Prince Charming will surely love these; one bite and he will instantly be smitten then profess his undying love for me.
Cognisant of the way her daydreams sometimes caused problems Anne decided to imagine that she was baking her tarts for a handsome prince. Surely even lowly cooks can catch a prince's eye sometimes, she reasoned. With that in mind she mixed, rested, rolled and pressed her buttery pastry into the tart tins; reminding herself that she'd never win his heart if she burnt them.
The pastry took barely five minutes to bake in the hot oven and she pulled them out and poured the jam she'd made earlier into the cases careful not to spill a drop. They already looked delicious, but they needed a further stint in the oven before they would be ready. The smell of hot tangy jam alerted Anne that her tarts were ready. While the rain beat down outside, she walked over to the oven and bent over to pull them out, taking care to hold the piping hot tray just so with a dishtowel. She planned to take them to Diana's to celebrate her birthday. They were perfect, the pastry just golden and the raspberry filling bubbling. "They look lovely, Anne," Rachel peered over her shoulder, "I doubt I could have done a better job."
Anne beamed, proud of her efforts, "I wanted to make something special for Diana, she is such a good friend."
"Well I think she will be very happy, Anne. It's a lovely gift," Rachel said approvingly.
When the tarts had cooled sufficiently Anne packed them safely in her basket ready to take to the Barry's. The last thing she wanted was one of the smaller Lynde's taking one for themselves, they all had a sweet tooth and one or other of the boys wasn't completely trustworthy around such delicious treats as raspberry tarts. Not, Anne mused, that she completely blamed them.
As it turned out her day did not go according to plan. Afterwards Anne sobbed in Rachel's arms. "It was a bit of a Jonah day by the sounds of it," Rachel said rubbing Anne's back comfortingly.
It had all started out innocently enough. There was just enough time to visit Matthew and Goliath before Diana's party. Anne never really felt as though the day was complete without a bit of monkey in it, Goliath was such a dear little fellow. It made her sad that he was not allowed to live with her at Lynde Hollow, but Rachel was adamant, "this house is chaotic enough as it is with all these children, the very last thing I need is a monkey underfoot." Matthew soothed Anne whenever she mentioned it, "now, now, she does have a point. He's safe with me and we get on well. I'd be awful lonesome without him."
On this occasion Anne placed her basket down on a barn bench and went to help Matthew groom the horses. "Don't get your dress all mucky now, Anne," Matthew cautioned. "Best you sit over there while I work." Anne watched Matthew as he brushed the horse with long firm strokes creating a halo of dust around himself and the animal.
Whilst Anne was busy telling Matthew about an incident at school the previous day and how much she was looking forward to Diana's afternoon tea, Goliath slipped off her knee and went to investigate.
Even cool the raspberry tarts smelt delicious and he stealthily made his way over to the bench and lifted up the cloth. He bent down low to sniff and poked his little pink tongue out for a tentative taste. Next thing he had snatched up the treat and stuffed it in his mouth. Goliath was not always a neat eater, golden crumbs cascaded down his chest. Not that counting was his forte, but Goliath was happy that there was such an abundance. He ate until he was full. When he backed away the cloth dropped back down covering the basket once more. The monkey's stomach was full now and he loped away to a private corner for a much-deserved nap.
"Hadn't you better get away now, Anne," Matthew said, pulling his watch out of his pocket. "Don't want to be late now."
"Oh, is that the time?" Anne cried. "I'll be off." Grabbing her basket, she dashed away not noticing in her rush that the basket was considerably lighter.
Anne's high voice roused Goliath and as he stirred, he found that his chest was bestrewn with pastry crumbs. He spent a few happy minutes meticulously picking them off, happy to find an extra snack. When he could find no more, he went back down to find Matthew; sometimes he sat on the horse while it was being groomed, Matthew's voice was very comforting.
Diana's parlour was well appointed on this day and looked very festive. In the back of Anne's mind, she was just a teensy bit jealous of the fuss Diana's parents made of her, but she was determined not to let it ruin the party. Today was about her bosom friend, not her. After a few parlour games they sat around the table handing their gifts to Diana. Many girls had bought her gifts from Carmody. Anne who had no money to spend hoped that Diana would still appreciate her gift. In any case she knew the tarts would be delicious, they had looked so beautiful nestled in their basket.
"Thank you, Anne," Diana said graciously. She knew Anne had no money but hoped something nice might be within. Lifting off the cloth she peered inside and found - nothing. She looked at Anne quizzically. "Um? It's a lovely basket."
"Basket?" Anne was horrified. She snatched the receptacle back from Diana and looked inside at the now empty nest. With a cry she flung it down and rushed out of the room utterly humiliated. "Anne!" Diana jumped up and ran after her, but Anne was too quick and was out the door and down the road before Diana left the room. She turned back slowly and faced the rest of her guests, "I wonder what happened to poor Anne?" she said sadly.
Initially Anne headed to Green Gables but as she ran her mind swirled realising that the culprit had to have been Goliath. Heart racing and lungs burning she really did not think she had it in her to greet the monkey warmly. Instead she changed direction and ran home straight into Rachel's arms. Rachel soothed her, "it was truly a Jonah day, that's all that can be said about it. Tomorrow will be better I am sure."
"It couldn't possibly be worse," Anne sobbed in Rachel's arms, more than ever before she wished she had a mother. "It was humiliating, I can't face those girls. I'm never going back to school again!"
"Really," Rachel remarked to Thomas later, "she does have bad luck, though Lord knows she's awful dramatic about it."
Johnny and Jacob stood peering up, up, up into the heavens at the tiny figure atop the column silhouetted against the clouds. "Who's he?" asked Johnny pointing. "He must be someone important to get to stand way up there."
"Looks cold Mama," said Jacob hugging Marilla's leg.
"That's Nelson, hero of the battle of Trafalgar," Marilla explained. "He fought and died there, and they raised this column to his memory because he was so clever and brave. And look at the lions aren't they beautiful?"
"I prefer them like this," said Mari softly, "to the ones we saw in Africa. Much safer yet still noble."
Marilla smiled at her, "those African lions were quite frightening weren't they." Gilbert gave Johnny a shove and he scrambled up on to the statue's back and waved his arms. "I wanna go, I wanna go," cried Jacob and John lifted him up too so that he sat in front of his brother. The adults stood smiling up at them. Marilla pulled her shawl tighter and shifted her feet. It was chilly even on a summer's day.
Later they wandered around admiring the architecture of all the fine buildings but sensing the children were growing restless, John consulted a map and they turned through an impressive arch and walked down a long straight road, past some gardens stopping to feed some ducks in a lake. "This is St James's Park," John explained. They bought the boys a small bag of bird seed and watched as the fowl ducked and raced for the food. Johnny paid his out gradually, but Jacob upended his portion in one go and then grew upset when Johnny had some left. Sighing Marilla asked if Johnny would mind giving some to his younger brother which he did with ill grace. Honestly Marilla didn't blame him, and she whispered in his ear that she'd make it up soon.
Buckingham Palace loomed all white against a green backdrop, tall and stately and grand. The boys ran up to the guard with their impressive headgear standing to attention outside the wide iron gates. "I believe they're not allowed to react," John explained. That did it and the boys cavorted around striving to get his attention. Marilla admonished Jacob when he stuck his tongue out at the stone-faced soldier, but the man moved not a muscle instead staring impassively forward. They both jumped when without warning the soldier adjusted his gun in an exaggerated gesture and stamped his feet. It was all very regal and awe inspiring. "Can I be a soldya when I gwow up Mummy?" Jacob asked. Marilla's heart clenched at the thought of her boy joining up, but she said impassively, "if that's what you want darling," praying it would never come to pass.
John consulted the map again and they made their way south to the river and boarded a boat to take them down to the Tower. There were many sights to be seen along the way and the wide river was full of watercraft of all shapes and sizes. One particularly stately one caught their eye and they spent some time pointing out its colourful flags and speculating who was aboard.
"I know," said Marilla when they alighted from the boat as a nearby church clock chimed three. "How about you take them home," she said nodding at the tired boys yawning, "and I'll take Mari shopping."
"Are you sure?" John asked. "Will you be safe?"
"Darling, this is London, we're a long way from the Barbary Coast. No need to be worried about white slavers here, I think," she said with a smile. "You take a boat downstream and we'll catch a hansom cab to Regent Street, I believe the shopping is delightful. Mari and I deserve something fashionable don't you agree?" she asked the girl.
Somewhat dazed at this turn of events, Mari could only nod.
"First I should feed Susanna, then she can go down when you get home." Marilla asked around and found a ladies' waiting room where she fed the baby while the rest of them waited outside. John bought the boys an iced bun to rally their flagging energy then with a kiss they parted company.
After a cab ride the ladies disembarked at the magnificently curved store lined Regent Street. "What shall we do first?" Marilla asked. "How about we have a good look before we decide upon anything?" Arm in arm they promenaded down the busy street feeling a bit out of place at first, but when no one took much notice they relaxed. Mari stopped to stare at the fashion more often than Marilla, but together they slowly made their way along the pavement.
"I'm afraid I might have overspent," Marilla confessed to John over dinner that night.
"Oh?"
"Yes, well we encountered an extremely arrogant saleswoman and she got my back up," Marilla explained.
"Do tell," John settled back in his chair, intrigued. Marilla never could stand to be slighted.
"You have a good eye for fashion Mari, I will admit," Marilla started looking at the girl, Mari smiled back at her. "You know John I lean towards clothes of a practical nature, but as you said Mari, when are you ever going to get another chance to buy a fashionable dress in London? We entered one establishment which had some lovely cloth. After the measuring we discussed styles. I was rather at sea." John grinned at the pun and Marilla winked at him. "All was going well, though I was mindful of costs and trying to limit your flights of fancy, Mari. Then it happened."
"Mm?" said John between mouthfuls.
"Well the manager had been out but she returned and rather took over the process. She looked down her nose at us both and I think our accents, sneering whenever we consulted about details. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her smirking at her staff."*
"Oh dear," John murmured wishing he'd been there to witness what was bound to come next.
"Well I thrust the material back into the woman's face. I mean the cheek of her and we marched right out of there, didn't we Mari!"
Mari grinned and nodded, "you should have seen her John. It was rather beautiful."
"I bet," John said. "No one treats my wife like that. But I hope you did buy something."
"Oh yes we certainly did. I wanted to ensure that Mari received something beautiful."
"So did your tactic work?" Gilbert asked, puzzled. "If you still bought something?"
"You don't think we gave that place any of our money, do you? We made sure to find a friendlier establishment and spent our money there instead. I hope you are happy with our choices, Mari," Marilla said turning to the girl.
"Oh yes," Mari sighed. "I think I preferred the second place anyway. Initially I admit I was a bit crestfallen when you stormed out of that first place. I did like their suggestions and I thought the dress would be lovely, but it all turned out fine in the end."
"Show us," clamoured the boys.
"Well they have to make it now," Marilla explained. "They'll deliver it in a week, then Mari will be happy to model it for you darlings."
While they were waiting for the dress, Marilla took the family out to explore the city seeing the Victoria and Albert Museum, marvelling over the antiquities including the Elgin Marbles at the British Museum, Big Ben, The Cathedral Church at St Paul, Westminster Abbey. The Tower of London was a favourite and the boys thrilled to hear the tale of the small princes in the Bloody Tower, shivering when Gilbert teased them. They spent a lovely afternoon wandering around the National Gallery, where Gilbert and Mari made up games to keep the small boys interested."How many haystacks can you see?" Mari might ask. Marilla was pleased with the way she kept them involved having been slightly trepidatious about bringing them.
All in all, it was a lovely week full of interesting things to see and do and at the end of it the dresses were delivered. Mari had almost forgotten how beautiful hers was and stroked the fine material reverently when she took it out of its box. Marilla had also bought some dresses of a more practical nature as was her nature, but Mari's was simply beautiful. "Ooh" the boys said when she modelled it for them. Gilbert just stood and started at her as if for the first time while John looked on appreciatively. "Very nice," said Marilla fingering the beading. "Lovely stitching. Are you happy with it?"
"Aunt Marilla!" Mari whispered. "It's simply stunning."
"Good I am pleased. I wonder what your mother will make of it when we eventually see her.
"Right we're off," John exclaimed as they weighed anchor and the ship slipped down the river towards the sea.
"Where to now?" Marilla asked.
"Virginia and then Montreal," John replied. "If you want to go home, Mari, we can probably arrange it."
The boys had a new game. Tired of watching the crew and their big brother climb the rigging they had started daring each other to climb the ropes. At five Jacob was still relatively safe but Johnny was a different matter. His parents had forbidden him to so much as lay one finger on the rigging, but the lad was at an irrepressible age when he still thought he was invincible. "Cwimb higher Johnny," little Jacob's voice could be heard over the billowing sails. "Cwimb higher."
* This happened to me in London. Liberty is a beautiful store, but the staff are utter snobs.