement turn into a path made of pebbles.
"Don't look" Ken warned and led Rilla some further steps, before putting his hands in front of her eyes.
"Any idea what I want to show you?" he asked quietly.
Rilla shrugged. "No idea" she responded truthfully, just as Ken took his hands away.
Rilla blinked. She stood in the midst of a poplar-avenue, at whose end a flower-roundel and a small fountain were to be seen, overshadowed by a big, white mansion.
"Our new home" Ken answered her unspoken question, took her hand in his and gently led her forward.
"Our... home?" Rilla repeated slowly, then asked "and how did you pay for it?"
"Leave that to me, Rilla-my-Rilla" Ken replied nonchalantly and led her up the open stairs, "more importantly, do you like it?"
"It's beautiful" Rilla said softly and let her fingertips glide along the stony banisters.
"That it is and even more so inside" Ken agreed, while fumbling with a bunch of keys, "plus, it's not far from my parent's house, which means that it's a bit on the outskirts, but also that it has a really big garden for our children to play in."
Said garden and the house itself he showed Rilla during the next hour and she seemed to be more fascinated with each room they passed through. There was the necessary furniture, but the house lacked a personal note, especially in the private rooms on the first floor and Rilla thought to herself that there still was a good amount of work to do.
"Does it have a name?" she asked Ken later, while they were strolling through the garden, that had turned out to be even bigger than Ken had said and was just as beautiful as the mansion itself was.
"The house? I don't know. I think, it was named after the previous possessors, but since the last one of them died month ago we're free to re-name it. Any suggestions?" he looked at her expectantly.
Thoughtfully Rilla looked around, at the house, the flower beds and the trees, lightly swaying with the wind, reminding her of a poem Walter had written years earlier: Gates of the Wind.
"Windgates" she said softly, "it shall be named Windgates." And Windgates it was.
During the next few days she and Ken went to their new home as often as they could to sit in the garden or stroll through the house, imagining their future together in a fashion only lovers could.
Sadly, their time of togetherness was limited, due to Ken working continuously and Rilla being busy with the last wedding preparations.
First there were problems with the guest list, then someone had mixed up their order and delivered the wrong flowers, one of the seamstresses had made a mistake with the fitting of the wedding dress and lastly problems regarding the wedding cake arose, but finally everything had been solved and the wedding day could come.
It was the 14th of February – Valentine's Day, because of the additional romance and such. Rilla couldn't remember ever expressing the wish to be married on Valentine's Day or hearing anything like it from Ken, but in the end it was just fine by her.
In the morning of that very day one of the maids woke Rilla almost outrageously early and an hour-lasting procedure to get the bride ready for her wedding began, with the hairstyle, an elegant up-do, refined by pearls sewn into it, being most lavish and time-consuming. Rilla herself just sat still and let everything happen, regardless of what it was.
Some time later the bridesmaids joined them, among them Persis, the Maid of Honour, and Nan, without Di this time, who had, with reference to the old saying, opted to be a bridesmaid on her twin's wedding instead of Rilla's, and several other girls, Rilla hardly knew.
Chatting and laughing gaily the bridesmaids dressed and styled themselves and especially Alice Stewart dropped a few spiteful little comments towards the bride, but Rilla just smiled and thought of Ken and Windgates and suddenly those words couldn't hurt her any longer.
Just as she came to that conclusion, she heard a voice, calling and greeting her. Upon turning around, Rilla found herself face to face with her beaming sister-in-law.
"Faith!" she exclaimed, "you can't imagine how happy I am to see you right now."
Just like the rest of the bride's family and friends, Faith had arrived during the previous night and Rilla hadn't had a chance to see any of them, despite Nan, so far.
"So, are you excited?" Faith asked and cumbersomely sat down in the chair Rilla had cleared for her. Her baby was due in a month and it got harder and harder for her to move normally.
"Yes" Rilla nodded, "but I'm even more happy. You, too, I guess?" She nodded towards Faith' rounded waist.
Her friend beamed "Of course! Jem's completely convinced that it'll be a boy, but I think..."
Rilla never learned what Faith thought though, since just then a maid entered the room, announcing that the ceremony was about to begin. The bridesmaids lined up, still giggling, and Faith left with the promise, that they would talk later.
And suddenly Rilla was alone. She knew, that she was supposed to leave, that outside her father waited for her and several hundred others down in the salon, but she didn't move.
She looked at her bouquet, made of white roses (innocence), white carnations (love) and white chrysanthemums (truth), then in the mirror. Looking back was a beautiful, elegant woman, in whom Rilla saw anyone, but herself.
She sighed quietly, reached up to adjust the veil over her face, but stopped mid-track. Two, three seconds later she had pulled out the silver combs and needles holding her hair in place and her brown locks fell down her back, pearls still sewn in.
It would be a scandal, that Rilla knew, but strangely enough she didn't care. Didn't Ken say he liked her hair down best? And wasn't Ken the sole reason for her being here? He was.
Rilla nodded to her reflection, that suddenly looked like her again, adjusted the veil, reached for the bouquet and left the room, a small smile playing on her lips.