Mrs. Scheper was on the magazine board.

A tall woman- well meaning but rather pushy- full of ambition, drive and independence, she could be a formidable person to meet. Anne did not expect to meet her so abruptly.

Gilbert was home- finally, at long last, the first year of Redmond was over, and summer promised to be full of splendor.

Mrs. Scheper came to Gilbert's farm one early afternoon. Anne was in Gilbert's father's bedroom, with a chamber pot and a little boy who'd nearly had an accident, so she did not get to meet her guest at the door.

Unfortunately for Anne, Marilla did meet her guest as she approached.

"Pardon me," Mrs. Scheper inquired once she got close enough to call out. "Is this the Blythe farm?"

"Yes," Marilla answered, looking at her quizzically. It wasn't very often that strangers came to call.

"I'm Mrs. Grant Scheper," the lady said loudly, announcing herself and reaching out to shake Marilla's hand firmly. "I was hoping to meet Mrs. Blythe."

"Mrs. Blythe?" Marilla repeated. Her first thought was that this was some old relation of Gilbert who had been out of touch with the family long enough that she wasn't aware of Gilbert's mother's passing.

"Mrs. Anne Blythe," she clarified. "I'm from the board of Mothering magazine. Are you headed that way too? Why, of course you are. I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"

"I didn't," Marilla stated. "But it's Marilla Cuthbert."

"Oh! Marilla Cuthbert! You're Anne's mother!" And she reached for Marilla's arm, pulling her close as if they were old friends.

"Yes, I suppose I am," Marilla said, caught off guard at realizing that 'Mrs. Blythe' was not Gilbert's mother but instead was her Anne.

"You must be so proud of her success! My goodness, we've never done better. Our readers so look forward to her columns every month. They're warm, but with a touch of humor, too. And her descriptions- why, it's as if you're really there- and now we are here. How exciting! And the fan mail, I'm sure you've all been simply inundated with it. That's what comes of success, mind you-"

As Mrs. Scheper was saying all this, she was making her way up the front porch, dragging Marilla beside her.

"Do you live near? It's just perfectly lovely if you do. You're able to visit all the time, I'm sure. What a relief for a mother of a little one! Do you think they'll have any more children? Walter is three, isn't he, but you don't suppose he'll be an only child, do you?"

"Uh-"

Mrs. Scheper was knocking on the front door.

Gilbert came to get it.

"Good afternoon," the lady chirped, bubbly. "Mrs. Grant Scheper, from Mothering magazine? I was hoping Mrs. Blythe was home. I was in the area and I thought, wouldn't it be wonderful to stop by and meet our newest and brightest? I could even do a little interview- a 'behind the scenes', so to speak- get to know the real Mrs. Blythe!"

"Yes," Marilla cut in, her voice a bit hard. "Have you any idea where Mrs. Blythe might be?"

Gilbert looked at Marilla, as if needing help, but Marilla refused to offer any.

"Uh...come in," he finally said. "Both of you."

Gilbert let the two ladies in, but then did not know what to do with them. He stood with them uncomfortably in the parlor and finally said, "I'll see what's keeping my...uh, Anne."

But before he could say or do anything else, Walter raced into the room.

Mrs. Scheper exclaimed, "Walter! I'd know him anywhere! He's exactly as Anne described! Come here, pet. I'm an enormous fan of your mama!"

Walter was still deciding if he wanted to like this lady or not, and instead went to Gilbert, who caught him up in a hug.

"I'm sorry but you are…?" Mrs. Scheper said boldly.

Gilbert again looked like he didn't know what to do. To this woman, he was supposed to be Anne's husband. But how could he say so in front of Marilla?

Marilla finally decided she must rescue the situation despite not knowing in full what was going on. Sounding dismayed- she didn't approve of her own decision to lie but it seemed it could not be helped- she sighed and gave in: "This is Gilbert. He's Walter's...father."

"Gilbert?" Mrs. Scheper exclaimed. "You're Gilbert! Of course. Oh, my. I've read all about you in Anne's column but I had no idea I was in the very presence! How delightful. ...I must say, you're a bit younger than I expected!"

And Anne was even younger. Gilbert did not want to go get her.

Suddenly there was a terrible racket from the room Anne was in- fits of coughing and retching, and Gilbert spoke up quickly, "Uh, about Anne. I'm afraid she's ill. Very ill. Can't have any visitors."

"What a shame," Mrs Scheper simpered. "And I came all this way! I had hoped to just ride by and see her before I traveled on. I'm visiting my nephew."

She turned to go, reluctant, but then- "I have a brilliant idea!" she gushed. "Absolutely brilliant! Since Anne is indisposed, why don't I interview you? Our readers would love to hear from Anne's family. They just adore her, you know. They'd be tickled pink to get to know the whole crew!"

Anne was at the door, cringing- how in the world had this happened? Marilla here in the house with this stranger- this stranger who was employing her to tell all kinds of lies- but what could she do now?

She couldn't go out there, not for anything. Thank God Gilbert had understood her coughing.

Mrs. Scheper had noticed Gilbert looked awfully young to have a three year old child- how would it look for Anne, who was only seventeen, to come out with the three year old?

She hated that Walter had raced out of the room and she hadn't been able to grab him. Maybe he would say something helpful, she thought. Something helpful, like 'grandma, make that lady go home'. Yes, that would-

"Stay here and read me this book," Walter demanded.

Ugh, Anne groaned. Not only was it rude- Walter, you can't demand things from people, she silently told him- but it was also perhaps the least helpful thing he could have said.

"Oh, you little dear," Mrs. Scheper crooned, taking the book he was holding out to her. "Of course."

But then it became worse.

"You know, I would love to see you read, darling. Your mama wrote all about how she taught you to read when you were only two years old, and now all our readers are trying to do the same." She looked up at Marilla and Gilbert. "They were so impressed with her teaching techniques. Why she didn't take up a teaching career I'll never know. But some of our readers have written that they've tried her techniques with great success!"

Listening at the door, Anne felt miserable. Glorious, she thought- my techniques will work on everybody else's child, but not my own.

"So go on, pet, let me see you read."

"Uh- Walter doesn't feel like reading now," Gilbert tried to begin, but Walter had already opened his mouth and began.

Walter could not read, but he could perform.

"Here is an animal that we know. H-I-P-P-O." He turned the page. "Here is a bear, soft and cuddly. Here is a duck, yellow and puddly."

Gilbert took the book away from him before Mrs. Scheper would have time to notice that Walter was holding it upside down.

Marilla looked at Gilbert in surprise. He shrugged. Everyone had read that book to Walter so many times that he knew it by heart, now.

"You know," Marilla said, "I don't think we ought to...give any interviews, without Anne. She's not feeling well and here we are, sitting outside the room chatting! I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to come some other day."

Mrs. Scheper looked put out, but slowly stood to go.

At the door she turned back. "Oh, you must let me see the nursery before I go!"

They stared at her.

Walter had no nursery- not at Gilbert's house, and not at Anne's either- he slept in Anne's little gable room, in a small bed pushed up against one wall.

Mrs. Scheper was gushing: "Our readers were so inspired- positively inspired!- by her ideas and her description of the mural she painted on Walter's nursery walls. It drew up quite a commotion, most people wouldn't paint directly on the walls, you know."

"Most people wouldn't," Marilla agreed.

"I'm afraid I can't," Gilbert said. "Show you, I mean. We're changing things around- doing a lot of redecorating- and the murals been covered up by wallpaper. He's getting to be a big boy now, so no more baby room…"

"What a shame, to cover up such beautiful artwork!" Mrs. Scheper exclaimed. "I think she ought to have left it there for the next one! But I don't wonder at you doing redecorating, I thought when I came in that things seemed to be a bit muted from how Anne described them. You don't have all those indoor plants all over the parlor…"

"We moved them," Gilbert said. "For the warm weather."

Mrs. Scheper was on her way out.

Gilbert ran his hand through his hair. He wanted to have a talk with Anne. She might at least have let him in on some of her lies, so he wouldn't have been caught so unaware.