Chapter 21 - Changes with Consequences

In his room at the University of Toronto campus, Jack had spent Sunday with his nose in his books, without his roommate, the time seemed a little longer than usual.

He had made no other friendships on campus, so the insecure young man preferred to stay in his room all day. Suddenly, he was bored to death when he saw Gilbert walk through the door.

The young redhead didn't expect it, so he jumped up and down, "Gil-Gilbert! What the hell are you doing here?!"

The dark-haired boy frowned, confused, "I'm home...?"

Jack got up out of bed, and looked sorry, "Oh...I see."

This caused the young student to react as he was unpacking his luggage, "And what do you see?", he asked, stunned.

"Anne fired you, I take it that didn't go well... I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow.", he said, scratching his head.

"I didn't go all the way to Charlottetown, in fact, Anne had left to visit me here in Toronto." he said with a little smile on his face.

The redhead reacts immediately, "Sorry, quick conclusion, I should have noticed that kind of smile. And so...?" He asked him curiously.

Gilbert lowered his head to avert his friend's eyes, one could perceive a certain modesty, "We... stayed together in Montreal."

Jack smiled and exclaimed, "Lucky you!"

The dark-haired boy nodded and couldn't help but let out a little laughter.

A little later, the two young men were on their way to the campus cafeteria for dinner.

On the road, Gilbert had stopped at a billboard, there were various announcements, one of which caught the attention of the young medical student.

This also attracted his friend, "Here... Are you interested in teaching now?"

The boy with the brown curls untied the advertisement, and put the piece of paper in his pocket, "Let's just say that... my money reserves are going to run out if I don't get a job soon."

The redhead said in a most serious tone, "You know, if you need anything, I can... ", He was cut off by his friend, "No, that's not necessary, but thank you.", he said, tapping his friend's shoulder.

The two young students went on their way, Jack was pensive, something was bothering him, "You know, the ad you just picked up, I know this family, my father had befriended Mr. Stuart, he had made a very generous donation to his private clinic. Anyway, the point is, I know this address, if you need a guide."

Gilbert nodded and smiled, "Of course! It's true that I always forget that you lived here for a while."

"I lived there for a short time, but long enough to remember the families I met there. And believe me, the Stuart family made a bigger impression on me than the others, I had been close to Ronald and Christine, Mr. Stuart's children, they're twins, I wonder what happened to them... When I moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, I totally lost touch with them." he says, again lost in thought.

"In that case you will come with me! Furthermore, the advertisement does not indicate for which of his children he was looking for private lessons." The young man with the brown curls noted.

Jack began to laugh and confessed, "Oh, I'd put my hand out that it's Christine. Christine Stuart is by far the less disciplined of the two.", The young redhead had a slight smile on his lips, dreamy, he added, "She was very cute, if I wasn't... me... I would have wooed her."

When the two young men finally arrived in front of the cafeteria, Gilbert turned to his friend, "You know, you shouldn't sell yourself short like that. Tomorrow get ready!" he teased.

The next day, on the Charlottetown side, Anne and Diana were on their way to Queen's College. Since the day before, the two girls had a subject that kept coming up.

"You won't escape it, Anne..." said the young brunette, raised her eyes to heaven.

"Oh Diana please...", replied her friend in a weary tone.

"You can't pretend to be asleep every time he brings it up.", she says sarcastically.

The student with the red hair stopped in her walk, "That's the problem, I couldn't do it. He... I could feel the look in his eyes. Making him sad... that's the worst thing.", she confided, full of regret.

The refined Diana Barry couldn't help but hold back a laugh. So Anne joined her friend at once, "Can I ask what you think is funny? My situation is not funny at all.", said the freckled girl, upset.

Diana, who had finally finished laughing, replied, "You always find a way to put yourself in this kind of situation, I'm really sorry to laugh about it Anne. But...you and Gilbert act as if you were engaged, when no formal commitment has been made, you act so flippantly." she concluded with a small smile.

This made the redhead sigh, and then she smiled back, "Can you blame me for that? For wanting to spend as much time as possible with the boy I'm in love with. Oh Diana... time has passed so quickly, that I don't regret anything, I'll be carefree then!"

The young brunette took her friend's hand and said, "Actually, I envy you very much, and the other girls too, but they'll never all admit it, especially Josie... Otherwise what did you take from Gilbert's letters last night?"

Anne looked very serious, and took out the letter that was in her pouch, "Here, you can read this passage."

Diana began to read the famous passage aloud: "To answer your question, what am I pretending to be? Well, I can't decently call myself a suitor, since I can't get married right away. I could very well commit myself to you, but as you seem to think, if I asked you to make a promise of commitment, it would be as if I were holding you in chains indefinitely. It wouldn't be fair to you. Actually, I'm only pretending to have fallen madly in love with you, Anne. Now that I know the nature of your feelings, I only wish to greedily receive your favours.", She almost blushed when she finished reading.

The redhead immediately expressed a fear, "But the passage of this letter is several weeks old... Gilbert must have changed his mind since then, but anyway, I have not yet read all his letters, then there's no point in getting in my head... I hope he won't do it Diana, if he proposes to me, I'm afraid I don't know what to say."

Later in the day, the young students were in their English literature class, and Anne and Diana sat apart from the other four girls.

Since the young redhead had returned from Montreal, she had some resentment towards Ruby and Josie. Diana had tried to reason with her friend, but the betrayal was still too recent.

You could see Tillie and Josie were swooning in front of Mr. MacPherson, which was becoming a habit, even Ruby was getting into it, and that was hardly surprising, for she admired all the handsome boys, whoever they were.

And this even in front of poor Moody, who was at the other end of the class and saw his beloved acting like that.

Suddenly a man came into the classroom, Mr. MacPherson went to meet him, "This is Professor Hamilton, he's a professor of English literature just like me, he's here to stay for observation. For it so happens that I intend to leave my place to Mr. Hamilton."

The whole class was surprised and half of the students seemed upset, led by Tillie and Josie, the tall blonde raised her hand to ask a question, "But sir, you did tell us that you would be our English literature teacher all through our schooling here, or at least for this year?"

Mr. MacPherson took a solemn air and said, "Sometimes life takes a direction you wouldn't have suspected. Nevertheless, I leave you in very good hands. This will be my last week of school, after which I will go to British Columbia."

"B-but it's on the other side of the country!", Couldn't help but intervene, Josie.

"Indeed, but we wouldn't do it for love?" replied Professor MacPherson.

It was a hard blow for poor Josie, she learned in a single day that her crush would go thousands of miles and additionally to live with a woman.

Mr. Hamilton didn't seem to be a bad teacher, but the girls were much less enthusiastic about him. For indeed he did not have the same physical characteristics as his predecessor, he was rather small and thin, and wearing round glasses, a baldness was beginning to appear, nevertheless he had the eyes of a dreamer. And Anne noticed this instantly.

While in Toronto, Gilbert and Jack were on their way to the Stuart family home. The young redhead was the most anxious, because unlike Gilbert, he was apprehensive about seeing the girl who had turned his heart upside down after several years.

The two students were greeted by a butler and waited for half an hour in the parlour when Mr. Stuart finally entered.

Mr. Stuart was a man in his fifties, he had raven black hair and thick eyebrows, which made his eyes intense, not that he looked tough, but rather passionate.

"So... which one of you is Mr Blythe?", to this question put nonchalantly, Mr Stuart reached out to Jack and Gilbert to greet them.

Gilbert stood up and shook hands firmly with the host, "How nice to meet you, Mr. Stuart. I'm Gilbert Blythe, and this is my college classmate, Jack Collins." He said as politely as he could, and the young redhead imitated him.

"I'm also delighted, my butler told me you were here for the announcement. But you still laze me young to tutor, how old are you? ", Mr Stuart asked that with a touch of amusement.

Jack was surprised that Mr. Stuart didn't even recognize him.

The young man with the brown curls wasn't expecting this question at all, he tried to keep up face, "Well... I'm eighteen now, but I'm heading towards my nineteenth birthday, I think I've had some life experience already, I must have been an adult very quickly."

Jack looked sadly at his friend and took the full measure of his friend's childhood.

Mr. Stuart sat down on the couch in front of the two young men and said, "I see... It is true that you seem to be a very respectable and... mature young man. But the truth... is that... I want to raise my daughter Christine, who is a selfish girl who prefers to go to dances and other frivolities rather than study. My daughter is sixteen years old, and she is going on her seventeenth birthday, she attends a girls' college, but I am afraid that the things she learns there will be enough, and I am thinking of having her change schools. Finally, all this to say, that I was expecting to have someone older, I don't really want my daughter and you to develop too intimate a relationship, it has to remain professional."

Gilbert was not expecting this statement and immediately asserted forcefully, "Oh sir, I can assure you that I would have no inappropriate intentions towards your daughter!"

The young redhead who had been silent until now proudly added, "Allow me Mr. Stuart, but I must say that I have never seen a man so in love, and I can told this without ever having met his future fiancée." Gilbert could not conceal a smile, he could not contradict his friend.

Then timidly Jack asked, "So... you don't remember me? Not even my father Dr. Collins?"

Mr. Stuart was about to react when a young girl came in, "Well, I see you're interviewing without me. It's about me first after all, Father."

She had dark raven black hair just like her father, she had a pink ribbon on her head. She wasn't particularly the prettiest girl, but she could have a certain charm. When Jack saw her, he couldn't lift his head, he was as if paralyzed, which made his roommate smile a little.

"Christine! Didn't you have book club this afternoon? "Asked her annoyed father.

"Introduce me to those charming young men." she said with sparkling eyes, which made Gilbert uncomfortable, and Jack blushed.

The young brunette moved in with her father.

"This is Gilbert Blythe and his friend... uh...?" Mr. Stuart thought long and hard, "Mr. Collins, who is apparently Dr. Collins' son, remember him?", he questioned his daughter.

Jack did not dare to look the lady in her eyes, and then she finally replied, "Oh yes! It's coming back to me now! We had played a lot of hide-and-seek as children!"

The young redhead raised his head and nodded without even opening his mouth, still like paralyzed.

Christine then added, "Well... I guess you're the Mr. Blythe we're going to hire?", she was waiting for confirmation, but in fact she had already decided that herself.

His father stood up to shake the young student's hand, "So you're hired! We will set up a schedule if you will."

Gilbert didn't think it was going to be decided so quickly, but Mr. Stuart obviously felt confident enough with the young man.

However, could the same be said of the young woman...? She dissimulated it very well, but she found the boy with the brown curls to be just what she liked.