The news hit Anne like a ton of bricks: Mr. Lynde was dead. Marilla's letter had delivered the sad report with much care and sensitivity, but that was the truth of it: he was dead. On Wednesday, Thomas Lynde was alive and on Thursday he was not. A brain aneurysm had taken him in the middle of the afternoon, just like that. There one minute, and the next gone. Dead. Vanished.
Anne called Diana into her room and shared the sorrowful news. The two friends cried together for a while, not talking. There hadn't fully recovered from Mary's death and here was another neighbour gone from their lives forever. After some time, Diana took a deep breath, pulling herself out of the trance of tears.
"Did you know Mr. Lynde well, Anne?" she asked.
Thinking a moment, Anne responded, "no, not exactly. But it's remarkable the way that community binds people together, Diana. Mr. Lynde and I lived in Avonlea. We both had farms. We attended the same church. We delighted in the same stories. We were … connected. Do you remember when he played the lobster in the pantomime?"
"Oh, that's right! He was hilarious. I had a terrible time keeping from laughing during his scenes," Diana recalled, smiling. She reached for a handkerchief and blew her nose.
"I think the thing about him that sticks with me most is the way he looked at Rachel, you know? They loved one another so much you could almost feel it when you were around them. Always stealing glances and kisses when no one was looking." Anne smiled.
"I think they knew people were looking!" Diane countered.
"Ha ha, you're probably right," laughed Anne. "They were a team until the very end. That's what I want," Anne sighed, her thoughts turning to Gilbert as they so often did.
"Speaking of Gilbert," Diana said quietly. Anne's eyes burst open and darted towards the door to their room which was wide open.
"Diana!" she said curtly, under her breath. Diana rose from her bed and shut the door. She returned, sitting down again beside her best friend and taking Anne's hands in hers.
"Anne, may I speak frankly with you?"
"Of course," said Anne hesitantly, knowing full well what was coming.
"I am so happy for you and Gilbert, and I am honoured to have been let inside your confidence on this most important matter of the heart," stated Diana matter-of-factly. "But it's time."
"Time ... for what?" said Anne, already knowing exactly what Diana meant.
"It's time to tell Ruby, and the others."
"I know!" said Anne, exacerbated. "It's just, I don't know."
"You've never been at at loss of words, Anne Shirley-Cuthbert. You do know! Spill it!"
"Okay, well, there is the obvious issue of Ruby's 15-year infatuation with Gil -"
"She's moved on, Anne. She and Moody are smitten with one another. Rumour has it she's considering leaving school at the end of the year to learn how to tend house with her mother. You know she's always wanted to be a wife."
"I know. But the heart remembers, Diana."
"Enough. What is it really, Anne?"
Anne inhaled, summoning the courage to speak the truth. "Right now, this … relationship … is something private, something that Gilbert and I share. It's ours, and ours alone."
"And mine, because I've known from the beginning. And Bash's because Gilbert told -"
"Diana! You know what I mean. Our resplendent romance is shared between us and our most bosom friends. What if telling other people changes it somehow? I know the girls will be gobsmacked. They've always held Gilbert in the highest regard, and me in the lowest. He's their King! And I'm their ...Court Jester."
"That's not true!" asserted Diana.
"And the boys! The boys will poke endless fun at me and, what's worse, at Gilbert. I've been teased my whole life, Diana, I can handle it. But Gilbert's never been touched by slander and gossip. He'll be devastated, torn apart." Anne paused, reflecting. "Besides, it feels wrong to tell Ruby before Gilbert and I have had the opportunity to speak with Matthew and Marilla. We were planning to tell them together, in person at Christmas."
Diana rose from the bed. "Anne, with all due respect, you are being ridiculous. Ruby is your friend. Josie and the girls are your friends. They will be overjoyed to hear of your happiness. I am sure of it! And Gilbert's a big boy, he can handle a little teasing."
Anne opened her mouth to counter when Diana bolted for the door. "Ruby!" she called. "Ruby, come here please!"
"I'm busy!" Ruby called back from her room.
"It's important," said Diana firmly. "Come and see Anne and I right away please."
"It's always important with you two. Tillie is reading our horoscopes! Mine says that a great surprise is ahead. What does that mean do you think?" Ruby called.
Diana hesitated. "I don't know. Just come here!"
"Argggg, fine," said Ruby, putting her slippers on. "This better be good." She walked down the hall and into Diana and Anne's room, flopping on Anne's bed in her nightgown, her hair in ties.
"If you two activists are planning another demonstration, I am not interested. I don't disagree that the women professors here at the College should be paid the same as the male professors but I don't think that's my problem and I don't see why I should have to be the one to fix it."
"We're not planning any demonstrations," said Diana. "Well, actually, we are, but that's not why I called you. Anne has something she wants to tell you."
Anne glared at Diana. How could her very best friend in the whole world betray her like this?
"Ruby?" Anne started.
"Yes, Anne?"
"Um ... "
"What is it, Anne? You have the most peculiar look on your face." Ruby giggled.
"Things with you and Moody, are they going well?"
"Moody is a dream. We're headed to the park tomorrow and he's packing a picnic. Isn't that romantic?" Ruby swooned, kicking her slippers in the air and across the room.
"Very romantic," said Anne, warmly. Hesitantly she added, "so, as far as you're concerned, Gilbert Blythe is fair game?"
"What?" said Ruby, sharply, sitting up.
"I just mean -"
"Fair game? Why do you ask? What's going on, Anne?" Ruby's voice had an air of something Diana hadn't anticipated. Anger maybe, or hostility. Jealously, perhaps?
"Nothing! Nothing's going on … "
"Anne with an E, you tell me the truth! Are you in love with Gilbert Blythe?"
Anne nodded, slowly.
Ruby's eyes narrowed with an intensely neither of her friends had ever seen on her before.
"Is Gilbert Blythe in love with you?"
Anne froze, unable to move. It was Diana who answered Ruby's question:
"Yes, Ruby. Gilbert and Anne are courting. It's all very new so please don't tell anyone."
No one moved for a minute. Everything was very still.
"Ruby, it's your turn to read mine!" called Tillie from the other room.
Ruby collected herself and stood up from the bed. She found her slippers, put them back on, and calmly walked out of the room and down the hall. She quietly passed into her room and closed the door behind her.
"That wasn't so bad?" said Anne, unsure of exactly how bad it was or was not.
Little did the girls know that Ruby would freeze Anne out for what felt like an eternity, speaking no more than a handful of words to her for the rest of the school year and beyond.