This is short, but it's basically just Gilbert and Walter's thought processes, and it just didn't fit with other stuff. (have another chapter almost ready will post in 1/2 hr)
Nothing was resolved. Gilbert thought leaving Avonlea would be the best thing for Anne, and Anne argued that she didn't want to go.
He was willing to give in to her now, but he decided without telling her that if this was going to happen frequently, they were moving out of Avonlea whether she wanted to or not. He could not let her be hurt over and over again, and he could think of no other solution.
After they got married he could speak to Mrs. Andrews about staying away from his family, but he also knew that would resolve nothing- she would find ways to keep cropping up, time and again.
He was well aware that Anne would be angry with him if he insisted they move when she didn't want to, but he'd rather Anne be angry with him than watch her be filled with anger over and over as the Andrews continued to infiltrate their lives.
He felt glad, now, that they'd have three whole years they'd have to be away from Avonlea. He hoped the long break would help the situation. When they left for medical school, Walter would be about seven, and they'd return to Avonlea when he was around ten years old...but Gilbert had his suspicions that the older Walter got, the more Mrs. Andrews would want to be in contact.
Gilbert didn't want to be the sort of husband who made decisions without his wife. But enough was enough, and getting Anne away from this toxic situation was not something he was willing to compromise on.
He hoped it wouldn't come to that.
Anne's anger at Mrs. Andrews prevented her from two church functions the following week, going into town to mail a letter, and kept her away from a town hall meeting she was interested in.
She asked Gilbert to take her column to the post office for her, which he happily did, but he was sad to have to take the news to the church that Anne did not want to teach her Sunday School class anymore.
The biggest problem Anne faced, though, was not Mrs. Andrews, but Walter.
Walter, being very young, had never before realized there was any problem between his mama and Aunt Janes mama- instead, he fully believed his mama's words when she would tell him 'we can't go see her right now, she's busy', or 'maybe another time we'll stop and chat', and other such put-offs.
But now, after he'd finally made his way over to Aunt Jane's mama by himself- and had been snapped at so viciously as a consequence- he finally connected that his mama had never intended to let him see her.
This filled him with emotions he could not verbalize, and instead his feelings came out as temper tantrums. He could not fathom why he wasn't allowed to see someone who loved him, and his mother could not- or would not- explain.
The next time Gilbert was with Anne, she had moved on- momentarily- from Mrs. Andrews, and was worrying about something else.
"I didn't know I was supposed to be making doilies!" she said, slumping down into the sofa.
"Doilies?" Gilbert asked.
"Yes, doilies! You know, to go underneath vases and on top of cushions and things. Diana wrote to me asking what kinds of plans I'd made for the wedding and for our home and everything. She was so excited about us getting married. Which was fine. But then she started going on about hope chests and doilies and all kinds of things I'd never thought of before. I haven't made any doilies. She has thirty-six and she isn't even engaged!"
"Are doilies very important?" he asked, looking around the room. "This room's survived all these years without any, so I don't expect they're too vital."
Anne smiled. Then she frowned. "I need more things. All my sewing's been for Walter. I don't have anything to use in our home."
"That's a problem easily solved- we've got a house already furnished," Gilbert said. "What else do you need?"
"I don't know...I don't even know what I need! I'll have to ask Marilla. She never married but she ought to know, and anyway she's supposed to be my mother so she has to give me advice about things like this."
But when Anne asked Marilla, she found that Marilla had more than advice to give.
