"My happiness is so great, I'm almost ashamed to write it," Rilla penned in her diary that evening, having fled to the sanctuary of her bedroom. "The others – Mother and Dad and the girls – just arrived, laughing and talking, and while I was tempted to stay and see their dear familiar faces again, somehow I wanted time to reflect and not muddle my thoughts with a lot of noise. There has been such little romance in life these past four years that I want to treasure it up and capture as much of it as I can for those utterly practical times.
"Nan and Di just finished their terms at the schools where they've been teaching, so they will be home for at least a few weeks. It's been lovely to have so many of our long-scattered family and neighbors be home all at the same time. I still don't find my sisters to be true kindred spirits, as mother would say, but we all have grown a little closer for having lost our dear Walter. Mother is wonderful as usual, though (I'm ashamed to say) I was a little put out with her for being so happy when I was so desolate the past few days. I have felt out-of-place lately in our reunited family, and now that I have a reason to share their joy, I'm too happy to face them! The irony of life never ceases.
"I sent Ken home about half an hour ago. As beautiful as our love is, I must admit (to the confidences of this poor worn-out journal, who never tells tales) that it is a bit hard to reconcile four years of separation, with only a brief correspondence, in the space of two hours. My heart has been singing ever since I first saw him on our doorstep, yet I feel that there is so much I still have to learn about him. I worried that he didn't really want to stay so long, that no man however passionate and devoted would be in any sort of condition to sustain a romance after having just completed a journey from halfway around the globe. And then my treacherous mind started plaguing me with questions of how really well I know my fiancé!
"But I am glad that the Fords' summer house, Mother's old House of Dreams, is not far outside the village. He promised to come back up tomorrow so we could begin making plans. Oh, how glorious it is to finally have something to live for again!"
She tucked the green ribbon of the journal along the page's margin and closed the covers, dwelling for a minute in the peace of her reflections. The shadowy edges of twilight still clung to the night sky, though eager stars peeped through the inky canopy and overshown with their brilliance the pale light beyond the horizon. A crescent moon gave the faintest luminescence to Rainbow Valley, partially hidden from her window by a cluster of trees. But in the distant darkness, above the houses and streets and glens that lay between, a radiant point of light shone from the lighthouse over the Four Winds harbor, and she smiled with a sudden warmth of spirit as she turned from the windowsill and left to go down.
Unfortunately (Rilla sighed) her face practically gave her away. Much as she tried to temper her mood with concerns about the feasibility of her new romance, she still glowed as with an inner flame, and, she reflected, it would be as useless to try to conceal it as it would be to cover up a bonfire in the backyard. So Anne passing by the stairs received the full bloom of Rilla's smile rather than the woefully half-suppressed affairs Rilla had been trying on while she descended two steps at a time.
"Dearest!" Anne exclaimed, extending her arms to her daughter, not fully enlightened as to the cause of her joy but taking advantage of it all the same. Perhaps a certain sixth sense of love, which Anne would most assuredly have had if anyone did, whispered the reason, for why else would she smile so knowingly? In any case the knowledge between them was unspoken, and Rilla found a glamour or, rather, a new perspective settle over her eyes in joining her family.
Nan, ever the more out-of-touch of the two twins, carelessly tossed Rilla an envelope. "This was at the post office for you." Did my nose used to be that much in the air? Rilla wondered with a touch of chagrin. The note, she was delighted to see, was from Mrs. Anderson, little Jims's step-mother, detailing a short but charming account of his latest exploits, and asking if she could bring him down the next day. "Jims has been asking to see 'Willa' for days now," Sophie laughingly wrote. "I fear you have spoiled him for life. But then there are worse things than having an excuse to see you again, Miss Blythe." Indeed! she smiled. She must be lonely, this young English woman. I should call on her tomorrow when I pick up Jims. It was the kind of thought that wouldn't have occurred to the impulsive Rilla of four years ago, or perhaps even to the Rilla of a few weeks ago.
Dr. Blythe greeted her, fondly patting her hair out of habit (she wondered if she would ever be too grown up for this endearment). "Been lonely while we were all gone?" he said.
"Not overmuch," Rilla managed.
Di flashed her a grin, thereby showing off the kindly smile and saucy disposition she had inherited from their father. "Anybody call?"
Rilla's voice was almost perfectly nonchalant as she folded up her letter and answered, "Only Ken Ford."
"Kenneth Ford?" Anne's attention had been firmly caught. "I had no idea he was back!"
"Oh. Yes. He just arrived today. I think it was announced in the paper." The one I poured over twenty times until Dad threw it out.
"Fe-fi-fo-fum, Rilla, and why would Kenneth Ford spend his first steps in Canada racing back to our house?" Di's eyes danced with mirth. "Methinks our Bertha Marilla will not remain a Blythe much longer."
Unlike Jem's unspoken devotion to Faith since before the war, Rilla had revealed her hope – which until today had been no more than a hope – to none but her mother and, she remembered with bittersweet acuteness, Walter. Not even Susan knew, who had been there that fateful night when Ken took his farewell…though it had certainly been close (the recollection brought a wry smile to Rilla's lips), as they had shared their first kiss while Susan's back was turned. The carefulness with which Rilla guarded her secret had been a boon during the humiliating interim of time when Ken dropped all communication and her dreams had seemed so foolish and mistaken. Now however it came as a complete surprise to several members of her family.
"Rilla? Are in love with Ken Ford?" her father asked gently.
"I have been in love with him these four years," she said, a sudden confidence and spontaneity in her voice. "But…I was – unsure of his affections until today. Mother knew – " Rilla gave her mother an appreciative glance " – at least, she knew that I loved him. I was too new at it all to tell whether it meant more than casual interest to him…until he came this afternoon."
"Yes indeed, the sparks did fly," Jem contributed helpfully.
"Would somebody please shut him up?" demanded Rilla. "I'm pouring out my life story and he's – making fun!" Anne laughed gaily and not without a note of sympathy, appearing to be fully relishing the romance between her youngest daughter and the son of her friend Leslie West. At heart mother was still a romantic, Rilla realized, underneath the gallant front she had put up all this time.
"So the delinquent young man felt perfectly comfortable taking liberties with your sister, even with you present?" Gilbert inquired of Jem with mock outrage.
"Dad!" Rilla cried. "He does mean to come down and ask your permission and whatever else is proper. And it wasn't as if Mother didn't know. She's approved of it all along."
"Nooo, I refuse to take the witness stand in all of this," Anne said sweetly, turning in the direction of the kitchen, where the sounds issuing forth from it proclaimed that Susan was already reestablishing dominion of her kingdom. "You will simply have to reach an amicable settlement yourselves." Her hand briefly touched Rilla's shoulder before she disappeared through the door. Nan had wandered out long prior to this point, while Di took the opportunity to slip up the stairs.
With the greatest seriousness and kindness in his voice, the doctor said, "It was my hope that I could see each of my children find as great happiness in marriage as I have. One has only to look at you, Rilla, to see that you have found it. You have my fondest blessing…but I can't give you up without something like a pain at losing my baby girl."
"I will always be that," she avowed, and came to his arms which had been her first and constant security. Both pairs of hazel eyes winked treacherously as she said, "I will not exchange one family for another…I'll only add a new love to the rest."