"Right with your partners you need to agree upon and act out any scene from any of Shakespeare's comedies plays. It must contain two characters no sharing those soliloquies. It can be a part scene but it must contain more then one emotion. You have your assignment in front of you. since there is four groups you may go outside to practice once you know what you want to do. There are four walls to this school I suggest you take a wall each as to not disturb the other groups. You have the next three days in our English Literature time to complete the tasks anything you can't do inside the classroom I suggest taking as homework."
"Any ideas?" Gilbert asked Anne.
"How about Benedick and Beatrice from Much ado about nothing."
"What are the two emotions?" Gilbert asked.
"Love and Hate."
"Bit extreme isn't it?" he said with a laugh.
They smiled at each other and laughed. Gilbert went over to the bookcase and got two copies of Much Ado about nothing.
"You two know what you are doing?" Miss Stacy asked them as they started towards the door to start practicing outside.
Benedick and Beatrice from Much ado about nothing." Anne said
"Love and Hate." Gilbert finished. They turned very business like out the school door leaving the door open it became common practice in Miss Stacys class if people were working outside alone the door would be opened.
"Well this should be interesting." Miss Stacy said quietly to herself.
"Lady Beatrice, have you wept all this while?" Gilbert started. Perfectly composed the two read the lines until Gilbert's lines came up "I do love nothing in the world so well as you—is not that strange?" his heart started to race as he looked at Anne. She hadn't noticed the change of mood yet.
"As strange as the thing I know not. It were as possible for me to say I lov'd nothing so well as you, but believe me not; and yet I lie not: I confess nothing, nor I deny nothing. I am sorry for my cousin." She said. At the end she looked up at Gilbert and noticed the change from her "study buddy" to her beau.
Gilbert's next line came easier "By my sword, Beatrice, thou lovest me." He said holding her round the waist. It could be interpreted as dramatic effect which is why he so easily did it even though they knew they could be seen through the door.
"Do not swear and eat it." Anne read trying to keep her heart rate down she moved away from his hand.
"I will swear by it that you love me, and I will make him eat it that says I love not you." He leaned over her back not touching her but close enough for his breath to be felt on her neck.
She spun around "Will you not eat your word?" she quoted. She acted as though she was going to walk away, Gilbert retained her by the arm
"With no sauce that can be devis'd to it. I protest…" Gilbert paused looking at the words in front of him he looked at Anne "I love thee." He whispered.
Anne looked into Gilbert's eyes. They paused for a moment. He loved that sound coming from his mouth 'I love you' he thought. They hadn't said it yet to each other. Though the very fact they were secret beaux implied it.
"What?" Anne asked. Gilbert looked at his copy of the play he was sure that wasn't the next line. Sure enough it wasn't.
"The play's the thing, Anne remember Benedict and Beatrice…" he said quietly to her.
"right, yes ermm…" she stuttered. "Why then God forgive me!"
"What offense, sweet Beatrice?" he continued.
Anne moved her arm from Gilbert's grasp "You have stay'd me in a happy hour, I was about to protest I lov'd you."
"And do it with all thy heart." Gilbert recited holding the book in one hand and reaching for Anne's face with the other hand stroking it gently.
"I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest." Anne said shaking.
There was no time to linger on that thought because another group came out the door. Gilbert dropped his hand in time that neither one of the other group saw it. Not that it would matter, he would just need to cover it up every time like that.
Anne and Gilbert looked at each other.
"Maybe we should have chosen something different." Gilbert grinned.
"Maybe, it's too late now if we switch we lose our head start." She said.
"Next time we play two men." Gilbert grinned
"Like in a twelveth night kind of way." Anne teased. This made Gilbert laugh.
"Come now, on with the play!" Gilbert said "Come, bid me do any thing for thee…"
"Thus we can see that Beatrice and Benedict have a very typical love/hate relationship."
"Far from the cries of Hero and Claudio who instantly fall in love."
"Theirs is one built up on mutual respect, interests, sense of humour."
"One might ask why they ever thought they could hate each other."
"Because we see so often in those so similar to ourselves the things we hate about ourselves in them."
The rest of the Queens students clapped. Miss Stacy was impressed.
"Well done Gilbert and Anne, what a wonderful presentation the acting and the critique after. Your performance was flawless…" she smiled "You almost had me believing you were in love. You should both consider a life on the stage. I'll need to mark your written papers of course, as with everyone else you'll find your results at the mid term." Anne and Gilbert dared not look at each other, three days of practicing; they thought they had managed to remove traces of affection! They were both just thankful people thought it was acting.
Later that afternoon when they walked home Gilbert grabbed Anne's hand and pulled her into pixie's Orchard. She was surprised to find his lips on hers once again him holding her round the waist.
"I wanted to do this in front of everyone today." he whispered to her. She smiled as he ran his hand through her hair.
"you romantic thing." She laughed. "That would have got them talking." she joked. "we need to be more careful." She said quietly to him. "we were almost convincing at being in love." she smiled.
he laughed. "I know, I thought we were in trouble for a minute."
"no more love interests in stories." Anne reiterated
"right." he confirmed. They looked at each other and laughed. "come on! on to Green Gables."