Chapter 16 - In the Merchantile

"Shh, that's him!" Diana Barry hissed as she jabbed her arm into Anne Shirley's side in warning, curtailing their unguarded conversation. Anne raised her head, looking over the bolts of fabric she'd been inspecting to follow the direction of her friend's gaze. There on the opposite side of the merchantile stood a young man, very tall with sandy-coloured hair, wearing a tailored dark business suit the likes of which was rarely seen in the confines of their small town. "He's come all the way from Halifax," Diana whispered out of the side of her mouth. "His family is involved in the largest bank there but his father is making him work his way up in the company before taking over. That's why he's working here at the Avonlea branch," Diana filled in the backstory as she had deciphered it from the rampant gossip. Not that Avonlea had much of a bank branch, just one teller, and now this new manager.

Anne eyed Avonlea's newest resident. Yes, he was pretty much as Diana had described him earlier, she thought. Arthur Nathaniel Richardson III. His impressive name certainly matched his regal stature and demeanour.

"Don't you think he's handsome?" Diana asked conspiratorially, casting surreptitous glances across the room over the bolts of fabric, her inquisitiveness not to be denied as she watched the young man being waited upon by the shopkeeper.

"Yes, I suppose he is handsome," Anne conceded, her own curiousity appeased with the brief inspection as she turned her attention back to sorting through the bolts of material. She and Diana were in town to pick out material for new dresses for the White Sands ball that was less than two weeks away.

"You suppose he is!" Diana exclaimed in hushed tones. "Why, half the girls in town are trying to get him to notice them, and the other half will be too once they know he's here," Diana stated emphatically. Diana was always up on the most current Avonlea news so it was not surprising she knew about the newest resident even before some of the town's regular inhabitants. Diana cast her friend a sly glance from under her lashes. "But then I have Fred and you have Gil, and what man could compare to them?" she asked lightly, waiting to gauge her friend's reaction to her bold statement, waiting really for Anne's expected denial that she and Gil were a couple.

But Anne didn't look up. She merely blushed a little and delved deeper into the fabric. "This organdy is nice, don't you think?" she asked.

Diana raised a brow in surprise. In all the times she'd questioned Anne about her status with Gilbert Blythe, either directly or indirectly as she was now, this was the first time Anne hadn't denied the association. She hadn't confirmed it either, but it was telling in itself that she hadn't denied it. Diana tried again. "Yes the organdy is lovely. I'm sure Gilbert will like it too," she tacked on slyly.

Anne's blush deepened. She knew that Diana was waiting for her to say something. Waiting, most likely, for her to reply that Gilbert was NOT hers, and that she didn't care what he thought of her new dress. But for reasons she couldn't completely decipher at this point, Anne did not feel inclined to challenge Diana's statements. In truth, she hadn't felt so inclined for quite a while now but she'd gone on making the denials just the same whenever anyone had made such a presumption. But maybe it was the fact that it was her dearest friend Diana who was now making the prodding statements. It was easy enough to issue not-entirely-truthful denials when it was someone of lesser importance but Anne knew she could never lie to Diana. But the things Diana said weren't entirely true either. She'd turned down Gilbert's springtime proposal of marriage and it wasn't likely he would ever ask her again after that. In his mind they were now just good friends. Isn't that what she'd always insisted upon? But in the intervening months since his proposal Gilbert had become very important to her. A good friend, yes. But...but something else too. Anne shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She couldn't answer Diana because she didn't know what to say. Gilbert wasn't "hers" but he WAS very important to her, and growing moreso each day.

"Marilla always says organdy suits me," Anne replied instead.

Diana Barry smiled, almost gloating in triumph. She'd just made TWO references to Gilbert, and Anne had denied neither one. It might be just a small thing but Diana knew it was significant. She was almost giddy with delight; Anne was her dearest friend and Gilbert Blythe was her perfect match. She herself was experiencing all the joy and happiness that being in love could bring. She was sure Fred Wright was on the verge of proposing and knowing her friend would maybe soon follow along that blissful path brought her nothing but joy.

"Speaking of Gilbert, where is he today?" Diana asked, pushing her luck with THREE references.

Without conscious thought, Anne replied, "He's likely over at the Smythe's place helping with the barn-raising."

"Likely?" Diana asked, her brow knotting over the indefinite answer.

Anne looked up and blinked, wondering herself at her own assumption of Gilbert's whereabouts. "I mean..." she stammered. "I mean...I don't know for sure that he's there. I just...I just think he might be," Anne explained lamely. Anne knew Gilbert liked to help out-hadn't he told her that on one of their picnics? Hadn't he demonstrated his helpfulness time and time again, both to her and others? It was her knowledge of that particular trait of Gilbert's that had led her to her conclusion of where he'd be today and what he'd be doing. He hadn't told her he was going; she just knew that if help was needed somewhere it was likely Gilbert would be there.

Diana eyed her friend with interest. "Now that you mention it, I seem to remember Fred saying he and Gilbert and few others were heading over there today," Diana said, her expression growing thoughtful. "But you already knew Gilbert would be there," she said, her statement challenging for a more complete explanation.

Anne shrugged lightly, her blush intensifying as she tried to dismiss the importance of Diana's observation. Just because she knew Gilbert well enough to surmise something like that, well, that didn't mean anything, did it? "Have you decided on your material?" she asked Diana instead, steering the conversation back to more mundane matters.

Turning her attention to the fabric before her, Diana Barry hid a secret smile, deciding she'd prodded and probed enough for one day and she was more than satisfied with the information she'd gleaned.

Across the room, new resident Arthur Nathaniel Richardson III was making a few surreptitious glances of his own. He'd spotted the two young women upon his entrance to the store and he continued to cast them brief glances throughout his business with the shopkeeper. Perhaps Avonlea wasn't to be such a dreary assignment after all, he thought. At first he'd cursed his father's insistence that he pay his corporate dues by working in such a provincial little hick town, the flashier and livelier surroundings of the big city more to his liking, but perhaps the town's charms weren't to be as scarce as he'd initially supposed. He eyed the two women across the way. Not when such attractive women populated his surroundings. And in particular the one he now was focussed on, her fiery red hair highlighting a singularly attractive face and trim figure. Arthur Richardson smiled. Yes, his prospects in Avonlea didn't look quite so glum anymore.