Di was far too sensible to keep worrying over a prejudiced old woman, however, and by the time Tricia and Blair's wedding day rolled around, she had nearly forgotten the incident.

The morning dawned bright and clear, and Di's heart rejoiced as she flew about trying to get twenty-odd children ready for the festivities that her friend would have such a glorious day to remember.

There were a million things to be done, but finally, Di had all the children ready when Tricia's Aunt Becca and Uncle Bev showed up at the Home. They were to take charge of the children before and during the ceremony, freeing Di for her maid of honor duties.

Di saw at once why Tricia loved them so much—Beverly King was an older, shorter version of his son Alan, and Aunt Becca was warm and inviting with a smile that seemed to encompass everyone and everything. The children all liked them at once, and with a strict warning to Peter to keep a close eye on them all, Di took little Polly and dashed off to the Woods mansion.

Tricia had, after much deliberation, decided to garb her attendants in pale pink and light green. Di, on account of her red hair, as well as being maid of honor, was in green with a pink sash, while Felicity, Olivia, and Alice were in pink with green sashes. Little Polly, of course, wore white, but she had a pink sash, and green ribbons flowing down from the wreath of daisies in her auburn hair.

Tricia, looking radiant in white silk, carrying a bouquet of pink roses, beamed at them all as they assembled before her.

"You look marvelous," she said. "I'm so happy I don't think I could hold one more drop. Oh, thank you all, for doing your part to make this the best day of my life!"

And she held out her arms to them, and, despite the expensive silk gown, they all rushed in and engulfed her in loving hugs.

The ceremony itself went smoothly. Di only paid attention to it with half her mind, as part of the other half was busy watching Bran to see to it that he didn't act up, and the rest was unobtrusively trying to scan the crown to see if she could spot Patrick and his fiancée.

But it was a lovely ceremony, and if Tricia's voice didn't have the carrying power and breathless poignancy of Blair's, love and trust trembled in every tone, making it just as beautiful in its own way.

Afterward, at the formal reception, Di finally spotted Patrick and Elizabeth. They were hovering around the bride and groom, offering congratulations, when Patrick's eye fell on Di, standing a little distance away and merely watching. With a whispered word in his fiancée's ear, he took her by the arm and led her over to meet Di.

"Diana Blythe," he said properly, yet with a slight twinkle in his eye, "May I present Miss Elizabeth Craig?"

Di suddenly swallowed something in her throat. She couldn't understand why she felt rather as though she would cheerfully stick a dagger into this black-haired, black-eyed girl's side. The day felt colder and greyer than it had a moment ago, and she was abruptly sick of all the festivities and people around her.

Aware that Patrick was looking at her strangely, she managed to paste a smile onto her face. "I'm pleased to meet you," she said, in a voice that sounded strained to her own ears. "I've heard a great deal about you."

Patrick's eyes turned concerned at the odd tone of her voice and suddenly pale cheeks, but Elizabeth seemed not to notice anything amiss. She smiled cheerfully.

"As have I, both from your brother, and from Pat. I think it's just too cute what you're doing with all these orphans here. Pat talks about it all the time, and your brother just brags about you something awful." She laughed merrily, and Di felt as though she would like to throw her head back and howl.

Was this Patrick's soul-mate, this girl who called Patrick "Pat," and thought the Home was "too cute?" And since when had Shirley ever "bragged" about anything "something awful?"

They said a few more commonplace words to each other, and then the two of them moved off, Elizabeth supremely unconcerned, and Patrick glancing back over his shoulder worriedly at Di, who still looked rather ill.

For her part, Di felt rather ill. For a little while now, she had thought that she would enjoy hating this girl, but now that she had met her, she realized there was nothing to hate. Hate was too strong an emotion for someone as shallow as this. Elizabeth Craig was a pretty, superficial, ignorant girl, just the same as so many in the world. There was nothing wrong with her, but she simply had no depth of character whatsoever.

This was not at all the right girl for Patrick! He needed someone who was strong, who understood him, who would support and encourage him and talk to him on his own level …

"Someone like me," she whispered unhappily to herself.

Di went back to the Home that evening desperate to talk to someone—Shirley, Tricia, Mother, Nan—anyone. Most of all, she wanted to talk to Patrick, but she couldn't do that, either. He belonged to a shallow, artificial woman who called him "Pat," and she, Di, had no claim on him anymore.

"Oh mercy," she sighed, running a hand through her red curls. "What am I going to do?"

Could she, Di Blythe, the sensible, practical matron of a successful Orphan Home, really be in love with a man who was going to marry another woman? And if she was, how had it happened? When had it happened? When had Patrick gone from "best friend," to so much more?

And most importantly, what was she going to do about it?

"Well, that's a silly question," she muttered impatiently to herself as she changed from her wedding finery into a simple cotton house dress. "There's nothing I can do about it, except get over him. He's going to marry Elizabeth—the idiot!—and that's all there is to it."

She felt somewhat uneasy, though. Her family was famous—or infamous—for loving on after all hope was gone. Look at Dad, loving Mother all through school and university, even when it seemed she was going to marry Royal Gardner. And look at Rilla, remaining faithful to Ken on merely one little question, all through the years of war. Or Shirley, whose love for Cecily was as strong today as it had been the day they married, though she had been dead now for two years.

Di was very much afraid that she wouldn't get over Patrick, but she was determined to try. With that in mind, she went down to her office and spent the next several hours, when she should have been sleeping, or at the very least remembering the finer details of the wedding, involved in very complicated and somewhat unnecessary paperwork, trying to bury the ache in her heart with chores.

Author's Note: A short chapter, but definitely one of import! Now that Di has finally realized her feelings for Patrick, what will happen next? This story is winding to a close, but we still have a ways to go. As always, please read and review!