Chapter 30

In the aisle of the Glen St Mary church, a collection of feathered hats stood in a cluster, their owners clucking excitedly underneath.

"Did you see the schoolmarm, now? Hanging onto the doctor's arm like she thought should have been there all along!"

"Oh, I think it's lovely," an older woman said comfortably. "Look how happy Doctor Blythe looks."

The hats swiveled to see Gilbert and Anne standing by the door talking with Reverend Toomey and his wife, the last in a long line of people coming to congratulate them. "She looks terribly pale in yellow," Mrs Langley said with a sniff.

"Well, it is nice to see her out of mourning now-"

"Black hardly did her any favours," one sallow woman commented, sweeping a limp ostrich feather over her shoulder.

Mrs Randall leant into the group with an air of secrecy. "I heard that the two of them have been madly in love since they were children," she said gleefully. "My sister lives in Carmody, she says that her sister-in-law told her that they quarreled when Miss Shirley wanted to go to off to college. You could see it from the start- he hardly took his eyes off her."

Noises of interest came from the others, and one rosy little lady chuckled. "Well, they look most pleased with themselves now, don't they? Like the cat that got the cream."

Over near the doors, Gilbert drew in a breath of relief as the Reverend moved off. "Well, that was fun." The two of them turned to walk down the steps and into the sunshine, in blissful ignorance of the fact that the gaggle of women collectively gasped when he placed his hand on the small of her back to assist her.

Anne's eyes twinkled. "It's only just beginning, doctor. And at least I don't have to worry about leading the prayer meeting, in marrying you."

He looked at her indulgently. "You're making no sense whatsoever, darling."

Anne chuckled. "Oh, something Phil once said. I never asked her if she actually had to do it. I don't think anyone will expect me to know about your work, dearest."

"Don't count on it, Anne. Aunt Katherine often got asked how to treat rashes and various ailments."

Susan came to stand beside the pair now, her gloves in hand. "Anne dearie, Cornelia Elliot will be over tomorrow evening- I suspect to find out everything about you and the doctor personally," she said dryly.

Anne chuckled. "It's a story she deserves to hear, Susan. She was the one who told me that Gilbert was in Four Winds, after all." Anne turned to him, her eyes brimming with laughter. "You should have seen the way I quaked while confirming that it was the younger Doctor Blythe here, instead of your Uncle."

"I remember him well, Doctor. He was a fine gentleman," Susan added.

Gilbert grinned. "He was. I've been assured that I will never replace him in people's hearts- and so I don't try. I can only hope to carry on his legacy well."

After Susan had left the couple to their own devices, Anne smiled at Gilbert. "The people here adore you, Gil- and Miss Cornelia, in particular, thinks the world of young Doctor Blythe. She just won't tell you that."

As the two of them moved to where Andrew and Lizzie were waiting, Gilbert leaned in with a roguish grin. "Well, we wouldn't want me thinking too highly of myself, would we?"

Andrew Winston sat in the big chair in his sitting room that afternoon, smiling at his sleepy daughter chattering away to Anne on the sofa. He flicked a look across at Gilbert, whose head was resting on the back of his chair with closed eyes, a gentle smile on his face. He grinned himself- contentment became the man.

He'd been sitting down to his breakfast when Gilbert bounded in from the front door with the news Andrew had been waiting for. After a boisterous slap on the back from his friend, Gilbert had been sat down with a plate of his own, Mrs. Heyer insisting that he may be as well congratulated on a full stomach as an empty one.

In the wake of Penny's departure, Andrew had insisted that Gilbert come over as often as he had previously- his housekeeper had developed the habit of checking each day just how many people would be sitting down to dinner that night. Penny wrote often, and Andrew could see how happy his sister was to be back at home with their parents. It had taken several weeks before his father would take Penny's request to do bookkeeping seriously, however, persistence had won out, and each morning Penny would spend a few hours working on the books in her father's study, showing herself to have quite the knack for it. The independence she had gained in her four years away had proved most beneficial, and their parents loved having her at home again.

Andrew now looked across at Gilbert curiously. He wasn't sure how often Gilbert and Doctor Barnes corresponded- he didn't know if Jeremy had mentioned the fact that he had been dining at the Winston manor for the last month after the Sunday service. Andrew smiled wickedly. Well, his mother had mentioned it…

He turned to Anne and Gilbert then. "So what are your plans for the wedding?" he asked the pair. He watched them begin to laugh, and looked over in bemusement. "What did I say that was amusing?"

Anne chuckled. "We have rather a lot of things that need to be decided- and not quite enough information to make a decision yet. We should know more after we return home next weekend."

Andrew nodded thoughtfully. "Will your folks mind that the wedding will be here?"

Gilbert shook his head. "No- as long as that's what we want." He turned to Anne, his brow lowered. "It is what you want, isn't it, Anne?"

She quirked her mouth into a wistful smile. "It won't be at Green Gables," she said softly. "That is another family's home now, and as much as I love Diana's home, any other place wouldn't feel right. This is home, Gil." She put her arms around the little girl snuggled into her side with a book, and smiled. "We could be married in the garden at the cottage this summer."

Gilbert smiled at her. "We've certainly worked hard enough over it- and the roses will be stunning. What will we do if it rains?"

Andrew cleared his throat, oddly emotional. "Have it here. There will be plenty of room for your guests if it does, and Penny and I would be honored to host it."

Anne looked up in surprise. "Penny?"

Andrew smiled. "She told me to tell you both that she will be back here for your wedding no matter what- she and Mother wish to come out here this summer, probably to make sure that Lizzie and I do what we promised, and go back to Boston for a time."

"How could she know? It only happened yesterday," Gilbert said in confusion.

Andrew grinned. "Call it women's intuition. She knew it was coming. Oh, and Anne, she asked me to tell you that she will assist with any shopping you require in Montreal."

Anne chuckled. "Who would have thought that we were so predictable, Gilbert? If Diana has a wedding dress ready for me when we go home, I will really begin to believe that our steps are laid out for us."

Lizzie startled everyone by speaking up then, her eyes enormous. "Where will you live, Miss Shirley? Are you going to leave?"

Anne shook her head, her look gentle. "No, Lizzie. Our home is here in Four Winds. We are going home to see our families next week, and we will come back here again."

Lizzie seemed to relax then, and Andrew's heart fell. Most of the time she did very well, however, she missed Penny terribly- and had clung to his and Anne's sides in her absence. "Oh. Alright. What house will you live in?"

"Well, Doctor Blythe and I will most likely buy a house for us to live in," Anne explained, her voice kind and matter-of-fact.

Lizzie's lower lip protruded. "But I like your house, Miss Shirley. Susan is there."

"Darling, Susan will come and live with us in our new house."

She tipped her head up to see her beloved teacher. "But there's another room upstairs in the cottage," Lizzie argued. "Susan showed it to me. Doctor Blythe can live in there, can't he?"

The coughing fits that all three adults seemed to experience at this point made Lizzie look at them curiously. Realising that she had been too young to understand while her mother was alive, Andrew stepped in, speaking softly in an attempt to not embarrass his guests. "Lizzie, darling, one day Doctor Blythe and Miss Shirley will need a bigger house for their family. And, little duck, husbands and wives like to stay in the same room as each other."

Lizzie's intelligent eyes studied her father. "Oh. Did you and mama do that?"

Andrew smiled at her. "Yes, pumpkin. Now, don't you think it's time for you to take that nap you promised me you would have? We can ask Mrs. Heyer if you can have a cookie first." At this, the frowning little girl visibly brightened up, and her father unfolded his long frame from the chair with a wry grin. "If you will excuse me, Anne and Gilbert."

Anne began to laugh as soon as Lizzie had left the room, and Gilbert smiled as he crossed to sit beside her. "She reminds me of you, you know."

Anne chuckled. "She certainly talks the way I did- or the way I would have done if I had felt safe enough to do so as a child."

Gilbert pulled her to his side, a slight frown on his face. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."

Anne turned to him then, her look stern. "Please, stop that, Gil. I don't wish to censor myself with you- and that is very hard to avoid when you insist on apologising for things that you never had any control over- nor myself, for that matter. It was a lifetime ago. And when I came to Green Gables I received everything I had ever hoped for."

Gilbert met her eyes evenly. "You can't expect me to not be affected by your past, Anne. It bothers me when you talk about it as if it was normal- it always did." As grey eyes met hazel, eventually he smiled. "But I will try to not overreact," he said reluctantly.

Anne's grey eyes twinkled at him. "If it's any consolation, I intend for our children to be as wonderfully over-protected and adored as you were, Gil." There was a silence then, and Anne sighed. She'd promised herself she wouldn't worry him with this- and yet who would understand the situation better? It was foolish to keep things from him now. "Gilbert? May I ask you something?"

As one brown eyebrow rose, he folded his arms with a grin. "You've not often hesitated before talking to me, Anne. Is there a reason you need to ask?"

Anne's face flushed, and she turned away from him, cross at herself. "It shouldn't be anything- and I don't want to pay any heed to malicious words, but then there could be something in them, couldn't there? And I should talk to you about that."

"You've lost me utterly, Anne-girl."

In the distance, they heard Andrew's telephone ring, and knowing they would have privacy for a short time, Anne spoke quietly. "Is there a chance that I am too old to have children?"

A sudden spark flamed in his eyes at her words, and he shifted himself on the seat. "I beg your pardon?"

"It was a comment I wasn't even supposed to hear this morning," she said evenly. "It just made me wonder-"

Gilbert pulled away to turn his whole body to her, his arm resting on the back of the sofa. "You don't actually believe that, do you?"

Anne crossed her arms over her chest with a sigh. "I don't know. However, I thought it sensible to discuss it with you before I flew off the handle."

Gilbert watched her in disbelief. There she sat baring her deepest fear- and only he knew how deeply that fear would run in her; and here she was staring unflinchingly into his eyes. He almost chuckled then, seeing the way she would have handled her doctors only the previous year.

"Firstly, the poisonous old biddies who might have spoken about this are hardly the experts you want to be listening to," he said, attempting to match her calmness.

Anne's voice was brittle as she regarded him. "They were surprised that you did not choose someone younger. Someone who-"

The anger bubbled up inside at the worry on her face, and he interrupted her. "Anne, don't tell me you are paying attention to that rubbish-"

"No, Gilbert, I am not," she emphasised crisply. "What I am doing is asking my future husband, who is also an experienced doctor, if he thinks that there is any truth behind their words. If there is, then we should talk about that."

With difficulty, Gilbert held his tongue and then pulled her hands into his, his eyes resolutely on her own. "Anne, you're twenty-nine, and neither of us is approaching any kind of advanced age. It's the perfect time to start a life together, start a family. Remember? You're taking your cue from people who got married as young as seventeen and had children within a year of that. You can't let that kind of old-fashioned thinking upset you."

Anne let out a breath slowly. "I suppose not. But I used to hear the women back home making similar comments about people getting married later than most- you remember how they used to talk of poor Mr. and Mrs. McTaggert."

"Who became proud parents of three boys while we were in college," Gilbert said firmly. He moved off the sofa to kneel at her feet, his serious hazel eyes on her. "You know I'd tell you the truth- and I'm telling you that they're wrong. And if it was only you and I for the rest of our lives, then I'm happy, Anne-girl. Uncle Dave and Aunt Katherine did it- and they got married when she was twenty. But if I were to guess-" and hesitantly he took her hands as a blush swept over the two of them, "Then I think that you and I could easily be parents in a years' time."

Anne leaned forward to kiss him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. "Thank you, Gilbert," she whispered. She pulled away then, a curious look on her face as she watched him.

He smiled at her. "What is it? More gossip to refute?"

Anne shook her head with a smile, as Gilbert moved to sit back down beside her. "No, something else. Later, perhaps. However," she said mischievously, "There was much discussion about us. Miss Cornelia, of course, thinks you are very lucky to have me; Mrs. Morris thinks that I will make you a very sweet wife. Mrs Turnbull said that she believes that we have been secretly flirting with each other for months, and wonders if I have the right constitution to become a doctor's wife."

Gilbert was laughing by the time Andrew arrived back in the room, and as he sat down he good-naturedly asked to be let in on the joke.

Gilbert grinned. "Oh, our engagement is creating waves- you know the local gossip."

Andrew grinned wickedly. "Indeed. After all, it's rumored that I broke the heart of a Danish princess in my youth."

Anne's eyebrows flew up in amusement. "Oh? Why do they say that?"

"I haven't the faintest idea."

Five days later, on a windy Friday afternoon, Gilbert and Anne stood at the Glen St Mary train station with Susan, waiting to board the train. Anne had moved down the platform to speak to the parents of one of her students, and Susan turned to Gilbert anxiously.

"Now, doctor, she is much more tired on Friday afternoons, so you need to make sure she spends plenty of time resting-"

Gilbert chuckled. "We'll be on a train for three hours, Susan, she won't be walking around much if I can help it."

"And she is impossible to keep off that foot if she decides that she wants to be outside-"

Gilbert suppressed an amused grin. "I know."

Anne returned just then, and Susan turned to her mistress. "Now, have you got everything you need, Anne dearie?"

"Susan, everything is as ready as it can be- and Diana will have anything I have missed. All of the school parents know that class will resume on Tuesday, and Gilbert and I will arrive back here on Monday."

The whistle blew and Anne gave Susan a quick hug, and within minutes she and Gilbert had boarded the train. Together they waved goodbye to a surprisingly tearful Susan, who turned to leave the platform slowly.

When the train began to move away from the siding, Gilbert smiled as they settled back into their seat. "Does she always worry this much?" he asked her, moving his hat to the bench before them.

Anne gave him a wry look. "More or less. You know, I think this is quite difficult for her."

He looked startled. "Because of me?"

"Perhaps," Anne said thoughtfully. "When I first moved here, I had no one but Susan- and she was used to being the only person I relied on. To share that with you must be difficult."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Well, she needs to learn- I am your future husband, after all."

Anne chuckled. "Please don't be offended, Gil, it's hard to feel supplanted. I felt it when Mrs. Lynde first came to live with Marilla."

His eyebrows rose. "Even with us at Redmond?"

Anne smiled. "Even then- although she never replaced me in Marilla's heart, I know that."

Gilbert took her hand in his, his look content. "Well, I hope Susan will learn to trust me with you eventually."

Anne chuckled. "She will; although she is already beginning to adopt you as well, I think. Susan is nothing if not whole-hearted in her job."

The long train ride took them through Charlottetown as the spring evening fell. The train's tea room provided a break in the scenery, with rocking chandeliers gleaming in the light of the lamps, and the tinkling of china and silver spoons a pleasant background to Anne and Gilbert's conversation.

Gilbert held her hand across the table with a little smile- this was a luxury that they had rarely taken part in during their journeys through college, choosing instead to picnic in their carriages with the other students amongst them. He grinned. Age and financial independence certainly had their advantages.

Over their tea, Anne told Gilbert of the visit the board had made her the previous evening, and of their concern that finding another teacher of her caliber would prove difficult.

"They are a little ruffled, Gil, the board is enjoying the increased attention the Glen school has been getting," Anne said now, with a chuckle. "The last inspector's report was excellent."

"You did that, sweetheart," Gilbert said confidently, and then studied her. "Did you tell them of your suggestion?"

Anne sighed comfortably. "Yes. Mrs. Matthews would be a wonderful teacher- however, they said that they need time to deliberate, especially considering my own involvement."

The problem of Anne's position was one she and Gilbert had already discussed, knowing that the decision needed to be made early. Mrs. Matthews was a trained teacher only a few years younger than Anne, who had been widowed only six months previously. She had been searching for employment that spring to care for her three young children, and at Gilbert's suggestion, Anne had visited her several days ago. Between the two of them, they had come up with a workable plan for the next year's schooling that Anne took to the rest of the board that evening.

The gentlemen, who had expressed their congratulations as well as their regret at her eventual resignation listened to Anne's suggestion for the next year carefully.

"Mrs. Matthews was a teacher in a school in Montague for four years before her marriage, and an excellently qualified one," Anne said diplomatically. "It will take some time for her to accustom herself to the full week, and I think between the two of us she would make the transition back into full-time work, while I ensure the continuity of the classroom. She still has one child at home, but only for a few more months- during that time I suggest that I work alongside her, gradually reducing my own time in the classroom, but available to assist with the planning and the work for the older students."

Mr. Samuels sat back, eying Anne speculatively. "Miss Shirley, you understand that you could simply leave," he said gravely. "It is customary to do so, after all. Your time here has been immensely successful, and you would leave with our gratitude for your hard work. Why be so concerned about your successor?"

Anne smiled at him. "Because I love my students," she said simply. "I believe that Mrs. Matthews would be exemplary for them, and also that it would be a good thing for her to have some time to adjust before taking on the full weight of the job. You would gain another teacher who loves the community, and she would have the support necessary to ensure a good transition into the position."

"And you would continue to teach two days a week under this plan?" Mr. Peters asked curiously. "Does Doctor Blythe support the idea?"

Anne smiled. "It was his suggestion, in fact. Doctor Blythe and I taught school together for two years before we went to university. He heard of Mrs. Matthews' credentials in the course of his work."

The gentlemen spoke for a time, and then rose to leave, reaffirming their congratulations at her impending marriage, and the promise that they would consider her request. All Anne could do now, was wait.

As the two of them rose from the table to return to their carriage, Anne glanced at the growing darkness the train sped through. Gilbert's arm was steadying against the rock of the train, and she sat down beside him with a thoughtful look.

"Gil?"

He turned to her easily, his twisted smile quite making her forget what she had been thinking about. "Yes, future wife?"

Anne chuckled. "Oh! Well, it's about that, actually. I have been thinking about after we are married-"

"So have I," he said cheekily. "Constantly. No, really, I was lancing Mr. Putter's boil and I was thinking about you and I-"

Anne put her hand on his mouth, her eyes twinkling merrily. "That's quite enough, Gilbert; I'm being serious." He placed a kiss on her palm and grinned when she pulled away blushing. "I want to ask you something."

He sobered, loving the way she scowled for a moment. "Fire away."

"Do you think I should have the operation that Jeremy recommended?" Anne asked slowly, surprising him completely.

"You've been thinking about that?"

"Well, since a handsome man asked me to be his wife, yes." She turned to look outside into the darkness, and he listened intently. "I suppose it all starts with the idea of us having children," she said deliberately. "Months ago there seemed little point in even considering it- even though Jeremy did suggest that it would make me steadier."

Gilbert's arm slipped around her shoulders. "Yes. It would." Gilbert couldn't pretend to not understand her- he'd had the same thoughts himself. He'd promised himself that he wouldn't pressure her, and so he spoke lightly.

"Anne, you are incredible for all that you have handled- I couldn't be prouder of you. But you're right- things are going to change for us soon. And in light of that-" he seemed to hesitate then. "As excited as I am about everything that awaits us, my first priority is to protect you. When I started thinking about this all those months ago, I kept wondering what would happen after we were married-"

To his utter shock Anne gave him a wicked smile. "Really, Doctor Blythe? Surely someone should have had that conversation with you already." she teased.

He grinned and snatched her close to kiss her firmly. "They did, Miss Shirley, and I look forward to showing you everything I learned," he said with an amused look. "I'm not Redmond's top student for nothing. But that does bring me to what we need to talk about."

Anne's look was thoughtful then. "Pregnancy."

Gilbert gave her a loving look. "Yes. And I'm concerned that pregnancy- a state that I have been dreaming of, for us for a long time- that it could put you in danger; for that matter put the two of you in danger. My only other choice would be to insist on bed rest for you as much as possible- and I think you know how much you would hate nine months of that."

Anne drew in a deep breath, ignoring the butterflies that swirled inside at the thought of a baby. "I could fall."

He smiled sadly. "You've joked about how often it happens, sweetheart- and I won't risk your safety. I want a family, and we've waited so long to be together- but I need to keep you safe. If you decide not to, we'll work with it; but I'll be keeping an annoyingly close eye on you."

Anne turned to him steadily. "And I suppose if I were to do it that it would be better to do it before the wedding."

Gilbert's look was chagrined. "As much as I want to run away with you right now- yes." Thankful that they had chosen seats at the rear of the carriage, Gilbert held her close. She sighed and cuddled into his side.

"Would I go to Montreal?"

"I wouldn't trust you to anyone other than Jeremy, Anne. I know the hospital- I know the staff, and I told you, he's the best."

Anne sighed. "So that means that our wedding would need to wait."

Gilbert deliberated for some minutes in silence. "I'll get in touch with him when we get back- but I think we wouldn't be away for more than a few weeks. We could still be married by August, at the latest."

Anne smiled at him then. "We?"

He kissed her forehead with a chuckle. "I'm not letting you go there without me, Anne-girl. If you are doing this, I'll be with you every step of the way."

Anne laughed. "But not into the surgery, surely."

He grinned. "With you under an anesthetic? I'll be lucky if he lets me on hospital property."

That night, the Wright horses pulled up at the Carmody station with little time to spare, and the train was coming into the station as Fred assisted his wife from the wagon.

Diana puffed at the exertion. "Goodness, Fred! We were right to not bring the children I think; thank heavens Mother could stay with them this time. I do hope she puts Jack to bed on time, he's been terribly cross this afternoon." Di pulled her skirts out of the dust, and turned to Fred, worried. "Anne hasn't come home for a weekend since she lived in Summerside. Do you think that everything is alright at the Glen?"

Fred chuckled, and the two of them started to head towards the station office. "We'll see soon enough. Far as I can see, Anne's been fine."

Diana stopped walking in surprise, seeing the bigger-than-usual crowd ahead. "Why are there so many people here tonight?"

Fred shrugged. "Queen's students coming home. There are at least five of them from Avonlea this year, apparently."

He led his wife onto the platform as the train pulled to a halt, and Diana peered impatiently at the porters leaping to open doors. They moved to a clear space at the end of the platform, and Diana stopped suddenly. "Why, Mrs Blythe!" she exclaimed in surprise, as Sonia turned to greet them.

John stepped up to shake Fred's hand in greeting, and for just a moment, no one was paying attention to the doors the porter had just opened at the end of the train.

"Are you here to meet someone?" Diana asked, confused.

Sonia looked surprised. "Yes, Gilbert told us that he was coming in for the weekend. Do you have family visiting, Diana?"

Diana shook her black head. "No- Anne is," she said slowly. "How strange- she never mentioned that Gilbert was coming as well in her letter."

Meanwhile, a couple stepped down onto the end of the platform, standing still as they watched the foursome in conversation not ten yards away.

"Last moment of anonymity?" the gentleman murmured to the woman.

She chuckled. "Last one, dearest."

Knowing he had only seconds, he bent down to kiss her softly on the lips. Suddenly he stopped, as an ear-piercing shriek filled the air, drawing the attention of all those left standing at the station. Anne's cheeks flushed, and Gilbert lifted his head to see Diana's mouth open in a most unladylike fashion, Sonia's hand over her own trying to hold back tears, and the identical grins on Fred and John's Blythe's faces. With a smile, Gilbert took Anne's hand in his own tightly, and a moment later the two of them were engulfed in the embrace of those who loved them the most.