Chapter 19

Seeing an opportunity to combine her queens class's extra lessons with a chance to also do something good for the school, Miss Stacy proposed putting on a Christmas concert to raise funds for a new flag for the school house. All the students would be given something to do within it, and the Queens class would present a dialogue together along with some individual recitations from their literature studies.

The female scholars of the Queens class clamored for a romance to preform a dialogue from, but their male counterparts scoffed at this. When Anne, declared that it was because the boys hadn't an ounce of romance in them, Gilbert, accepting her challenge as he saw it, had jumped to his feet in front of Anne and quoted with heartfelt feeling, "Oh, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night like a rich jewel in an Ethipoe's ear. Beauty to rich for use, for earth too dear! So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows, as yonder lady over her fellows shows," he quoted bring his hand to his heart feelingly. "The measue done, I'll watch her place of stand, and touching hers, make blessed my rude hand" he continued moving his hand to grasp her hand in his. "Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I never saw true beauty till this night," he finished the quote bringing his hand, hers still in it, to rest against his heart again.

Anne looked up at him, wide eyed, while Ruby and Jane gave sighs of delight at such a well delivered romantic performance, proving to them at least that one of the boys certainly were capable of doing justice to a romance.

"Perhaps we are to hasty to insist on a Romance," Josie said in protest of Gilbert's actions with Anne. She all of a sudden suspected that any romance that was performed would some how find Gilbert and Anne, as the students with the class's highest marks, filling the hero and heroine's roles. And that was something Josie Pye did not want to have happen.

Recalling just who had a hold of her hand, Anne wrenched it out of his and said, "Josie makes a good point. I am sure certain boys," Amne said narrowing her eyes at Gilbert as if she suspected him of somehow mocking her. "Are much better suited to one of Shakespeare's comedies. After all they," she said glaring again at Gilbert. "Think life is one big joke."

"Peace, I'll stop thy mouth," Gilbert quoted with a smirk, having felt Anne's racing pulse on her slim delicate wrist before she had wrenched her hand from him.

"Perhaps, Miss Stacy," Anne said turning to the teacher. "The boys could perform one dialogue and the girls another?"

"Like something from the Fairy Queen!" Ruby Gills said excitedly.

"And we could do something from Beowulf," Henry said diplomatically.

"Yea!" the boys declared wholeheartedly approving his suggestion of such a masculine piece.

Miss Stacy agreed to the suggestion and the class began diligently preparing.

"Matthew's gone and done it this time," Henry said dropping down next to Gilbert.

"Done what? Adopted a few more red heads?"

"No. Swear you won't breathe a word?"

"Have I ever?"

"It involves Anne," Henry said.

His interest firmly perked now, Gilbert demanded, "Well?"

"You won't give it away," Henry asked warily.

"Course not."

"You know how much she has wanted a dress with puffed sleeves? Thinks she's be prettier with them-"

"Anne's already pretty with out any sort of fancy sleeve," Gilbert protested.

"I know that. But Anne has had a hankering for them, for about oh ever. Well the girls were practicing their dialogue up at the house and poor Matthew wondered in to find it over run with girls. They have some girls not in the Queens class taking part as well. Well Matthew, despite his distress knew something was different about Anne then them. He thought on it awhile and then he came and ask me why her dress was different than the others. Of course I didn't want to say anything, but Matthew got right to the heart of the matter and asked if I thought Anne would like a dress with puffed sleeves for a present. Course I admitted she would be thrilled, but Marilla didn't think they were practical and found them to be an unnecessary extravagance. Well, I would have thought that was the end of the matter. That was until Matthew came home with a rake and a whole lot of brown sugar. Marilla was bewildered and couldn't make rhyme or reason of it. I confronted Matthew about it, curious myself and he fessed up what he had done. He wanted to get Anne a dress with puffed sleeves and went to Lawson's store to avoid Blair 's daughters at the counter," Henry said beginning to laugh. "But Mr. Lawson had just hired on a girl clerk and poor Matthew had to try and deal with a female he didn't know. He came home with everything, but what he wanted so I suggested he turn the matter over to Mrs. Lynde. And Mrs. Lynde is making Anne a dress. She told Matthew she had better do it so Anne don't get wind of the surprise if Marilla were to. It was quite diplomatic of Mrs. Lynde I thought, cause Marilla would never go for it."

"Anne doesn't need a fancy dress to be pretty," Gilbert declared.

"But she's gonna have one, anyways," Henry said. "Now don't go doing something stupid to give the surprise away."

"How would I do that?" Gilbert asked affronted.

"I don't know. But don't."

The next day at school when Henry saw Gilbert staring thoughtfully at Anne's dress and then comparing it to the other girls, he stepped on his foot and said, "Well now we know what stupid thing you might do. Of course all your liable to do is make Anne feel more self conscious about the fact that her dress is different than the others. If she notices she will think you are mocking her."

"Well, I'm just trying to imagine what Anne would look like in one of the other ones," Gilbert defended hinself.

"Like Anne in a fancy dress I imagine, " Henry said rolling his eyes.

"I still don't think Anne needs any sort of fancy dress to enhance her own beauty. She'll outshine the poor dress."

"Gone. Dead gone," Henry drawed out slowly.

"Just now noticed that, mate? What, you think it's your pretty face I'm looking at over at at Green Gables all the time?" Gilbert drawed with a grin.

"You mean to say you don't want me to flutter my lashes and simper at you?" Henry said in mock dismay.

"Wrong red head," Gilbert whispered back with a smirk.

"I could do a more credible job than Anne at simmpering and fluttering," Henry said with an answering smirk and then in a whispered version of the same falsetto he had mocked Gilbert with before he said, "Oh Gilbert, your sooooo handsome. I'm sooooo sorry I broke my slate over your head when you soooo charmingly called me carrots. I was just sooooo overcome by how wonderful you are," before blinking his eyes at Gilbert with great exaggeration.

A laugh escaped Gilbert unbidden at his friend's performance and choking on it he gasped, "Now as Anne would say, some boys just don't have an ounce of romance in them. You must be who she was thinking of when she said they were only fit for a comedy."

"Gilbert, Henry," Miss Stacy reprimand them as she approached their seats. "You are supposed to be working on your lessons."

"We were, but I just had a brilliant idea for the concert and was running it by Gilbert and he completely agreed. I was thinking Anne, Gil and I could do a credible job with a bit of comedy," Henry said grinning.

"We don't have any comedic pieces it is true," Miss Stacy said. And then after thinking about it for a few seconds and having seen the friendship and chemistry the three tended to generate she said, "If Anne is in agreement, I think it is a splendid idea to have you three preform a comedic piece together. I think you three could handle another piece without feeling overwhelmed by it in addition to your current ones."

"And I know just the piece," Henry declared as Gilbert looked at him warily. "I was thinking we could re-tell a historic moment. Afterall it would be good to have some local history represented."

"That is a brilliant idea, Henry!" praised Miss Stacy. "I wish we would have thought of it sooner. It would have been wonderful to have more local stories retold. I am sure it goes without saying to pick an appropriate piece of history to retell that won't offend any of Avonlea's current residents, particularly if you intend to make it a comedy. "

"Don't you worry, Miss Stacy," Henry said his eyes gleaming and Gilbert realized just what piece of Avonlea history Henry had in mind.

Gilbert said dryly, "I don't think its memebers of the audience we would offend if a anyone was to be offended."

Once Miss Stacy had moved on, Gilbert leaned over and hissed "You cannot be serious that you want us and Anne to retell that particular moment in time?"

"Anne can be me, I'll be you, and you can be Anne. Come on Gil. Everyone will love it."

"Your role in that was to start a fight," Gilbert reminded him.

"Well we can take some creative license and make the appropriate edits," Henry countered. "And its an opportunity to work with Anne," he said throwing what he knew was a trumph card, their extra study sessions at Green Gables having been currently replaced by practices for the concert.

"Only if I can watch you get Anne to agree to it," Gilbert said resignedly.