The majority of this chapter was inspired by Ruby Gillis' and Lucy Maude Montgomery's chapters of Glen Gossip.
"Have you heard how Walter Blythe and Persis Ford are going about together all the time?" Mrs. Lloyd MacAllister asked Mrs. Perry Elliot a little too loudly one late autumn day in Miller Douglas' store.
"I have heard of it, and I've seen it with my own two eyes. It's something scandalous the way he ignores those two children he brought back when he decided to return from the dead."
Both women were well known throughout the Glen for being horrible gossips, so most people didn't think a great deal about words shared between the two. It didn't appear that anyone was near enough to overhear what they were saying, anyway. Mr. Douglas had gone deep into the storeroom to fill an order that came over the telephone. Mrs. Douglas had gone into the house to check on that baby that was making such a fuss. There weren't aware of a visiting Una Meredith, standing silently in the dark hallway that separated the store from the house.
She only intended to fetch the afghan that Rosemary had knitted for the newest Douglas. When the baby started crying abruptly as she and Mary were visiting, they both ran to check in on the wee girlie, leaving the gift on the counter.
It happened to be entirely an accident that she overheard the conversation between Mrs. MacAllister and Mrs. Elliot. She was well aware that it was wrong to listen in to the private tête-à-tête. The topic of said discussion only confirmed some of the feelings that she herself had felt. Besides, if they didn't wish for anyone to overhear, they should speak so loudly in a public store. So, she continued to listen.
"All the children in that family are a bit wild, but that Hope is the worst," Mrs. Elliot continued.
"She probably gets that from her mother, whoever she was."
"It's just a good thing that they have Dr. and Mrs. Blythe to take care of them."
"However, if Walter makes an honest woman out of Persis Ford, they'll be stuck with them children from now on. Or they'll all just pack 'em up and ship 'em to that ESTATE in England we've been told their mother's family owns."
"Poor, poor things. They haven't a chance really. I've heard that they're sort of outsiders compared to the rest of the family's children, and are mistreated terribly by everyone."
"Persis Ford won't make much of a mother, that's as certain as sunrise. Why she's a real FLAPPER, gadding about the globe, taking her pictures."
"She's a real embarrassment to her family."
"I've heard that they go about from the house that the Fords bought from the Presbyterian pastor's wife and sister-in-law to that love nest Walter's made out of Poor Elder Clow's farm, may he rest in peace."
"I really can't believe that Mrs. Dr. Blythe goes along with the whole indignity."
"Well, we've never really known anything about her or her people. She was an orphan after all."
Una was entranced as she heard the two women tear Walter, Persis, and basically everyone she knew to shreds. She couldn't move neither forwards or backwards, she was just stuck listening to what really knew in her heart amounted to nothing more than rubbish. She was immovable until Mary Vance came up behind her, baby in tow and gave her a terrible fright.
"Una Meredith. I thought that someone must surely have come and snatched you, it's been so long since you left us!" she basically yelled from behind.
"Oh Mary I'm sorry! I just kind of lost myself for a minute," she apologized watching the two women peering toward the hallway.
"You had better stop such senselessness before you have your own to tend to, Una," Mary advised, bringing Una and the baby out into the open of the store.
"You're right, Mary," she quietly agreed, remember her own role in things. Mary was right. Such foolishness would not be tolerated later. She turned to Mary and looked at the wee lady in her arms who was only two weeks old. "May I hold her, Mary?" she meekly asked.
"I should say you can!" Mary told her. "She is named for you after all," she told her, handing the baby to Una.
"I'll never understand why you named her for me, Mary," Una modestly stated.
"She's named for Miller's mother, Constance, first. I think Constance Una Douglas is a mite pretty name. Anyway, you were the first person who ever showed any kindness to me. That and I loved telling Kitty Alec that she wasn't named for her," Mary admitted with a mischievous grin.
Mary never changed, not after marriage or having a houseful of children. Una probably liked that quality about her the best.
The two gossiping ladies were now being very quiet, listening to every word that was shared between Mary and Una, lest they miss the latest news. However, both women were aware they were being watched and stayed quiet a while.
"Mary Douglas. It's a good thing that you and Cornelia made it home in time for you to have that baby, isn't it?" Mrs. MacAllister asked.
Mary looked to the women with no small amount of contempt. Mrs. Dr. Blythe, Mrs. Marshall Elliot, Mrs. Meredith, and all of their kin talked over the people of the Glen just the same as everyone else, but these two birds in front of her were painted with another color entirely. They liked to make up things just to have something more to talk of. However, what they were now saying was very true, but Mary answered them in a distinctly Mary way.
"Why I suppose it is. To tell you the truth though, I would have stayed with Cornelia in Toronto as long as it took to get her better. She's the closest thing I've ever had to any mother. If little Constance Una here had to be born in a Toronto hospital, that would have been fine by me. It was only luck that Cornelia got well in time for us to be home when it happened."
"So she is doing well?" Mrs. Elliot asked, her husband being a distant relative of Marshall Elliot.
"Oh, quite well, only a little rheumatism. She is almost eighty years old. Right now, she's getting ready for the holiday baking."
"That's good to hear. Tell me Una, are you celebrating the holiday season in the Glen or are you going off to be with the man from India?" Mrs. MacAllister asked.
"I'm going to be right here. I believe that the man whom I met in India is staying at St. John's though in order to save money."
"Weren't you supposed to have been married in the autumn?"
Oh how Una hated these questions. "Yes, we were, however the house we were to live in was struck by lightening so we had to postpone until the University could rebuild. It is only proper that I stay here until that time."
"When do you plan to leave again?" Mary asked.
Una looked to Mary and hated to tell her because she really hated to leave her again. "The house should be finished by the end of the semester, so we are having a June wedding."
Mrs. Elliot wanted to strike at another sensitive nerve. "Is your father giving you away or performing the ceremony?"
Una blanched at that question. "It hasn't been decided yet."
She didn't want to tell them that he had yet to give the marriage his blessing. It seemed to her that very few people actually liked Samson Bell when he visited at the end of the summer. The only person who thought he was tolerable was Kitty Alec of all people. Anytime talk of the wedding started, or she mentioned Samson, people's eyes would roll, and she honestly didn't see why.
"Una," Mary said, "why don't we take the baby over to Cornelia'?"
Una quickly agreed, tired of the constant badgering of the two store patrons. Mary bid Miller goodbye and they swiftly took the car to the old green house.
As they drove, Mary asked Una who was holding the baby, "How did you and this man come to be? I'm sorry I wasn't here when he showed up. I'd like to know who finally snatched you up."
Una didn't know how much of the story to tell anyone. So far, she hadn't really told anyone more than what she told Mary. "Well, we were both working in the mission in Calcutta. It's fairly difficult there with the struggle for independence from the Empire and all. The caste system is terrible. What we would consider to be a little less than shacks are what the majority of the people there call home. I was out in the street one night when I shouldn't have been, helping an elderly lady, when I was attacked. Samson came to my rescue. He was my protector ever since. He showed me how to be wise and sensibly and proper. "
"I guess that's good, but do you love him? Mary asked.
Una couldn't answer such a forward question, not even if it was asked by such a close friend. "What kind of question is that? I am marrying him, aren't I? That should answer your question."
Mary thought for a bit and thought about other things she had seen and noticed over time. "I guess that it does," she answered.
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