Anne stayed up late into the night, reading The Life-Book of Captain Jim.
It was like watching a buggy collision. The thing made her sick to process. At the same time, she couldn't avoid processing it.
Not only was The Life-Book of Captain Jim poorly written, but part of it was fabricated! Owen Ford made up his own version of what happened! She, Anne, should know. She had known Captain Jim personally!
Anne sickened when she read Owen Ford's version of the life of Lost Margaret. How could Owen be so cruel to talk about Lost Margaret in that way?
How did Owen Ford get away with this? Someone would have said something by now. Well, it would have had to be someone on the island who would have said something about it.
Who would know the real story? Well, there's Captain Jim. He was gone by now. The others who knew what really happened were her and Gilbert, Ms. Cornelia, her husband Marshall Elliott, Susan, Leslie and Owen.
Well, Anne understood that Leslie wouldn't snitch on Owen if he fabricated a memoir. As for the rest – wait a minute! Did nobody else from their circle read the book either? Did Susan, Ms. Cornelia, and Marshall Elliott all lie about reading the book?
Did really Susan really lie to Anne about reading The Life-Book of Captain Jim? The way that Susan fawned over Owen Ford for months after the book's release made Anne embarrassed for Susan.
And worse still – Gilbert wrote a blurb for the book's jacket! Anne stared at the jacket. There was the blurb! "Believe it or not, this is the true story of one of the most exceptional sailors on P.E.I." – Gilbert J. Blythe, MD.
Oh help me, Gilbert wrote a blurb for a fabricated memoir!
"Anne-girl, you waited up for me!"
Anne looked up to see Gilbert standing there.
"Anne-girl, you haven't waited up for me in a very long time!"
Then Gilbert looked down at the book in Anne's hand and said, "Oh. I see"
Anne said, "No! Gilbert! It's not what you think."
Gilbert said, "There's nothing for me to think."
Anne said, "Gilbert – Gilbert, look at me. It's really late, but we need to talk right now."
Gilbert said, "There's nothing to talk about. I know about you and Owen Ford."
Anne said, "What are you talking about."
Gilbert said, "I heard you guys that night last fall. When you told Ford that you were either brave or foolish to tell him something. Some sort of secret. You told Ford that I and Leslie couldn't find out about what you just said. What was it, Anne? What was the big secret that you couldn't tell me?"
Anne said, "You heard that? You heard that? And you thought that the big secret was about me and Mr. Ford? No – it was about Roy Gardner. I sort-of got caught cheating at Redmond with Roy Gardner!"
Gilbert said, "What? How?"
Anne explained the story to Gilbert pretty much the way that she had explained it to Owen Ford the previous fall.
"Gilbert, I am so sorry. I am so ashamed of myself. I never wanted you to find out. And the worst thing about this all was that you almost died after that semester while I helped Roy cheat. The second worst thing about it was that I worried for years that it would get linked back to me, and through me to you, and about how bad this would make you look."
Gilbert said, "Anne, you could've gotten expelled from Redmond without a degree. This could have destroyed any chance that you had to teach anywhere. Think about that you would have done to Marilla. And you risked all of that for Roy?"
Anne said, "I'm not proud of any of this, Gilbert. I never even wanted you to ever know."
Gilbert said, "Then why did you tell Ford about this last fall? You told Ford and not me. I had to overhear the tail end of a whispered conversation!"
Anne said, "I told Owen Ford because he wasn't you! I didn't care what he thought about me, about what I did. I didn't care about having his good opinion. I cared very much about what you and what you would have thought! I was afraid that if you ever found out about this, you would stop loving me."
Gilbert said, "I'm really disappointed in you. I'm disappointed that you helped Roy Gardner cheat. I'm disappointed that you kept it a secret from me but that you told Owen Ford. But I can't stop loving you."
"I'm really, really tired now, Anne. Can we talk more in the morning?"
"Yes, love."
A sleepy Gilbert said, "So glad that we talked. This is what you wanted to talk about, yes?"
Anne said, "Well, there's more, but it can really wait until tomorrow."
