"Ma'am," Charlotte addressed Anne one morning later that week. "Earl, that is to say Mr Wainwright has invited me to the church dance next weekend."

Anne stopped eating and gazed at her maid with enraptured eyes. "Goodness me, how wonderful. I knew you knew Mr Wainwright, but I didn't know you were so close."

"We've been chatting when I go to fetch the milk." Anne had noticed that they had rather an abundant supply at times but had never known the reason.

"The problem is ma'am that I don't have nothing to wear. I mean," she rushed on. "I have this dress," she said plucking at her skirt, but."

"Oh no, that won't do. It's fine for housework, but it's not the sort of thing you want to wear to the dance, is it."

Charlotte shook her head. She wanted something else, but dresses were expensive, and she didn't think she had enough time, nor the fabric, to make one.

"Hm, let me think," said Anne reflectively. She got to her feet saying, "let's go and have a look." Wonderingly, Charlotte followed her. "Now there's this one, and this," Anne said as she pulled dress after dress from out of her closet.

"No ma'am, these are too fine for the likes of me."

"Nonsense," replied Anne. "I shan't be wearing them for a while, if ever," she said looking down at her expanding girth. "Someone may as well get the use of them. I think this one would suit you," she pressed a sprigged lawn against Charlotte. "Or this?"

Shyly Charlotte smiled, "they're all lovely."

"Oh, here's an old one," Anne remarked, fondly.

"That looks far too small."

"It is, now. But back in the day, how I adored it. I always had a thing for puffed sleeves, you know but Marilla refused to make them for me, she considered them a waste of fabric." Charlotte smiled wonderingly, for the sleeves on this dress were as puffy as any she had ever seen. "Eventually Matthew, he was Marilla's brother, took pity on me and bought me this, must have cost him a small fortune. I wore it every chance I got; bitter were the tears I wept when I finally outgrew it."

"That was nice of him ma'am."

"He was a wonderful man," Anne wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

"You loved him?"

"I did. He was the first person to truly love me. Marilla does now, of course, but she er took a little while to warm up to me. I wasn't what she had expected. Matthew didn't care either way, we were kindred spirits." Charlotte looked at her, thinking how lucky Anne had been. No one had ever fallen in love with her.

"Pick a dress, and we'll take it over to Marilla. She may not have been all that imaginative back then, but she's a wonderful seamstress. Between her and Mrs Rachel, you'll be the belle of the ball.

While Rachel and Charlotte, ably assisted by Dora, made adjustments to the dress, Anne and Marilla chatted in the kitchen about the events of that week.

"I hear Gilbert gave you flowers," Marilla started as she poured the tea.

"He did, but roses? Why would he give me those? If he remembered me at all, he'd have sent me lilies of the valley. What shall I do, Marilla?"

Marilla regarded her for a little while as she pondered how best to advise her. Finally, she started. "Do you recall the Lord's Prayer?"

"The Lord's? I mean of course I do."

"Come, let's recite it together. Think on the words, really think on them, Anne.

They sat next to each other intoning the familiar words until they came to the line, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

"Oh," said Anne.

"Does it make sense now?"

"You think I should forgive him?"

"Love is forgiveness. I made that mistake all those years ago. I was too late to forgive John, and I regretted it all my life. Don't be like me, Anne. Don't let foolish pride stand in your way. Forgive Gilbert, as our Lord forgives us. He's only human, he will make mistakes, as you have and always have. Remember when you were a little girl, and you'd say that tomorrow had no mistakes in it."

"Yet."

Marilla smiled, "yes, yet. Did I hold your mistakes against you?"

Anne leant into her side, "no."

"No. Because I, because we, loved you. I hope we gave you the room to make mistakes and to learn from them. If you're so worried about the reaction, you can't learn from them, then there's no room for growth."

While Davy was out in the yard finishing off his chores, Anne took the opportunity to broach a serious topic. "If you don't mind telling me, whatever did happen between you and Mr. Blythe?"

Davy came back in looking for his afternoon tea. "Oh, Anne," Marilla sighed. "It was a long time ago. We quarrelled; I was too proud to forgive him. By the time I did, he'd moved on. Davy, that's plenty of cake. Just one piece or you'll ruin your dinner."

A slice in each hand Davy grinned and ducked out of reach. "I'll just have my dessert now, Marilla."

"If only," Marilla remarked to Anne. "He'll forget all about his promise by dinnertime."

Anne watched her intercede but merely asked, "do you regret that?"

Rolling her eyes as Davy ran outside, Marilla answered, "yes. Yes, I do. I mean in the end it brought you to me, for which I give thanks every day, so I guess it all had a happy ending. But it took a long time, and I won't pretend I didn't weep bitter tears when he married. I had a long time to reflect on my foolish behaviour. Don't do that Anne, don't be as proud as I was, don't let it get in the way of your happiness. Forgive Gilbert, and Anne, please forgive yourself," she said, catching Anne's eye. "I can't help feeling you'll beat yourself up for marrying Roy first."

"For marrying the wrong man."

"Hm, but you did, and now you're carrying his child."

"Don't I know it."

"That does have a habit of happening when one is married, Anne." This was unfamiliar territory for Marilla, but she knew that one thing generally led to the other.

Whilst Anne and Marilla were having this discussion a similar one was occurring in the Blythe household.

"Have you seen Anne again?" Gilbert's mother asked.

"Not yet."

"I must say the high life seems to have agreed with her, she's hardly the waif we first met."

"What do you mean, Ma?"

"She's a bit wider is all. Of course she was always a skinny little thing, but if I didn't know better…" she trailed off.

"What are you getting at?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all; forget I spoke." Gilbert narrowed his eyes but pressed no further. "Was it strange to see her again?" she asked.

"Anne. I mean yeah can't say I haven't thought about her over the years, but I had to put her behind me when I heard she'd married. What on earth did she see in Royal Gardner anyway? Sure, he had money and influence but I'm just a teeny bit insulted she fell for that, that she was so shallow."

"Love does strange things to us, Gilbert."

"Hmm."

He found his father in the barn. "Give us a hand here will you, son." Working together they fell into an easy conversation. "I didn't like to say this in front of your mother, Gilbert, but don't let pride get in your way."

"Way of what?"

John Blythe looked at his son, "in the way of love."

"Love?"

Sighing John clarified, "if you're still in love with Anne, act upon it."

"I tried Dad and then I made a fool of myself."

"I think that goes with the territory, son. Look all I'm saying is that we seldom get second chances. Don't squander it."

"I'm not sure Anne would agree with you."

"If Marilla has any sway over her, she might."

It was almost the end of school. Anne was exhausted so overall not too sad about the end of her contract. It had been a good idea at the time, but the routine had taken more out of her than she had expected. She stopped in at Green Gables on the way home for a quick cup of tea and to see how the adjustments to the dress were getting on and since it was finished, she took it home. Charlotte was delighted. She stood in the kitchen twisting and turning watching the way the skirt twirled. "I ain't never had such a lovely dress afore, ma'am. I can't believe Mrs Lynde did this for me, she's so nice. Should I pay her, I don't have much."

"She said she hopes you have a wonderful evening. I warn you, she'll want an extensive account, that'll be payment enough," Anne said, laughing.

Earl came to collect Charlotte and Anne waved them off, watching them drive down away towards town. She settled in for the evening just a teeny bit jealous. That would have been me once upon a time. She patted her stomach, now it's just you and I, baby. When she turned to go inside, she heard the familiar sound of someone driving up. "Gil?"

"Good evening, Anne. I just thought I'd visit for a while. Sorry, I know it's late, is this a bad time."

"No, it's fine. Charlotte has just left for the dance, so I'm all alone. Come on in."

They made idle chit chat for a few minutes, each tiptoeing around the subject on each of their minds. Eventually Gilbert asked her about the time he proposed.

"I'm sorry Gilbert. I don't know what I was thinking about. I guess I just wasn't ready to marry back when you first asked me."

"You seemed to accept Roy's proposal quick enough."

"I know. It probably seemed that way. I thought I knew my mind. I thought he was the sort of man I wanted."

"And was he?"

"No." Anne laughed sardonically. "No. He was as far from the man I wanted as it was possible to be. I won't go into it all now, but no," she shook her head. "Just no."

"I've been asking advice from my folks."

"And what do they say?"

"Well Dad said I should forgive you. Said second chances come by seldom enough and I should grab this one."

"Funny, Marilla said pretty much the same thing."

"I suppose she would."

"Mm. Hard for your mother," remarked Anne.

"Well, she knows the story. And it's not as though Dad's unhappy with how his life turned out. He was the lucky party."

"It all worked out fine for your dad, but not so much for Marilla."

"Do you think she regrets that?"

"I think she does, I mean she made peace years ago. And she certainly doesn't blame Mr Blythe, but I think deep down she would have liked to have married him."

Gilbert had never really considered the parallel between him and Marilla. "Poor Miss Cuthbert."

"Mm."

"So, us?"

Gilbert looked ahead, "yeah."

"Do you think we should give it another go?"

"Is it even another go, we've never truly courted."

Anne placed her hand on his shoulder, "I'd like to give a try."

Gilbert leaned into her flank, "I guess we could."

"Well don't go getting ahead of yourself, Mr Blythe."

Gilbert jumped to his feet, declaring, "this is getting us nowhere, accompany me to the dance." It was not a question. Anne looked into his eyes and at his proffered hand.

Festooned with lanterns the hall was a picturesque beacon on a dark night, but the music could be heard well before the lights came into view. People were lounging around the entrance waiting for friends or grabbing a breather between dances. Gilbert parked the buggy and escorted Anne down. Together they made their way through the throng and into the hall. Almost immediately, and without thought Gilbert took Anne into his arms and they joined the crowd, music making Anne's feet light.

Charlotte and Earl whirled past, Charlotte calling, "ma'am! What are you doing here?"

Anne gestured to Gilbert, "got myself a last minute invitation."

"But should you be dancing like this?" she asked on the next pass.

Gilbert looked at her quizzically, "I'm fine, Charlotte, just fine," replied Anne.

"What's she talking about?" Gilbert yelled against the music.

"Oh, it's just that I'm with child, Gilbert."

Gilbert came to an abrupt halt, nearly causing a crash with the couple behind them who had to swerve at the last moment. He led her to one side and pushed her to sit down. "What?"

"Sorry I didn't say before, but I'm carrying Roy's baby."

Gilbert blinked a few times, his conversation with his mother coming back to him. "Oh. I thought." He led her to the side of the hall.

"What did you think?"

"We, that is to say Mother and I were talking about you the other day."

"Oh, you were, were you?"

Gilbert grinned, "yes, we do that sometimes. Mother commented that the high life must have done you some good."

"Are you calling me fat, Gilbert?" Anne's eyes sparkled dangerously.

"Don't be like that, you just look healthy, I suppose," Gilbert said, trying his hand at diplomacy.

Recalling Marilla's words of the other day, Anne decided not to take umbrage, instead she smiled and took his hand. "you're a dear for thinking of me, Gilbert."

Taken aback, Gilbert smiled back. "And you're sure you're alright? I don't know if dancing is exactly wise right now."

Truth be told Anne was feeling a bit lightheaded, so she nodded and let Gilbert lead her outside. "Better?" he asked when they were sat on the stairs. The cool night air and the sudden diminution of sound instantly improving Anne's demeanor.

"Mm," she lay back on her arms. "Thank you. I know I should have said, but I haven't had much of a chance to really talk with you, and I suppose I wasn't sure of your reaction. I didn't want to hurt you, Gil."

"Hurt me?"

"I don't know what's going to happen with us. I don't know where to from here. There's no play book."

"No, there isn't. I guess we'll just have to play it by ear." Anne patted her stomach, "and there's this to consider."

Gilbert nodded, "yes. But it's not insurmountable."

Anne sat up straighter, "you mean?"

"I always wanted to have children, Anne."

"Even though this most assuredly is not yours."

"Even then."

"Gilbert," Anne sighed. "I can't, I mean I don't, oh I don't know," she lapsed into silence, and they sat there in silence with the music spilling out from the hall.