Chapter 28 - Something I Didn't Know I Needed
The next morning Anne woke up at dawn because she was looking forward to her weekend in Avonlea. She absolutely wanted to visit the people who had been missing from her life, like Sebastian and Delphine, Miss Stacy, or even Mrs. Lynde.
Breakfast went smoothly, Marilla had promised herself not to bring up the subject of the day before, and this also suited her brother.
The young redhead was sitting at the kitchen table, she was already dressed, she seemed to have prepared herself in a hurry, as her hair was half in a mess with her braid slightly undone.
Matthew, Marilla and Jerry looked at the girl in a curious way, as they had never seen her eat breakfast so quickly.
The mistress of the house began to grumble after the latter, "Will you slow down a bit?! I dare to hope you don't stand in the same way in front of Miss Blackmore!"
Anne couldn't help but protest when she heard this name, "Hearing this name is going to ruin my day, Marilla. This day has everything to be one of the most exquisite I have had in a long time!", Then she timidly added, "Well... except for one recent exception."
"So, what are you planning to do today?", Matthew asked in a kind tone.
The latter replied, cheerfully, "Well...I'm planning to visit Sebastian, I'm so looking forward to seeing Delphine again! I would also like to see Miss Stacy, I would like to have her opinion on the drafts I wrote for the Queens short story competition. Oh and of course! Mrs. Lynde, who I am sure will tell me everything I may have missed at Avonlea. Oh! And I almost forgot the Barrys! I have to thank them in person for the gift they gave me!"
"A gift?", Marilla asked her, frowning.
The young redhead replied with a defeated look, "As I told you yesterday, Diana is going to Paris for a term, since they will be away for my birthday, her family offered me an envelope with money."
Jerry, who had been very attentive during the conversation so far, left the table at the mention of Diana. As the injury was still too recent, he couldn't bear to hear about her. Anne noticed it, a sorry look on her face, the girl hadn't thought about their short love affair since she had started her studies in Queens.
As for Matthew and Marilla, they didn't seem to be aware of the situation, so for them, Jerry's behaviour was completely normal.
Anne wondered if there was a way to reconcile the two young people, or at least to ensure that there was no more discomfort between them. After all, Jerry was like her family, and now that he was even living at Green Gables, Diana would inevitably be confronted with the young man again.
Suddenly the girl was interrupted in her thoughts by an outraged Marilla, "Money?! And you accepted?!"
"Isn't it rude to refuse a gift?", replied the redhead in a falsely innocent tone.
What didn't seem to reassure the woman in the bun, "Didn't they give you a fortune, reassure me?!"
"Oh no... But enough to allow me to travel if I was too lonely in Charlottetown.", poor Anne was not proud to admit it.
"Are you afraid of feeling lonely?", asked Marilla worriedly.
"The girls have disappointed me a lot lately, apart from Diana of course.", she explained sadly. "It's because of them that I haven't heard from Gilbert for weeks. I just don't understand them sometimes.", she concludes bitterly.
Matthew got up from the table, getting ready to start his day's work, these stories were too much for him, he just didn't understand how some girls could be so cruel. Especially to someone like Anne.
"I suppose Josie Pye was the instigator?", replied the older sister.
"Of course!", exclaimed the young redhead, and then she added, disappointed, "But... it's Ruby that upsets me more, I didn't think she would do such a thing. Diana says she was influenced by Josie, but that doesn't excuse her in any way in my opinion."
Marilla said with a small smile, "I guess you made a lot of people envious.", Then she said wisely, "It's not good to hold a resentment against a person. Sometimes the slate just needs to be wiped clean. I'm sure Ruby regrets what she did."
"You are right, Marilla. But it's because I don't like to forgive so easily.", replied the teenager firmly.
The mistress of the house laughed, "Oh yes, I've noticed this a few times..."
A few moments later, Anne put on her coat and scarf. She opened the door and spoke to Marilla who was washing the dishes, "See you later Marilla, I'll be back around 12 o'clock!"
She then rode her mare Belle and galloped across the plains. She still couldn't believe it, she was back in Avonlea, she was finally breathing.
Part of her was already looking forward to the December break, to see those same snow-covered landscapes, but she always dreaded it, because it meant saying goodbye to her faithful friend Diana. On the other hand, she could also spend time with Gilbert throughout the holidays. Yes, she thought that in the end there was more positive than negative in these circumstances.
She finally saw the Lacroixes' house in the distance, she tied Belle to a post, and hurried to the porch of the house. Just as she was about to knock on the door, she was beaten by Bash, who opened the door at the same time.
"Anne Shirley-Cuthbert! We've been waiting for you!", he exclaimed with a smile.
The latter was totally confused, "But how do you..."
This was cut off by the amused young father, "I ran into Rachel when I was taking Miss Stacy home yesterday afternoon."
The redhead laughed, "Rachel Lynde is very useful to the community."
Hazel, who had heard everything of the conversation, intervened behind Sebastian, "You're going to let this girl in or we'll wait for her to turn into an ice cube."
Bash excused himself and brought her in, then sarcastically declared, "Sorry my mother is in a bad mood, as she doesn't seem to be able to stand the Canadian cold that's settling in."
The mother of the latter sneered, "Yes... Says the one who wears at least four layers of clothes."
At the same moment, Anne saw little Delphine arriving on her brother Elijah's arm, both of them smiling.
"Oh Delphine!", she exclaimed as she walked towards her, she began to caress the child's cheek, then she realised how rude she was, "Oh! forgive me! You must be Elijah! I have not yet had the pleasure of making your acquaintance! You look so much like Mary!", She held out her hand to him to shake his.
The young man hesitated for a moment, then finally smiled, he didn't know if she was telling the truth, but it warmed his heart to be told that he looked like his mother. He then reached out his hand to shake the redhead's hand.
"I've heard a lot about you!", he replied with a smile.
After getting to know each other, she sat down at the kitchen table with a nice hot tea, she also had little Delphine on her lap.
Then Sebastian asked mischievously, "So how is Doctor Blythe?"
She instantly felt her cheeks warm up, "I-I guess he's doing fine."
Suddenly the farmer looked serious and put his hands flat on the table, "It may be none of my business, but ... you've stopped writing to Gilbert?!"
At that moment, Anne seemed to learn that the latter was aware of her new relationship with Gilbert.
She gasped, "Yes, but... it was a misunderstanding! Someone stole my correspondence, and I-I thought he had simply decided not to write to me anymore!"
The young father laughed, "You're both crazy!"
The redhead stammered, "Wh-Why?!"
"Do you really think he would have given up writing to you so easily?!", asked Sebastian, outraged.
The young girl hesitated, "Well, it's just... "
Bash raised his eyes to the heaven, and declared firmly, "Good. very good. That's enough. Wait two minutes.", He left the kitchen at once, leaving a baffled Anne.
Meanwhile on the streets of Toronto, Gilbert and Jack were strolling around town, it was a beautiful day and both boys wanted to enjoy it, although in reality the dark-haired boy would have preferred not to waste any time and instead spend his morning studying.
"Are you ready for your first private lesson with the Stuarts?", asked the young redhead to tease.
The young student replied sceptically, "I confess that I don't really know what to expect...", he paused and then said with a smile, "Anyway, it doesn't matter, it's not as if I want to teach later, I only do it for the money, to pay my board and my train journeys."
His friend sneered and said mockingly, "Especially the train.", Gilbert immediately laughed and disapproved.
They continued walking down a pedestrian alleyway, there were many small shops, Jack was stopped by one of them, he stopped in front of the shop window.
The young redhead exclaimed, his eyes shining, "I love old things! Each one of these objects hides a story, it's fascinating! If I wasn't predestined to practice medicine, I'd probably have a business like this..." he admitted, pensive.
Perplexed, the dark-haired boy cautiously declared, "I... have the impression, that medicine doesn't appeal to you at all. Maybe one day you'll.."
The latter was instantly cut off by his friend, "Oh no! It's not going to happen. And then I wrongly speak through you don't have to try to understand me sometimes."
The ambitious student didn't know how to answer this, indeed, he didn't understand his friend, himself being an orphan and modest, he didn't imagine that he could be luckier than a well-to-do boy who still had his parents.
Suddenly Gilbert saw something in the shop that caught his attention, he entered the shop without waiting, leaving his friend amazed, he in turn followed him in a hurry.
The young man was in front of a library, where there was a whole bunch of books, some of them resembled the little dictionary that Anne had received as a present at their first Christmas together.
Jack arrived behind his friend, always teasing, "Oh yes, I forgot! Your fiancée likes books."
"She loves them. Or rather she worships them.", He corrected him with a smile, "And... she is not yet my fiancée.", He added, frowning and looking at his roommate out of the corner of his eye.
Suddenly an old man's voice was heard, in an amused tone he said, "Well, I'm sure I can satisfy you doubly.", It was the antique dealer.
This immediately made the young man with the brown curls curious.
In Avonlea, Anne was always waiting for Bash to appear again, she had fun making little Delphine jump on her lap.
At the same moment, the young father returned with a box in his hands, the redhead looked at him weirdly. Sebastian gave her a mischievous smile and said, "Don't tell Gilbert I showed you this, he'll probably kill me."
What made the girl even more attentive, she walked towards the box in question which was placed on the kitchen table.
"You talked a lot?!", she exclaimed as she looked at the amount of letters in the box.
"Talk, or... complain about you.", he laughed back.
The redheaded girl started to get angry, "Complain about me?!"
"Calm down... Read first!", he says, laughing more and more beautifully.
She then gave Delphine back to her father and took the box with her and moved back to her original place.
Anne didn't see it, but it could be seen that the young father had carefully hidden two of these letters in one of his jacket pockets, it was clear that these particular correspondences should not fall into anyone's hands.
The young redhead then began to read extracts from the various letters that spoke about her. Sebastian saw a whole range of expressions pass over her face, sometimes moved, tender, confused and offended. He couldn't help but sneer discreetly as he saw the girl's reactions.
"I want you to know that it has been three weeks now since Anne hasn't answered me. I don't even blame her, maybe I deserved to be ignored for a while. After all, I have been courting another young woman for months and I must say Diana has opened my eyes to Anne's point of view. I must have broken her heart so much. I'll allow you to tell me Bash, I'm an idiot. The last thing I wanted in the world was for her to be unhappy, especially if I was one of the causes."
"When a girl gives you a kiss, it means she has feelings for you, doesn't it? Not that I doubt Anne's feelings, because she can't do anything without love and passion. But... Maybe she would have changed her mind? It's now been four weeks without news of Anne, how many more of these should I have to put up with?"
"You know what Bash, I finally decided not to worry about Anne anymore. No, this time I'm not the problem. I wrote to her! All the time! Even if it means talking to myself, and telling my life story here in Toronto. But apparently none of this made her react. I didn't dare to be pushy in my letters, I didn't want to force her to answer me. But still, this girl is stubborn!"
"I hope all is well on your side my brother. As I am writing this letter, I am packing my things for Charlottetown, Jack has finally convinced me. And just like you, he was tired of hearing me complain about Anne's silence, except that he had to put up with it almost every day. Keep your fingers crossed for me, hoping it all goes my way. I couldn't wait any longer."
Anne couldn't believe her eyes, Gilbert had really cared for her during all these weeks. Of course, she suspected that he had been worried, but she was far from imagining such intensity. Like her, the dark haired boy had gone through all the emotions, and it reassured her that she wasn't the only one who was so passionate.
Suddenly she got up and walked towards Sebastian and hugged him, "Oh thank you! These letters mean so much!", she exclaimed in euphoria.
The young father repeated again firmly, "BUT don't forget! He mustn't.."
"...know anything.", she ends her sentence with a smile.
At the antique shop, Gilbert had followed the old man into the back room, Jack continued wandering around on the other side.
The shop owner said, "I don't usually offer them to my customers, but this is the first time such an opportunity has come up. I love books, and now my new occupation in my spare time is to make things that look like books but are not actually books. See for yourself.", He demonstrated by opening a drawer full of what seemed to be small books with beautiful leather bindings.
The dark haired-boy took one of them and opened it, he discovered inside there was no page, instead there was a simple cloth, that's how he understood, he frowned, "A jewellery box?"
The old man smiles mischievously, "It's much more than that, it's a ring box."
The medical student's eyes opened wide, he didn't know what to say, "Oh I see...But...I..."
"I had understood that there was a girl who liked books and who was not yet your fiancée. Was I mistaken?", The antique dealer asked this in a confused tone while taking the box from his client's hands and putting it back in its original place.
"Well... Er... No, you were right! It... it hadn't crossed my mind, to... to present the ring in a box.", said the young man painfully, scratching his head, so embarrassed was he.
"Ha ha! Well! I hope that her family is not too much waiting or that girl is not the romantic type! You were just going to present the ring in one of your hands ?!", exclaimed the old man laughing.
He still feeling terribly embarrassed, "It's not like I've done it before..."
At the same time, new customers came into the shop, which made the old man react, "So think it over, my boy, if you want to find me I'm on the other side.", he said, winking at the young man.
Once alone, Gilbert redirected himself to the drawer where the boxes were stored, he opened it and once again observed the antique dealer's creations, he was pensive. He hesitated for a long time, then he decided to take one, the tiny book he took had a turquoise binding with beautiful gold patterns, and inside it was a beige velvet fabric. The young brown boy smiled, he had found the object he was missing.