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‘’Sometimes, Anne, I do understand what you see in this books,’’ said Ruby, trying hard not to cry as she read Mr Darcy’s last proposal to Elizabeth Bennet.
Josie huffed and rolled her eyes, used to Ruby’s romantic outbursts, but still not a fan. It pained her to admit it, but romance had lost its spark in her eyes after the Billy fiasco; she made sure to let everybody know that she was happy to have gotten rid of all those ridiculous notions, but she did sometimes miss the excitement she had often felt when boys looked at her.
‘’That part is so romantic…’’ Tillie said, sighing as she thought about it. ‘’I’m so glad we have to read Pride and Prejudice for our class. Reading Oliver Twist isn’t half as fun.’’
‘’Ugh, don’t remind me of Oliver Twist. What a bore,’’ Jane replied.
Although a smile was adorning her face and she appeared to be interested in the conversation, Anne’s mind was in the paper she was writing about the former novel, not paying enough attention to her friends as to reply eloquently.
‘’Besides, Tillie,’’ Jane told her, ‘’you are the last one of us who should be complaining about lack of romance. You have two Pauls to choose from.’’
Most of the room erupted in a fit of giggles -even Josie Pye could not help it-, but Anne still kept her gaze on the paper in front of her.
‘’But they are not romantic at all!’’ Tillie complained. ‘’I have often talked about my love for roses, and they both showed up with flowers that did not even resemble them! I fear that romance only appears in books.’’
‘’I agree,’’ Jane firmly said. ‘’The most romance I have ever seen was Mr Phillips’s proposal to Prissy, and he did not even ask her! He only asked our father after telling him of the position his cousin was offering him!’’
Laughs erupted in the room again, Pride and Prejudice long forgotten.
‘’Remember when Paul tried to compliment Tillie’s hair and compared it to good soil?’’ Josie said, tears in her eyes. ‘’Or when Edward tried to ask Ruby for a dance and said he hoped she would not find him too handsome for her?’’
Ruby blushed, sad that her hair was pinned back and could not hide the redness of her cheeks.
‘’I’ll let you know,’’ she sternly said, ‘’that Moody is very romantic. Just last week, he walked me home after class and did not leave until I had closed the door in order to make sure I was safe.’’
The room suddenly fell silent, and Ruby was proud of herself for finally kicking some sense into her friends’ minds -of course there was romance in the world! Moody and her were a very fine example.
Her statement, however, only led to more laughter. She resigned herself and crossed her arms across her chest, accepting that her friends were never going to agree with her.
‘’Oh, poor Moody!’’ Diana said, trying not to cry because of laughing so hard. ‘’He is so shy that that is the most romantic thing he dares do!’’
‘’At least he is shy!’’ Josie exclaimed. ‘’Charlie was not shy at all, and see where it led him! Remember when he tried to be romantic towards Anne and ended up convincing us that we were all barren? I am convinced there is no such thing as romance in real life!’’
The girls knew they were not being proper -if Mrs Blackmore were to come in and saw them hunched over laughing in the middle of the parlor instead of studying they were sure to receive a reprimand; even Ruby was laughing now. Only Anne would be able to escape her wrath, for she was still too engrossed in her studies.
‘’Oh, but romance does exist! Anne knows it very well!’’ Diana said, out of breath. ‘’I have never seen anything more romantic than Gilbert Blythe jumping out of his carriage to kiss Anne senseless right in front of me! It almost made me die of envy!’’
Laughter again stopped in the room; this time, however, no joke had been made. The only sound that could be heard was Diana’s hand quickly covering her mouth when she realised what she had just said. She softly turned her head to look at Anne, who was still not paying attention. The redhead, however, lifted her eyes from the paper when she felt many sets of eyes on her, surprised at the sudden silence.
‘’Is everything alright?’’ she asked.
‘’Gilbert Blythe?’’ Jane softly asked.
Anne, who still did not understand the situation, simply furrowed her eyebrows.
‘’He’s alive and well, I suppose?’’ she said. She knew her correspondence had not been read by anyone but her, so she could not understand why they would ask her about him.
‘’Gilbert Blythe?’’ Tillie repeated.
‘’I truly do not understand what you mean by that!’’
‘’Gilbert Blythe?’’ Ruby finally screeched.
‘’I know his name very well! What I don’t know is why you keep repeating it to me as if he was going to show up on our doorstep!’’ Anne finally exclaimed.
She looked at Diana, whose eyes were wandering across the room, but always ignoring the spot in which Anne was situated.
‘’Gilbert Blythe kissed you senseless?’’ Josie asked, her eyes wide.
Anne’s head turned to look at Josie at a magnificent speed, and she found herself speechless for the first time in two months -ever since she had last seen Gilbert.
‘’I’m sure I don’t understand what you mean,’’ Anne said.
‘’Oh, I’m so sorry, Anne, it just escaped my mouth with no warning,’’ Diana spoke at the same time.
Anne looked at her bosom friend and, hard as she tried, could not feel angry -she was so embarrassed that she could only focus on making sure her cheeks were not the colour of her hair.
‘’I wouldn’t call it senseless, since I am very well, as you can see,’’ Anne slowly said.
‘’It’s just that he was so romantic when he wrapped his arm around your waist to pull you closer!’’ Diana again interrupted.
‘’Diana,’’ Anne exclaimed, cheeks already red, ‘’enough!’’
Anne was so embarrassed that she could hear her pulse and she could feel her body heating up. She was only thankful that Gilbert was not there to hear about Diana’s description of the kiss -a little part of her wanted to see how he would react, but the mature woman she was set on becoming knew it would not be the right thing to do. She knew, however, that their secrecy was long gone -the girls would not forget this, and Anne would have to explain it if she did not want them to think it was a one-time occurrence. Deep down, she knew she would not have been able to keep quiet about it for much longer -Christmas was approaching, and she was not going to give up her time with Gilbert simply to escape gossip.
‘’When did this happen?’’ Ruby quietly asked. She seemed lost in though, as if she could not actually believe that this was happening.
‘’The day he left for Toronto,’’ Anne explained. ‘’He saw Diana on the train and she gave him the address. He came here and we talked about our feelings.’’
‘’I don’t recall you using your mouths to do any talking,’’ Diana interrupted. ‘’Oh, my God! I’m so sorry! I just can’t stop talking!’’
Anne glared at Diana; her brunette friend had been waiting to talk about this for two months, but Anne was sure holding her tongue for a few more minutes could not be that hard.
‘’I saw him on the train,’’ Diana explained, trying to make up for her slip. ‘’He told my father he was not engaged and I got rationally angry because of the way he had treated Anne, so I let him know what I though of the situation and I also told him that Anne had written him a letter telling him she loved him, to which he had not responded!’’
Diana quickly looked at Anne -she had spoken too much again. Anne, however, appeared resigned to the fact that her friend was feeling talkative that day, and simply sat back on her chair as she listened to the story that she so much enjoyed.
‘’He was the most surprised,’’ Diana continued. ‘’When I told him that, he started asking about the letter and he asked me where to find Anne. I was a little bit reluctant, you see; he had been messing up for so long that I did not know if I should trust him. He looked so hopeful, however, that I gave it to him in the end. The train had not even stopped at Charlottetown and he was already out, running like a madman! My father and I had to grab his bags and pack them in our carriage. When we last arrived at the house, he and Anne were together.’’
Nobody said anything, the situation too new for them to know how to react.
‘’You still haven’t explained why you saw him kiss Anne senseless,’’ Josie finally reminded her.
Anne, completely red, felt it was her turn to speak.
‘’He had to take Mr Barry’s carriage to the station; after all, he still had to go to Toronto. When he was already in the carriage, he looked at me and descended to give me one last kiss. Diana witnessed it, which is why she said that.’’
‘’It was the most romantic thing I have ever seen,’’ Diana stated.
‘’And you’re courting?’’ Jane asked.
Anne nodded and folded her hands on her lap, fixing her eyes on them. She had not told Diana, but she was a little bit afraid of the girls’ reaction to the relationship; after all, Gilbert was still Avonlea’s golden boy and she was still Avonlea’s messy orphan. However, all her friends rose from their seats and rushed to her, engulfing her in a hug.
‘’That’s delightful, Anne!’’ Ruby exclaimed. ‘’I now feel ridiculous for saying Moody was romantic!’’
‘’Who would have thought,’’ Jane said. ‘’I always though Gilbert was the least romantic person in Avonlea! Always talking about academic matters,’’ she quickly stopped talking and thought about her statement. ‘’Actually, you are the perfect match.’’
Anne laughed and hugged her friends back, happy to have the weight lifted off her shoulders. Her eyes found Diana, who offered her an apologetic smile, and Anne stretched her hand to pat Diana’s arm, letting her know that it was alright.
Everything was finally alright.