Chapter 14 – The way you want nothing of it
It was mid-November, the cold was starting to set slowly in Toronto, Gilbert looked tormented, he was pacing back and forth in his student room, which was starting to distract Jack a little too much, he had his nose in his science textbook.
When Gilbert began to exclaim, "Why is she so complicated?!", which made his roommate look up, the dark-haired boy continued, "Is that true?! How simple is that to answer?! Especially since she seems to know the address, otherwise I would never have received this.", he said, pointing to an envelope that was sitting on his desk.
His sidekick couldn't help smiling, "Um... Anne has only written to you once since you've been here? Ouch. You must have said something wrong, that's all."
The upset student would not admit it, but thought at the time that his friend might be right, "I wrote five letters, I could have written more, but since I was mostly doing a monologue in the last three, I didn't find it helpful. And I don't think she didn't like my second letter, I weighed every word carefully, I didn't want to create any misunderstandings. It was hard enough sometimes to communicate with Anne in Avonlea, but... »
The young redhead interrupted his friend, "You love her...", a slight smile appeared on Gilbert's face, and then his face became sullen, "Never mind... Apparently.", he said. »
On the Charlottetown side, the girls gathered in the lounge for their weekly mail delivery ceremony.
They waited for Miss Blackmore who was not yet here, only Lily was assigned to watch the girls, the famous letter box lying on the buffet, Tillie and Ruby tried to get a glimpse of the contents, but it was not without escaping Lily's menacing eyes, which put the two girls off.
Anne, who was sitting on the couch beside her friend Diana as usual, just sighed, her friend whispered, "Don't be so pessimistic Anne, I'm sure this week is the right one."
Ruby and Josie exchanged glances as they looked at the poor redhead's defeated face, there was a look of anxiety in Ruby's eyes.
Miss Blackmore finally made her entrance, she had a strangely worried look on her face, she seldom passed on emotions usually, this alarmed the girls. She had an announcement to make to her young boarders before beginning the distribution, "Ladies, at the end of the week I will have to go away, I have to go to the bedside of a friend who lives in Quebec City, so you understand that I will be away for a few days. I trust my dear Lily to keep an eye on you, but there will also be Albert who will be one of your chaperones."
The old bald man came into the room, he was an occasional butler at the Blackmore house.
"I'm counting on you to be on your best behavior while I'm gone.", she concluded, staring particularly at the young redhead.
Lily then brought the box back, and the matchmaking process could begin.
Ruby now received a letter from Moody every week, but apparently she never deigned to reply, for Moody tried in vain to visit the young blonde every Saturday afternoon, and she refused to see him every time. It was a very painful thing to see.
As for Diana, Jane, Tillie and Josie, it was always the same refrain, to the dismay of some.
Since Anne had been at the Blackmore mansion, she had had various correspondences, with Matthew and Marilla of course, but also Miss Stacy and Sebastian, and finally Gilbert, with whom her correspondence was certainly cut short, and moreover she did not know the reason for it.
The girl was unfortunately still too proud to ask the reason from the person concerned, so she waited in vain for him to do it on his own.
When it was the redhead's turn to pick up her mail, she had sweaty hands, but she tried with all her might not to get her hopes up this time. Once her letters were in her hand, she would come and sit down again with difficulty, all the more so because she could see in the eyes of certain girls, more precisely Josie Pye, a certain satisfaction to see her in this state.
Once seated, Anne looked discreetly at the addresses of the two senders, and it was none other than Miss Stacy and Marilla, who closed her eyes and took a deep breath, at the same time she heard Josie sneering softly with Jane and Tillie.
A few moments later, Anne and Diana were in their room, they were lying side by side on the redhead's bed, she was finally letting out all her anger, "That Josie Pye... And I thought she had evolved a bit, but it seems she is still the same...Pest! It's infuriating!"
His best friend couldn't help but once again ask her friend, "Don't you think it would be simpler to question him instead of desperately waiting for him to explain himself? After all, you don't care about propriety, he didn't answer your two letters, so what? He must have a good reason. And he hasn't... ", the girl was cut off clean by her friend, "Oh! No! No! Diana ! Don't give him any more excuses ! It's completely unforgivable. If that's what it takes... He doesn't love me, and by the way, did he really tell me in that one letter I received from him? I don't know anymore, Diana. He's probably fallen for a wonderful medical student, in any case someone more suitable..."
When suddenly the young brunette pinched her friend, "That's enough Anne, I'm tired of seeing you demean yourself like this, Gilbert is the luckiest young man in the world, to have a young woman like you in his life. We still have a month and a half to share together before my trimester in Paris, I want the full Anne back. And then in a month's time it's Christmas break, we'll finally go back to Avonlea..."
Anne took an even more desperate tone,"A month seems so far away, and then when we celebrate Christmas, it will also mean that you'll soon be leaving for Paris, I don't know if I'll be able to savor these holidays..."
Her friend suddenly got up from the mattress and went to a bedside table and opened the drawer, which made the redhead react, "What are you doing in my things?"
The kindly girl handed her an envelope, "You remember this present, don't you? Use it during Miss Blackmore's absence, you will have enough left for other escapades in Toronto."
The upset girl in turn, straightened herself out, "But that's nonsense! I am surely not going to visit him, when he does not even deign to answer me! No way!"
The young brunette then put the envelope back where she had found it, "Well... never mind. I had already planned what I would say to Lily if you had to go away."
Her friend intrigued, "Oh, and what?"
She replied quite proudly, "That we were just asking for a little help from you at Green Gables." Anne was slightly disappointed, "Um... well, I must say you're a little unimaginative on this one, Diana, but why not."
Diana lost patience again, "Anne! Don't be stubborn! I know you're dying to know, and to see him. When are you going to get a chance like this? And you don't even know if Gilbert will come to Avonlea for the holidays. How can you concentrate fully on the scholarship if this problem occupies your mind."
That last sentence was like a revelation, "I have to go, but it's only because I want to focus on the scholarship, it's the only way!", the redheaded girl took her friend's hands, "Diana, I'm counting on you to cover for me. So I'll be leaving for Toronto at the end of the week..."
Still in his dorm room at the University of Toronto campus, Gilbert was always wondering what he had said wrong, "I just told her that, given my situation, I couldn't afford to force an engagement on her. So I couldn't totally consider myself a suitor."
His friend Jack made a grimace when he heard this, "Hopefully this letter got lost then..."
The dark-haired boy was worried, "You think I misspoke my meaning, but I also added that she was the only one I wanted to... marry."
The redheaded youth sneered, "I hope she's the only one! It seems a little awkward to tell you the truth."
Gilbert scratched his head, "You wouldn't say that if you knew her, she's so different from other girls, she's out of line, but she's also sometimes...um...complicated...and clumsy...not to mention her fiery temper. I literally walk on eggshells every moment with her."
His friend sighed, "Maybe because you ask yourself too many questions alone in your corner, that's not the way to get answers... Why don't you go see her?"
His sidekick smiled, "Well... I... Would you take notes for me while I'm gone? I don't want to fall behind in class!"
Jack smiled at his friend, "Then it's decided! I'll do whatever you want if when you come back I don't hear you whining anymore!"
Gilbert put his hand to his chest, "I promise... So, I'm leaving this weekend!"