It was April of 1890 and Anne was in her room at green gables. "Well I'm just not sure" she said "But I already had plans. What if they gets mad?""Oh will be alright Anne . Trust us." Diana and Ruby said simultaneously. "Oh alright. If you two say so then I guess I'll go. But you better have good reason for making me go when I already had plans." Diana and Ruby exchanged a secret knowing glance. A glance which Anne thankfully didn't see.
"Goodbye! See you then dear friends!" Anne exclaimed out her window of the east gable as her friends walked out the door. The "then" she was talking about was of course the county fair tomorrow. Everyone was going to be there. But Anne had already planned to go see Aunt Jo and Cole that very same day. But Ruby and Diana miraculously convinced them that Anne HAD to be at the county fair for certain (very secret) reasons. Anyone who new of the occasion that was to take place April 5th wasn't to speak a word whilst Anne was in earshot. The occasion that was to be taking place was a proposal. Gilbert's proposal to Anne.
Anne stayed in her bedroom for a bit before going down for supper. Marilla was just setting it down on the table when Anne came downstairs. A few minutes later Matthew came in. "What are we having for supper Marilla?" Matthew asked as he bent down to eat something off his plate. "Matthew Cuthbert don't you touch your dinner until you've went and washed up." Marilla scolded. Anne suppressed a laugh. Anne got up and whispered in Matthew's ear "We're having Shepherds Pie for dinner." Marilla gave them both a sideways look and they both quickly sat down. Anne giggled on the way back to her chair though. She couldn't help it.
After dinner she went up to her room and got out a book that she was reading when Marilla came in. "What book are you reading Anne?" She asked. "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It's a good book. He kind of reminds me of myself because he always gets into scrapes." "Oh is that so. Well I came up here to ask you what you are going to wear tomorrow." "Oh I don't know quite yet. Diana and Ruby are coming over in the morning to help me choose." "We aren't going to the fair until noon tomorrow so tell them to be here around ten. Well I'll leave you alone and let you finish reading. Good night Anne." "Good night Marilla." Anne whispered back.
When Marilla left the room Anne went over to her window to signal to Diana for her and Ruby to be here at ten the next morning. Then she put on her sleepwear and laid down in her bed and started her book where she left off. She read a few more chapters of her book and then went to bed. But she couldn't fall asleep so she lit a candle got out a piece of paper and started writing a story. She longed for the days when the story club was still around. When Cole still lived in Avonlea. She missed him dearly. But he lived with Aunt Jo now and he was happy. She missed the days when Ruby and Diana would share their stories and ask her to help them rewrite it. Those were some of her fondest memories. So she got to work on her story. About an hour later she was done with her story. It was short but sweet. At that point she was very tired. And it was very late. So she said good night to snow queen and then went to bed.
The next morning she got up later than usual so she only had an hour to get ready before Diana and Ruby came to help her choose a dress. And sure enough they arrived at 10:00 exactly that morning. They had narrowed it down to two dresses and had Marilla come and decide. One was sky blue with detailed silver embroidery and the other dark green with white lace cuffs. Ruby was fixated on Anne wearing the green dress and Diana insisted that she wear the blue one. Since Anne couldn't pick the invited Marilla upstairs to help them. Marilla had always preferred the blue dress to the green one so she chose that one. Anne came out of her room in her dress and it looked absolutely beautiful. Even though she had saved up her money to buy that dress it's seemed as if it was made for her and only her to wear.
They headed out to the fair with Matthew and Marilla close behind. The plan was to meet Gilbert at the fair and then leave them alone until Anne comes over and informs them of the engagement. They got to the fair at around noon and found Gilbert waiting close to the entrance. Anne got off the cart, hugged him, waved goodbye, and went off to explore the fair with Gilbert, practically dragging him to go do the rides with her.
They all entered the fair and Marilla pulled the girls aside and asked them a question "Wild you girls please watch Anne from afar for me? I just want to make sure everything goes according to the plan. You know how Gilbert gets when he tries to keep a secret." "Never again" said Diana "No more surprise parties" Ruby shuddered. "Anyway, would you two do that for me? I just want to make sure Anne has the perfect proposal." "I was going to come with Moody but he got sick yesterday so I'm just here with Diana." Ruby said. "And I was just going stay here until Anne came with the news." Said Diana. "Thank you so much girls!" Marilla said. She walked off to go tell Matthew. Once she was out of earshot, Ruby and Diana burst into a fit of laughter. Little did Marilla know that they were planning to do the exact thing she just asked them to do. After they quit laughing they set off to find Anne and Gilbert.
Anne and Gilbert were already up in the hot air balloon. Anne looked at Gilbert and said "The first time I was in here you were with Winifred. I was so jealous. I wanted it to be me you were holding arms with. I even went to the fortune teller and told her '…My true love walking arm in arm with another girl!'" Gilbert giggled. "What about that makes you giggle? I was distraught! In the depths of despair!" "I'm not laughing at you my love, I'm laughing at what you said. You thought I was in love with Winnie. She is nice but she could never be like you. Ever. And it was very sweet of you to say that I'm your true love." Aww my love!" She said. Gilbert grinned. She grabbed his hand. "Let's just enjoy the rest of the balloon ride with each other's company." "Sounds good to me."
When Anne and Gilbert got back to the ground they headed straight to the carousel. Diana and Ruby weren't far behind. Anne and Gilbert shared a white horse and Diana got a defective one whilst Ruby sat and waited from afar. Once Anne and Gilbert had done enough of the carousel to almost make poor Diana hurl, they moved on to go get some food. They didn't get anything extravagant, just some vegetables. Since Anne and Gilbert were eating at a table relatively close to the one Ruby was sitting at Diana sat down with Ruby. "Are you well Diana?" Ruby questioned. "I'll be fine soon. Do you know how many times they rode the carousel Ruby?" "No I don't think so. Why do you ask?" "Just wondering because I feel like I'm going to puke." "You stay here and recover and I will go watch them." "It's almost 5:00. The fair will end soon so he should propose anytime now." "You can stay here or you can head back to green gables and go with Matthew and Marilla." "I'm going to go with them and give Marilla the updates. I'll meet you back at green gables." "Alright see you there."
"The fair is almost over! Where are they?" Ruby whispered to herself. Anne and Gilbert were actually at the entrance and were getting ready to leave when Ruby spotted them. "Anne!" Shouted Ruby "Hold on!" When Ruby got to the entrance she was quite out of breath. But she pulled Gilbert aside and asked him if he had proposed yet. "No not yet. I was going to propose to her here but then I thought that this wasn't the best place to propose." Ruby stared at him in shock for about .02 seconds and then she looked as if she were to explode. "Me and Diana, who is sick right now, have been following you guys around for five hours and you tell me that you weren't even planning to propose here in the first place!?!" "Shhh! I don't want Anne to hear you! And I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. I only thought of it on the way over here." "Well I'm going to see if I can have Jane take me to green gables!" Ruby was obviously quite flustered at Gilbert. "This engagement is is going to drive me mad!" She whispered to herself on the way over to Jane. Gilbert walked back over to Anne. "What was that all about?" She asked. "Oh nothing my love" kissed her and said. "Why don't we go over to Barry's pond and watch the sunset?" "That is a splendid idea my love. Let's hurry so we don't miss it!"
As they hurried to Barry's pond which was around 5 minutes away, Diana was telling Matthew and Marilla all about what happened at the fair. "…And they rode the carousel so many times it made me sick!" "Anne's favorite thing at the fair is the rides. If no one is there to stop her she would ride them forever. Your just lucky that they actually got off." Matthew said recalling last years train of events. "Ruby is most likely on her way back with the news!" Diana said excitedly looking at the clock. "Oh yes!" Exclaimed Marilla. "We've lost track of time! It's past five already!" "Well I'll be in the barn if anyone needs me." Matthew said grabbing his hat. "Matthew Cuthbert! You will stay in here to wait for Anne and her news. You must go and get your nice clothes dirty." Matthew slowly put his hat back down and sat in a dining chair and Diana tried her best to hold in a laugh.
"Look there comes Ruby now!" Said Marilla. Ruby thanked Jane for giving her a ride to green gables and walked in the front door. She took off her hat and shawl, went into the den, and promptly plopped down on the couch with a sigh. "Oh Gilbert Blythe is so so… oh I don't know what he is but he's something!" "Ruby what's the matter? You seem very flustered at Gilbert." "Oh Diana you don't even know the worst of it! He didn't even propose!!" "What!?" "Yes he said he had 'a different idea'. What ever does that mean!" She sighed again. Three shocked faces looked at Ruby Gills. "What what do you mean he didn't propose Ruby?" Said Diana reproachfully. "Well I think he is planning to propose because I heard him say something about going somewhere to look at the sunset." "Three sighs of relief came from the den. "Oh where's Jerry?" Asked Ruby. "Shouldn't he be here? Anne said that he is like her brother." "Oh never mind him. He's with his family this weekend. He made plans long ago." He said that he would try to be back tomorrow for Anne." Said Marilla"I wonder where they are going to watch the sunset" Diana quietly said to herself.
Anne and Gilbert had made it to Barry's pond with a few minutes to spare. They sat down to catch their breath. Gilbert had his hand in his blazer pocket firmly clasped around his mother's ring. He sighed heavily. This was it. In just a few minutes the love of his life would either be his or he would end up with a broken heart. "Gil! Look!" Exclaimed Anne. He looked up at the sky for a moment or two and then looked at her. She had some child like wonder about her face. She was looking at the sky with a smile. He liked that smile. It was one of his favorites.
After the sunset was almost done and while she was distracted Gilbert started to pull the ring out of his pocket when Anne stood up. She looked back at the forest and said, "This has been one of my favorite sunsets. I've never watched one from Barry's pond before. I think that this is where I shall watch sunsets from now on. While she was giving her sunset speech Gilbert pulled out the ring and got down on one knee. Anne turned around and stopped dead in her tracks. For one Anne Shirley-Cuthbert was speechless. Before he even got one word out of his mouth she had tears streaming down her pink freckled cheeks. "Anne Shirley-Cuthbert love of my life. I have loved you ever since that day in the woods. And even if you refuse, I still will. You don't know how many nights I've lied awake in my bed and wanted to see your face by my side. Every flower I've ever picked seemed like it had been touched by you at some point. Every time I look at an apple or a slate I remember the first day I ever loved you." Now Gilbert was crying. "I love every single little thing about you. Your beautiful red hair. The way you talk in poems. Even down to the seven freckles you despise on the top of your nose. Anne Shirley-Cuthbert I don't care who tells me what I will never stop loving you. If you break my heart and it's over forever I will cherish the memories that we made. Those are some of my fondest. I can't remember the time before I met you. It must have been a dark time because you are the light of my life. I just want for you to see yourself the way I see you. Because you are the only person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Anne Shirley-Cuthbert I love you more than than fish need water and plants need the sun. Would you be my bride?" Anne was in full shaking happy tears. "Gilbert why on earth would I be your bride when I could be your wife?" She gently took the ring from his hand and placed it on her own finger. "This is the prettiest ring I have ever seen. I used to want one with diamonds until I saw them. This is more beautiful than diamonds and amethyst combined. It's perfect." She said. Gilbert got off the ground and kissed her. He always reminded her that that was his favorite. She always told him the same. He picked her up and put her in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Finally he put her down and came up for air. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and grabbed his hand and would let go. He could feel he cold metal on his hand. In all of her life since that very day she never took off that ring. Not once.
As they were walking back to green gables Anne told him something she had never told anyone. "Gilbert I love you very much I I want you to know that. But I have something I want to tell you." Gilbert immediately looked worried. "Please don't be frightened!" She said seeing the look on his face. "It's something I think you will like." His face lit up and his eyes shone. "What is it my love?" "Oh it's just that..oh never mind. I'll tell you after we inform everyone what this ring is doing on my finger." "Oh I think that they will know perfectly well what it's doing there." He said with a grin. "Well in that case, I just would like to show it to them." "You've never been the showy type. What's this all about?" He asked teasingly. "Oh I don't know, maybe it's because I love you?" She said equally teasing. He giggled and kissed her.
When they got to green gables everyone was there. As Gilbert unlocked the gate and said "So you told them didn't you." "Oh yes. What did you think I would do?After I proposed say 'surprise! We're getting married!'" "Well I knew you told Matthew and Marilla and Diana and Ruby surly figured it out because I saw them tailing us at the fair, but I didn't think you told the entire town of Avonlea!" "They knew it a long time ago Queen-Anne. It was just a matter of when."
As they walked inside green gables Anne said "Look I found a fiancé in the wild!" And pointed to Gilbert. He gave a huge smile. She looked in surprise at Gilbert. "You even told Charlottetown?" He nodded. "Come here and give me a hug. I've been patiently waiting for an hour." Said Aunt Jo. Anne ran over and hugged her. "Umm Anne. I'm right here." Said Cole. "Oh of corse. How could I forget. I certainly couldn't be slow." She said when she hugged him. "So they're the only ones to get a hug? Hmm?" Said Bash. "What about me and Dellie? You couldn't possibly not give this ball of cuteness a hug." "And your right." Miss Stacy emerged from behind Bash. "Oh and her to I guess." He said. Hazel elbowed him in the side. "She wants one too." He said looking defeated. She hugged all three of them and picked up Dellie. After the hugs from everyone, Jerry burst through the front for and said "Well did you miss me?" Anne gently gave Dellie to Miss Stacy, who was closest to her, and ran over to hug Jerry. She gave him a kiss on the cheek before she went over to talk with everyone else.
After everyone returned home, Anne and Gilbert went up to her room. "So what was it you wanted to tell me so badly on the way here?" He asked. "Oh nothing. Just forget I sad anything about it." "Nope now that I know I need to be told. So tell." "Anne rolled her eyes and smiled. "It's just that you said you loved me ever since we met in the woods right?" "Yes" "Well I've never told anybody this but I think you should know. I've loved you since the woods as well. I was just to stubborn to admit it." His face softened. "Anne.." "I'm not done yet. And ever since I heard your last name I always thought that it was a perfectly fine one." He looked ready to cry. "And ever since I heard it I always wanted to be mine." He started crying. She was too. "I thought that it was a perfectly suited name for me. At night I would lie awake thinking how pretty Anne Blythe sounded next to Gilbert Blythe. I always have." He pulled her close and almost kissed her but she said "what if Matthew or Marilla come in?" "I don't care I've waited so long to call you by that name at this point I wouldn't mind if the entire world knew it." She pulled him towards her and kissed him not letting go of his hand or his soft dark brown curls. He gently caressed her cheek. When they came up for air they just sat there holding each other.
From that day forward she was known as Anne Blythe. Actually she always was Anne Blythe. It was just a matter of time before it was known.