Chapter 35

Gilbert walked into the breakfast room the next morning to greet Anne with a kiss on the cheek, taking his place beside her. Lizzie was on her grandfather's knee behind his paper, while Louisa and Penny discussed their plans for the week ahead. Andrew, Gilbert knew, rarely had a chance to sleep in, and was taking full advantage of his family to keep Lizzie occupied while he did so. He turned to Anne then with a smile, loving the brightness of her hair above the rich green of her dress. She smiled back cheekily, and forestalled him with a hand on his mouth.

"Good morning, dearest. Yes, I am fine. Yes, I slept delightfully. I got rather lost in the size of the bed, in fact." His hazel eyes twinkled over her hand at her words, and she shook her head with a mischievous grin. "You may comment on that later, sir. Now. I promise you that I will take care of myself. I promise I will tell you if my foot hurts- and if it is necessary to check it again, then you may. But until then, I am going to do everything I can to forget it. Until Monday, we are simply here on a well-deserved vacation with beloved friends. And I will not be treated as an invalid."

Gilbert kissed her palm and pulled her hand away with a grin. "If you insist, Miss Shirley."

The two of them were drawn into Penny's conversation, and Louisa cordially asked Anne how her night was. Gilbert's face was smug, and he chuckled when Anne kicked him under the table, still managing to look innocently at Penny's mother.

"It was lovely, Mrs Winston, and your maid is a treasure- I very much appreciated her assistance."

Louisa smiled. "Amanda will be available anytime you need her, dear. I have asked her to assist you while you are here."

Another maid stepped in front of her then to pour a cup of tea, and Anne closed her eyes in hidden relief. Of all of the things that had annoyed her since her injury, dressing had proved the most difficult. It could be done, however, it was a long and frustrating business. Receiving help from nurses, from Marilla, Diana and even Susan had been hard at first- in the early days it had been all she could do to maintain a cool exterior in the face of the shame she felt at being so helpless. Oh, no one had viewed herself that way but herself- however, it seemed that was enough.

Penny spoke up then, with a slight blush. "Now, Jer- Doctor Barnes mentioned to us that you would be having an appointment with him this afternoon, is that correct, Anne?" Anne was taken aback at this. She looked at Gilbert, who shrugged, and Penny halted in confusion. "Perhaps I misunderstood him."

Gilbert shook his head. "We may have missed a letter, that's all." He turned to Anne apologetically. "He may want to get it out of the way so that you can relax, sweetheart." He brightened, then, and took her hand in his. "That means I can show you my city." There was a loud throat clearing from behind the open paper, and Gilbert grinned. "Well, the bits of it I knew, anyway."

David Winston placed the paper down with a sorrowful look. "Even Doctor Barnes manages to go to a museum from time to time, Doctor Blythe- I'm not sure what you were doing with yourself while you were here." Gilbert did not trust himself to speak at this juncture and nodded with a suspicious twinkle in his eye. Mr Winston gave them a fatherly look. "Well, we mustn't make Doctor Barnes wait, then. Sightseeing may hold until tomorrow."

Louisa placed her hand over her husband's and smiled at him affectionately. "Dear, do remember that our guests will be here for some time. We needn't be in a rush."

He seemed to reconsider and turned to his granddaughter. "Should we go out today, pumpkin?"

Lizzie immediately began to chatter about all of the things she wished to see, and Gilbert turned to Anne with a smile.

"Would you like to see my Montreal?" he asked quietly. "It's not so exciting, but as we will already be at the hospital-"

Anne tucked her hand into his with a smile. "Of course, dearest- I want to know your world."

It was nearing eleven in the morning when Gilbert and Anne set out from the Winston house. Penny came from the office to say goodbye, reminding them cheekily that they should come back with at least one story about the great places of Montreal for her father's sake- and that Anne might keep an eye out for fashions she wished them to shop for later.

"The trouble is, dearest," Anne said to Gilbert thoughtfully as they drove away, "That neither you nor I are especially attracted to the great places of the world."

Gilbert snorted, manoeuvring the buggy that Winstons had insisted he take that day. "I can appreciate them- but don't ask me to stay. I admit that I got lost in my work back then- two years came and went without me noticing," he said with an easy shrug. "I had a small world outside of the hospital. I visited the library when I had time, and I walked a lot. I used to miss trees. Not these spindly things you see here and there, but trees- I wanted acres of them. We kept fairly busy; there were lectures to go to and fund-raising dinners, mandatory board meetings, and I got sent to symposiums in other cities- I saw Toronto that way, and Saint John."

Anne watched him thoughtfully. "And to think you could have done all of this without Jeremy- you must have been so glad that he took the position here as well."

He grinned. "I was. Although knowing each other as students and then knowing each other as colleagues were two very different things- the difference between theory and practice, I suppose. We were both trying to figure out who we were- trying to find our place here." He pulled the horse up at the side of the road where the Port of Montreal lay before them, glittering in the sunlight beyond the quays. Up close the water would be churning with the boats moving in and out of the bay, the flotsam and jetsam of the ocean floating around the wharf with men shouting to each other at the water's edge. "I used to come and sit on a bench over there," Gilbert said suddenly. "When everything felt too close. Back home you could head for the shore to get some space- here, it seemed I couldn't get away."

Anne tipped her head on one side. "And yet you must have been lonely at times, Gil."

He chuckled, pulling her closer to him. "I was. But if freedom is being able to be alone with yourself- then I certainly couldn't get that here. When the city got too much I used to come here and watch the water- but it wasn't the same. Back home you could escape."

Anne smiled at him fondly. "Oh, I could often be found there too, Gil- usually by you. You knew most of my hiding places. Oh- and once by Charlie."

Gilbert choked slightly in shock. "Charlie Sloane?"

Her look was cheeky, and she adjusted her wide hat with a practised hand. "Who else? He came upon me once- well, I may as well say that I was moping in the middle of the Haunted Wood, a week or so after Diana's wedding."

Gilbert quirked a teasing eyebrow at her. "I see. And was Mr Sloane able to offer you any comfort?"

"Oh, dear me, no," Anne said cheerfully. "He spoke about letting bygones be bygones, and about him having no cause to regret my refusal when he was eminently more suited to Miss Ashton than he was to me."

Gilbert turned to Anne with his mouth agape. "Refusal? Anne, please tell me there wasn't an actual offer from him!"

She chuckled. "Unfortunately, yes. A most insulting one- I was ready to incinerate him on sight. You knew that he had stopped speaking to me, surely."

Gilbert was flabbergasted. "Yes, but he just said you quarrelled, not that he'd proposed. He said you lost your temper with him for no apparent reason."

Anne's mouth quirked. "Oh, we certainly quarrelled. When I said no, he pointed out that socially I was beneath him and thus should have been more grateful, and he stated that his mother had always questioned why a happily childless woman such as Marilla should have upset her golden years with a child like me."

This last made Gilbert snort. "You know, I always wondered if he was tactless because he secretly had a death wish."

"No, I believe he honestly thought I needed to know that," Anne said, amused. "He forgave me in the end in a speech more insulting than the original proposal. He insisted on walking me back home, and when he had exhausted Miss Ashton's virtues, he began to list Christine's many assets on your behalf, dearest."

Gilbert gave her a droll look. "Oh dear."

Anne laughed, her grey eyes sparkling wickedly. "Yes. I had my revenge, though. I announced that I needed to hurry because I was plagued by certain womanly troubles."

Gilbert let out a shout of laughter that made people on the street turn in their direction, and a placid-looking Anne held the reins while he worked to sober himself. "Anne Shirley! And to a Sloane, no less!"

Anne chuckled. "He couldn't disappear fast enough- besides, who would he have dared tell?" she asked with a grin.

Gilbert gave her a warm look, taking the reins back and pulling the team back onto the road. "No one, of course. I've always wondered how they managed to procreate at all- even the most innocent comment about anatomy would have turned Charlie green in our salad days."

Anne chuckled. "No doubt he's wiser now, Gil. He is a husband and father of three, after all."

"You might be surprised," Gilbert responded wryly. "Some choose to remain in ignorance." He smiled at her and pointed down a street on Anne's left. "The library is just down that way- and Jeremy has a house near there overlooking the river. He bought it shortly before I left." He turned to give Anne an odd glance, a twinkle hidden behind his calm expression. "You know, I did see Christine here, once." He smiled then, at the way Anne automatically stiffened.

"Oh?" Anne responded, her grey eyes watchful.

Gilbert grinned. "She and her husband were visiting Montreal in our first year here- I ran into them by chance one day." He saw her sharply look around, almost as if looking for Christine to leap from the shadows, and couldn't resist chuckling. He reached for her left hand, and he brought it up for her to see the emerald on her slim fingers. "Remember this, sweetheart? You're the one I'm in love with."

Anne's cheeks flushed, and she pulled her hand away crossly. "I know that, Gilbert."

Gilbert reached for her again with a grin, nudging her with his shoulder. "Then do stop firing up about her. I told you there was never anything between us- she was very much in love with Mr Dawson's- err, assets." Anne looked at him in consternation, and he smiled. "Literally. Ten million pounds worth." Anne's auburn eyebrows rose. "Trust me, she wasn't looking for a struggling student to tie herself to."

Anne had her own opinion about that, and she simply smiled. "Much to my gratitude."

He winked at her, pulling the horses towards a wide street on his right. "Come on, what would you do if you had just seen her on the street back there?"

Anne's chin lifted, her nearly green eyes narrowed. "Nothing, Gilbert. I wouldn't be threatened at all. I'd just grab you inappropriately and kiss you so that everyone present would be in no doubt that you were mine."

By the time they had pulled up in front of the hospital, Gilbert had managed to stop laughing and came around to lift Anne down from the wagon. Seeing that for the moment no one was watching, he held her in his arms closely with a huge smile. "You weren't seriously worried, were you?"

Anne ran a slender hand down his tie, not meeting his eyes for a moment. "Nooo- not really." She chuckled at herself then. "It's silly. I know that things weren't always what they seemed- but the memory of us not being together is still so fresh. I suppose I still wouldn't respond well to her if she was here."

Gilbert bent down to look at her tenderly. "I still can't believe that you were jealous over me, Anne-girl. You don't know how that makes me feel."

Anne's gloved hand touched his cheek, a gentle smile on her face. "Oh, I think I do, Doctor Blythe."

He kissed her again and then turned to the hospital, evident affection on his face. He didn't see the subtle fear that played in Anne's grey eyes for a brief second- and when he turned to smile at her, it was carefully hidden again. Not for worlds would she show him that she was afraid- she wouldn't be so selfish. With a shaking breath, she gave him a brilliant smile.

"Come, darling. Show me your world," she said lightly.

Gilbert led Anne into the great building that housed the administration of the Montreal hospital. To Anne's surprise, after Gilbert's enquiry, Jeremy came striding from his own office, pulling Gilbert into a hug with a shout of glee. After a moment he remembered himself and turned to take Anne's hand in his own with evident delight.

"Anne, you don't know how I've waited to see you both together."

She smiled cheekily. "Jeremy, you only met me a few months ago. You can't have waited that long."

Jeremy looked at Gilbert, amused. "You didn't tell her that I knew all about the two of you?" He turned back to Anne, his look warm. "I have- almost as long as I've known Gilbert. And I couldn't be happier for you both. I'll be seeing you for dinner tonight, I believe- Mrs Winston was most insistent that her guests deserved to have plenty of company." He clapped his hands together, his look smug. "So a wedding in approximately two months time? I am invited, of course?"

Gilbert laughed, his arm around Anne comfortably. "Well, as I plan on asking you to be my best man, yes, you are invited."

"Excellent. I accept with pleasure. I did want to see your island in the summertime." he said in satisfaction. He turned to Anne now, his manner changing abruptly. "Now, Anne, this afternoon's appointment is for you to ask me anything you like- what will happen during the procedure, covering your family medical history-"

Gilbert's fingers tightened around Anne's waist instinctively, and Jeremy caught his look of alarm and blanched. "Anne, forgive me-"

Anne shook her head with a faint smile. "It's alright, Jeremy- I've done this before. I am my medical history. Such as the ankle I broke when I fell off the ridgepole of Diana's house."

"Anne, I'd forgotten about that," Gilbert said, in shock. "Wasn't it-"

"Yes. The same ankle," she said evenly.

Jeremy's eyebrows were at his hairline in shock. "A ridgepole? What were you thinking?"

Anne shrugged with a smile. "It was a matter of honour, Jeremy. I was dared- and I was only twelve or so."

"Of course you were," he said, shaking his head with a chuckle. "Now, Gilbert, what were you and your lovely fiancée planning on doing for the next few hours? I have another appointment right now, I'm afraid."

Gilbert smiled proudly. "I'd like to show Anne around- and then I believe we will simply take the adventure that comes to us."

An hour later, after visiting the head of the hospital and other places of interest Gilbert led Anne through a white picket gate, instructing her to close her eyes as he guided her carefully. He smiled at the way she tucked her stick under her arm, taking his hands trustingly.

"Open your eyes, sweetheart."

As Anne did so, her eyes widened. She found herself in a cottage garden, overgrown and sweet- herbs long since overgrowing their borders, the scent of mint being crushed underfoot, and the wind blowing through lavender bushes. They had not gone far, and would still be on hospital grounds- she could still hear the sounds of the busy road nearby, yet in the garden, it seemed distant. "Gil, what is this place?"

He grinned. "It was once the house for the hospital superintendent, however only records are kept there now. I stumbled upon this bit of garden in my first few weeks here- it became my escape, without me having to leave the grounds. The hospital accommodation was just over the road- I lived there for twelve months."

"I can see why it was your haven," she said softly. "I would have escaped here too."

He looked at her lovingly. "I wonder if that was part of the attraction- you and gardens belong together. Will you be out in our garden at all times of the year?"

Anne slipped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek against his chest. "Of course. Our garden, Gil. It does sound wonderful." She sighed as he held her tightly, and when he stepped away it was only to scoop her up in his arms prettily, her voluminous skirts draped over his arm in a satisfying way. "What are you doing, sir? This is most irregular," she teased.

"Not for us, it isn't," Gilbert said decidedly, walking down a little pathway, to a grove of trees. He set her down carefully and helped her onto the ground.

When he sat down beside her, Anne turned to him curiously. "Was this what you would do?"

He only chuckled, and lay down on the grass, pulling her down with him as well. "No, this is what I would do. I'd spend hours out here when I was off duty- I'd read, work on clinical problems or write to my parents- and more often than not I'd just sleep. I woke up once and it was night time- luckily in the warmer weather."

Anne smiled, looking up into the green leaves above them. "It's lovely, Gil. And no one ever came here?"

Gilbert rolled over with a smile, and the look in his hazel eyes that Anne was only now coming to recognise. Her hand came up to stroke his cheek, her pink lips parting in a soft smile. "No one, Anne-girl." He bent over her then, his touch gentle, his lips caressing her cheeks and her forehead and the soft skin under her ear as a feather-light sigh came from his beloved's mouth.

"You'll make me forget everything, Gil," she breathed, pulling him down to kiss her. It had been days since they had been able to lose themselves in each other's embrace, needing privacy and time- aside from a hastily seized opportunity on the way back from the dinner carriage two days earlier- the memory of which still made Anne blush. He smiled, seeing the little line between her eyebrows disappear at his touch, and lowered his lips to her white throat with a sigh.

They lay in silence for some time afterwards, the sunlight dappling through the trees. His hand lazily smoothed the fabric of her blouse over her ribs, bending to kiss her smiling lips from time to time.

"Will we do this at home, do you think?" Anne asked him softly. "Just the two of us- no urgency, no hurry to be anywhere-" she chuckled then. "Well, perhaps until we have children, at least."

He gave her a twisted smile. "I certainly hope so- and don't forget, we'll have Susan. I'm sure she'll be happy to give us some time to ourselves."

Anne wrinkled her nose. "Susan is a darling- although I feel a little guilty at having her with us from the start- Diana didn't have any help when she had babies."

"Sweetheart, they had Diana's mother, not to mention her mother in law. I knew Mrs Wright well- and there is no way she would have left them in peace."

Anne's eyebrows lifted. "She didn't- and Mrs Barry almost lived there with each of the children for a month or so. I'd quite forgotten that." She sighed, her look suddenly distant. "And it would be different for me in any case. I couldn't do it without Susan." She took the hand that was tracing patterns on her waist and brought it to her heart, her lashes low on her cheeks. "Gilbert, I worry that you wrestle with the idea of me being crippled," she said slowly, making him sit up in shock. "And about you being disappointed if the operation doesn't work."

Gilbert bent over her then, his eyes watchful. "Then we simply handle it, Anne. You can't think that I would react in any other way."

"Gilbert-"

"No, there is no discussion," he said heatedly. "I told you, that if you choose to walk away from this then I walk with you. I just want you, Anne- and you know that. Why would you even question the outcome?"

She seemed to avoid his gaze then, her stormy grey eyes distant. "I'm not- not really."

His brow lowered, and he brushed a red curl from her face, pausing to stroke her soft cheek with the pad of his thumb. "Anne, is something the matter?"

"Why, Gil?"

Gilbert pulled her up beside him, his eyes shrewd. "Because you don't usually second-guess yourself."

Anne pulled away in shock. "I'm not doing that, Gilbert."

He drew in a deep breath, carefully keeping his voice light. "I don't want you pressuring yourself to go through with this if you aren't willing. I'm with you- and I swear that it's all I want, Anne."

There were tears in her eyes now, and her lips trembled. "And all I want is you."

Gilbert pulled her into his lap, holding her tightly. Over the top of her head his hazel eyes were troubled, and for a time he simply held her close, hoping that his touch was enough to dissipate whatever ghosts were haunting her.

The appointment with Jeremy went as planned, and as Gilbert sat next to Anne he watched her in bewilderment. Gone was the vulnerability he had seen- in its place was a calm and collected manner, asking intelligent questions that were seemingly void of emotion. Gilbert spoke up when necessary, although Anne appeared to be holding her own well enough. She was quiet when they left the hospital though, and when Jeremy offered to show her the ward she would be staying in she declined with a smile, saying that she was sure that she would see enough of it later on.

Some hours later, after she had gone to rest in her room at the house, Gilbert was having tea in the conservatory with Penny and her parents. Anne had been instantly dismissive when he spoke to her of his concerns, kissing him swiftly and calling him a beloved worrywart. He'd smiled, telling her to behave herself and somehow managed to away. Now, he sat with a forgotten cup in his hands, the white china growing cool under his abstraction.

"I suppose Anne must be becoming nervous about her operation, Doctor Blythe," Louisa commented, passing him a plate of tartlets.

Gilbert was startled at her words, but shook himself, summoning a smile. "Mrs Winston, please call me Gilbert- I'm hardly on duty now."

She nodded, smiling. "If you insist, Gilbert. It must be hard to be here in a different capacity- especially with Anne's condition."

He chuckled. "She doesn't like to be thought of as an invalid- least of all by me, I think." These last words were spoken soberly, and Louisa caught the note of worry in his tone.

"Didn't the appointment go well?"

Gilbert shook his head. "It seemed to. She didn't appear to be fazed by any of Jeremy's questions- although she kept referring to him as Doctor Barnes most formally," he said wryly. "She does like to keep some distance with her doctors- and she told me some time ago that she wasn't the easiest patient to deal with. She never did like being told that she couldn't do something."

Penny smiled. "I just can't see Anne being like that- she always appears so calm to me."

Gilbert gave a small chuckle. "She does- but there's so much more to her than that."

As the conversation between Penny and Mrs Winston turned to the dressmakers they had sourced for Anne, Gilbert rose from his seat with a word of thanks, excusing himself for a walk. Outside in the sunshine he strode down the pathway to the trees behind the house. He looked around, seeing a fence that bordered a small park, and decided to explore it. As he did so, concern furrowed his brow.

He supposed Anne was nervous. Penny was right- she was much better at covering her emotions than she had been years ago- something that still took him by surprise. He knew she was keeping her fears from him. But why would she? Hadn't they come far enough- hadn't he earned her trust by now? He drew in a shaking breath, trying to stop himself from marching back to the house to demand answers. Surely she would come to him when she was ready- surely he just needed to wait.

Gilbert was looking around the small field when he turned sharply at a rustle near the trees, and instead of the animal he expected, he saw a familiar green skirt visible behind the tree and froze in shock. She wasn't resting- she was here. Gilbert stood unmoving for several minutes, working to control his anger before he confronted the object of his every waking thought. Her lack of movement told him that she knew he was there as well.

Eventually, Anne spoke.

"I told you that you always find me."

Gilbert sighed, rubbing his forehead, and moved around the tree to sit before her. There was a dull look on her face, and he swallowed hard. If he'd needed any proof that she was struggling, this was certainly enough. Choking back the disappointment that she hadn't come to him, he studied her. He saw the way her hands were knotted around her knees, the evidence of recent tears on her face. When he spoke, his voice was quiet.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Her answer was not the one he expected. "How could I?"

Gilbert blinked in shock. "Anne, you are marrying me- why wouldn't you come to me if you're worried about something?"

In morbid fascination he watched her walls begin to crumble, and she came to her knees swiftly. "Because I have to do this on my own," she hissed, the angry tears building. "You can't go there with me, Gil- you can't know what it was like. Marilla and Diana tried too, but in the end, they had to leave me to it. You are so bound up my recovery that you aren't with me-"

Gilbert's eyes blazed. "Anne, that is completely irrational!"

"You are a doctor, Gilbert!" she stormed. "You view it from the other end. You don't know what it is like to be the patient- you don't know what it is to have to lie there, unable to fend for yourself. I have to do this on my own because you can't understand."

Her heart broke when she saw the tears standing in his eyes. "Anne, help me understand," he pleaded. "Please, don't push me away."

The panic spiralled in her, and she shut her eyes against the pain. The smells and sounds she had endured that day- the memories that drove her from her neat, orderly room into the wilderness rose before her. "I can't do it," she said bleakly. "Any of it. It's all so familiar. the scratch of the sheets in the bed, the sound of other patients moaning in their sleep-" she gave a bitter laugh then. "And you know that when you are asleep, you must be doing the same. The harshness of metal instruments being tossed onto a tray- of doctors and nurses laughing outside in the halls while you are screaming inside. They move you without warning, poking and prodding and asking interminable questions- and if you give into it, it nearly kills you. And they try to help- they listen and try to touch you but they can't, because they are on the other side- don't you see that?" She shook her head, hot tears spilling down her cheeks. "When I left there, I swore I wouldn't do this- I swore that the only way I would enter a hospital again was if I was unconscious," she said passionately.

Gilbert drew a shaking breath at what she had revealed, and he eventually nodded. He held out his hand to her, wanting her to choose to come to him on her own. She was still for a moment while he waited, and when she moved to him he gathered her into his arms, his chest tight. "Anne- I'm- I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

Anne held herself stiffly, her grey eyes coming up to meet his. "I wanted to be brave. I wanted to do this for you- for our family. But at the hospital, the sounds and smells- it all seemed to scream at me today- I wanted to run. Gilbert, I don't know how else to handle this," she said brokenly. "I didn't want you to think that I didn't care about your past. I didn't want you to worry about me, or to feel that you had to nursemaid me through everything like a child- but I don't know how to walk back in there in cold blood," she whispered.

He stroked the hair from her face, neither of them noticing that the sun was beginning to descend. After a time Gilbert pulled away, his jaw firm. "Anne, did you know that you called me Doctor Blythe twice today?"

Anne gave him a startled look. "I often do, Gil."

"No, Anne-girl. Then it's in a voice that makes me utterly melt inside," he said drolly. "This time it was different. It was the way you spoke to me when you moved to the Glen- and you did it to Jeremy, as well. And that's what clued me in." He held her face tenderly in his hands, kissing the seven tiny freckles on her nose.

Anne's face was thunderstruck. "I- I didn't know I did that."

Gilbert sighed. "I've made a decision, sweetheart. I'm resigning as your doctor," he said, his look gentle. "For the next month, at least. If you need someone, no matter how simple we'll call Jeremy in- he won't mind an extra trip or two if he gets to see Penny. But for now, he is your physician." He wrapped his arms around her firmly. "I'm doing that for both of our sakes. You need me to walk with you- and I can't do that as your physician."

Anne closed her eyes, her lips trembling. "You can't just turn that off, Gil."

"Watch me." At his stern voice, she looked up in shock. "Remember when it was just you and me? Before Redmond, before expectations and pressures and hurts came between us?"

Anne let out a breath. "Gil, we're not those people, now."

He cupped her face in his hands. "Yes, we are. We were beloved friends who loved each other then- and we love each other now. Only now we can show it." His smile was sweet, and he exhaled. "Anne, I'm sorry. I should have seen this before- I should have realised. I didn't understand how hard it would be for you to separate everything from me. And I don't want to be just another white coat to you."

Anne blinked at him in shock, and took his face in her hands to kiss him firmly. "You aren't." She rested her forehead against his with a sigh and continued slowly. "I was trying to not burden you with this- it seems you carry so much on my behalf."

Gilbert gave her such a sceptical look that Anne laughed, and the knot of tension between them began to dissipate. "That's love, Anne. Anything I carry I do so because I love you- as you do for me. Remember? Our life together began nine months ago. Back then, even when I couldn't do a thing to help you, and I honestly thought I was doing you a favour by staying away. You were in my thoughts constantly- and it wasn't because I thought you were weak. You were stronger on your own than I had been. You know that. I don't think you're weak- I don't think you unable to handle this." He took her hand in his and placed it over his beating heart yearningly. "Do you feel that? You're here. You are in the core of me. That's why, if you decide to go into surgery, I go too. I know that the others couldn't- but I can."

After long minutes Anne nodded, her arms sliding around his neck. She clung to him in the dimming light, her voice soft. "I haven't felt this way for months," she said woodenly.

Gilbert tipped her chin up, his hazel eyes intent on her. "Let me do it with you, Anne- as me, not my profession. That's all I'm asking."

Anne nodded. She gave a short sigh, her look distant. "The others always had to go, Gil. They didn't want to- but Marilla couldn't afford to stay with me indefinitely. And Diana needed to return to her family- I had to learn to be alone."

"Well, you are my family," Gilbert said firmly. "You won't be alone again. I'll be by your side until Jeremy orders me out of there- and I'll be on the ward when you wake up. Alright?"

She nodded in relief, Gilbert pulled away in some consternation. "Anne, how on earth did you get all the way out here? That path was rocky."

She chuckled. "Penny showed me another path yesterday- you must have come through the forest. And I did bring my stick this time."

Gilbert laughed, pulling her up to her feet. He looked at her carefully, however, the brittle manner she had worn was gone, and she was his own Anne-girl once again. She led him around to the left, to find the very path she had described, fringed with sweet flowers swaying in the breeze. He sighed, looking out to where the rest of the city lay. "It's an oasis."

Anne gave him a glance filled with mischief. "I couldn't possibly reveal my sources- however, it seems that Doctor Barnes has discovered this particular oasis as well. He and Penny are both very fond of it, it seems- as much as we are of a certain garden now across the water."

He laughed then, snatching Anne close. "And we've found their nest! I do hope they won't mind loaning it to us while we are here." He grinned at her, his heart much lighter than when he left the house earlier. "It will be a pleasure to torment him about something, I'm afraid he's had far too much fun at my expense, lately."

Louisa Winston met her guests at the front door, smiling at the contented look on the young people's faces. "There you both are! You will have time to change for dinner, but do be quick about it, won't you? Andrew is waiting for you in the drawing room, Gilbert." Gilbert bowed with a smile and moved away, as Louisa turned to Anne with concern on her face. "I'm so glad Gilbert found you, dear. Are you feeling better now?" Anne started, her grey eyes wide at her hostesses' perceptiveness. Louisa shook her head with a knowing smile. "I'm a mother, dear, we can always tell."

Anne smiled shakily. "I think it will take a little while to be alright with the surgery," she said softly. "But I needed to talk to him about it. I should have done that before."

Louisa pulled her into a hug warmly. "You can, Anne. He needs to know that you trust him." She smiled then, tucking Anne's hand into her elbow. "Now, darling, I understand Amanda has laid out a lovely gown for you for dinner, and she is quite eager to style your splendid Titian hair. Let's not keep her waiting."