Anne doubted she was going to be in much trouble at all. Yes, what had happened had technically been improper, but nothing of the sort had occurred under the specific circumstances. All she would have to do was explain to everyone that it was just a misunderstanding, and they would be in the clear. It helped that both Anne and Gilbert had good reputations in Avonlea, so she believed that no one would question them once they told the truth. For it was an unfortunate misunderstanding. She felt her most significant issue was that her clothes had not dried. She was slightly uncomfortable as she sat in the buggy, which traveled down the path toward Avonlea.
Gilbert, on the other hand, was panicking. If he thought he was panicking last night, he was definitely wrong because this was panic. He could not believe that he had been stupid enough to get himself into this situation in the first place. While he knew that he hadn't done anything wrong and that he was only trying to prevent Anne from getting hypothermia, he also understood exactly what it looked like to the farmer who found them and what he was about to tell the whole town. Gilbert knew that only those who knew him and Anne would believe their somewhat unbelievable story.
In contrast, the regular townsperson would believe the rumor that inevitably spread like wildfire. There were only two options after that: get married or abandon Anne. While neither option was what Gilbert wanted at this moment, he would never leave Anne behind to deal with the consequences by herself.
The only sound surrounding them was the clopping of the horse's hoofs on the still damp ground because the farmer, who refused to give his name and listen to their explanation, had silenced every attempt at talking. Anne did not like him, whoever he was. However, she was still naive enough to believe he would apologize and go about his life without causing any more fuss once he finally heard their story.
Only a few moments later, Avonlea came into view, and surprisingly, no one was visible, as they should have been on a beautiful day. The farmer drove the buggy straight to Avonlea Hall, which Gilbert felt was incredibly ironic considering the work the A.V.I.S. had done.
"Okay, out you go," the mysterious farmer said as he ushered them out. "They are in there waiting for you," he continued, refusing to look at them as if he was leading them to their deaths and felt the slightest bit bad about it.
Confused, they slowly entered the hall with the farmer following closely behind. Inside, they found almost all of Avonlea, and they seemed distraught. Speaking over all of it, though, was Mrs. Lynde.
"I know we are all worried about the disappearance of Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe, but we have people looking all over the area, from where they were last seen to the farthest point from there. They will be found. I am sure that the rain just made them take shelter with some family, and they will be back soon," she said, trying to calm everyone and take charge of her situation.
Then Anne and Gilbert heard the farmer's voice behind them, loud and booming: "Look here who I found."
Everyone in the hall turned around, and a sigh of relief tore through the crowd. Marilla and Mrs. Blythe could be seen pushing their way to the front to hug them, the relief evident on their faces.
"Oh, I wouldn't celebrate too soon now. You're going to want to know how I found them. They were sleeping together in my shed off the road, and Anne here had nothing but a blanket on," he continued, much to the horror of everyone present.
Marilla, who had finally reached Anne, looked at her with disbelief written on her face: "That can not be true, right, Anne? Tell me he is mistaken."
"It is true, but-" Anne blurted out, not thinking of what she had just inadvertently admitted to due to her naivety.
All of this interaction took place within earshot of a large portion of Avonlea, and soon, everyone would hear it in Avonlea and even further. Townspeople were trying to inch closer to listen even more of the drama so they could gossip about it later. That is until, surprisingly, Mrs. Blythe stepped forward.
"Everyone out! Now! Thank you for caring about Gilbert and Anne's safety. Still, they have found it, and it is time for you all to leave," she sternly told the unwanted audience about their personal family drama.
The people begrudgingly left, some as slow as possible to try and get the tiniest bit more gossip and others quickly to be the first to tell. During the mass exodus, Anne, Gilbert, the farmer, Marilla, Mrs. Blythe, and Mrs. Lynde, who thought it her right to get to stay after leading the charge to find the missing youths, all stood in an uncomfortable silence.
Finally, alone, Gilbert spoke up first. "This is honestly just a large misunderstanding," he continued. Anne had fallen into the sea, and her clothes were freezing cold. Then it started raining and prevented us from returning to Avonlea, so we took shelter in a shed. She was going to get hypothermia with those clothes on, so we had to do something."
This poor choice of wording implied that they really did have marital relations. It did not do Anne and Gilbert any favors in anyone's mind. The shocked faces of those around her, the anger and disappointment that filled the air, started to make Anne realize the natural gravity of what was happening and what the result could be.
"Did you or did you not sleep together?" Marilla demanded at Gilbert, who had expected hostility but was taken aback for he had never heard Marilla sound like this. It was unexpected to Anne, who had never heard her like this. Even during the brooch incident, Marilla was not this mad, and she was ready to send Anne back to the orphanage then, so she could not imagine what was about to happen. Marilla had to love Anne enough after all these years to not disown her, Anne thought as she started crying.
"We did nothing but fall asleep next to each other, I promise. Absolutely nothing of that sort happened between us," Gilbert explained. Still, due to his nerves, he came out too defensive for his liking.
"I do not know what to believe, Gilbert. You say one thing, but the evidence points the other way. We will have to see what your father says, who, by the way, is still out looking for you and is scared to death that his only son is dead in a ditch," Mrs. Blythe spat at her son, no love lost between them. "I will go home and wait for him there, but until then, I can't even look at you, so stay away until then," she finished before crying out of the hall.
The mysterious farmer, whose identity was never discovered by Anne and Gilbert, took this as his chance to leave this unfortunate incident in which he had already played his part. Marilla, a woman of strong moral convictions and quick to judge others even all these years later, turned on a sobbing Anne.
"Well, I, for one, know exactly what I believe," referencing Mrs. Blythe's indecisiveness. "And you, Anne, are not welcome back at Green Gables; maybe if you had just told the truth and seemed the least bit sorry about it, it would be different. I never thought I could have raised you with such loose morals; it must have been because you were an orphan. I guess people never really change. I hope you know that you have ruined your life; goodbye, Anne," Marilla stormed off, planning never to see her again. Unbeknownst to anyone else, when Marilla returned to Green Gables, she shut herself in her room and cried to sleep because she loved Anne like a daughter.
Mrs. Lynde, who didn't know when her advice was not wanted, looked at Anne and Gilbert.
"I believe by now you have already realized the treachery of your deeds and how you have messed with both of your futures, but there is one way you don't have to lose everything. You will need to get married, and quickly at that, then get out of Avonlea and never come back, for everyone will know about your past. At least far from here, no one will know, and you can go on as a simple married couple. Only you will know of your evil deeds; I hope you can sleep at night," she said, somewhat kindly because she was a little bit removed from the hurt while still having affection for both of them. With that, she left to spread gossip throughout the town about what had just gone down.
Gilbert and Anne were too shocked by what had just happened, how uncharacteristically everyone was acting, and just how quickly it all occurred to even comfort one another, so they just sat in silence for who knows how long. They were only brought back to reality with the reappearance of Mrs. Blythe, this time accompanied by John Blythe, Gilbert's father.
"Now Gilbert, I've heard you have gotten yourself into quite a bind," Mr. Blythe started. "And yes, you have behaved quite poorly, but this does not need to ruin the bright future you have laid in front of you. Don't waste it all; get married, and just leave P.E.I. And continue your studies elsewhere. You, Gilbert, could get into any University in Canada. Then you can go to medical school, settle down, and finally marry a nice girl who would not ruin herself before marriage like Anne here."
Gilbert was aghast at his father's words. Never in a million years had he thought that Mr. Blythe would suggest that he abandon Anne, who now had a scarlet letter and was practically homeless.
"What about Anne, father? What is she supposed to do? She has nowhere to go! I can't just go on my merry way and forget about her? Though again, nothing happened between us; I would be equally responsible for the situation as her, so why should she be the only one to bear the punishment?" Gilbert exclaimed passionately at his father because he could never leave Anne.
"Gilbert, son. You are thinking only with your emotions; take a second and think about this critically. Imagine a train going down the track, and a fork appears. Two people were on one and one on the other, and it was too late to stop the train. Would you take two lives when you could have taken only one? Of course not; you would save one life. So why ruin two lives here when you could save one? Think of your parents, Gilbert. You can never take away the shame you have brought us. Still, once you become a successful doctor, people will accept and respect you again. At least take a moment to think it through." Mr. Blythe explained condescendingly, not understanding his son's defiance.
"Please, Gilbert, think of your poor mother!" Mrs. Blythe all but wailed at him to make him do the selfish thing.
"No! No, I will not leave Anne. We will get married and have a good life together; it won't ruin our lives!" Gilbert said as he tried to sound confident, but inside he was nervous.
"If you disobey me, son, don't consider coming home or asking for anything; we will cut you out of our lives. Do you really want that?" Mr. Blythe threatened, trying to call Gilbert's bluff. Gilbert was not bluffing but was more sure of his decision by the second.
"Then so be it," Gilbert said before grabbing Anne's hand. Anne, stunned into silence by the encounter, left Avonlea Hall, never to see his parents again.
Once outside, Gilbert led her to the schoolhouse, which was empty on a day like today. They sat down, exhausted from their day, and took a moment to recover emotionally from all that had happened.
"I can not believe that you just stood up to your parents like that for me. Gilbert, you should have continued your life and left me be. You have such a future ahead of you-" Anne started, but Gilbert interrupted.
"But you deserve a future too, Anne," he said earnestly.
With that, Anne teared up, "Thank you for that; you really are a great friend, Gilbert. But I can not marry you; we are not in love," she said sadly, for she could not imagine a world in which she married for anything other than love.
"I know you do not love me, Anne, but what other choice do we have? Maybe with time, you will feel differently; for now, nothing about our relationship has to change. All that we have to do is sign a piece of paper." Gilbert said, trying to convince her. "We will go on just being the best of friends and nothing more."
"You really are the best. I guess you are right; I do not know of any other options, and the idea of being on my own through all of this is terrifying; the last time I was truly on my own was before the Cuthberts," Anne agreed.
"Do not worry, Anne. I will always be there for you till death do us part," he said sincerely, with a hint of humor dashing into his voice to lighten the mood.
Anne looked solemnly at the schoolhouse where they had first met and wondered aloud, "Oh Gilbert, what will we ever do next?"