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I loved you, I love you and I will love you.
And the footsteps sounded, and the dances sounded by the light of the wood fire in the old autumn-coloured garden of Green Gables. Avonlea was at the celebration, on this beautiful, wonderful October evening, so rich in hope and love.
On this day, the town was gathered to celebrate the union of two Avonlea prodigies: Gilbert Blythe and Anne Shirley-Cuthbert. The aforementioned lovebirds had first decided on a wedding surrounded only by their soul mates and close family; but that was without the benevolent gossip gifts of Mrs Lynde, the best friend of Marilla Cuthbert, Anne's mother at heart. What a surprise it was when the bride and groom saw the pews of the small village church gradually fill up.
Their friends were delighted to have witnessed one of the most beautiful unions of recent years and remembered the solemnity and the ardour of these two young people to whom life had taken so much and who continued to fight against the tide for love and peace.
A few embittered women sat the next afternoon with tea in hand in the living room of one of them, while they gradually recovered from their initial shock at the ceremony.
"Can you believe it? Poor Cuthbert, adopting an insignificant little orphan girl, only to have her act like that in the church on her wedding day as an affront to them!" Mrs. Pye exclaimed outrageously.
"Can we talk about young Doctor Blythe? Lord, protect the memory of the late John Blythe! His son, the golden boy of our beloved village, has wandered to the muddy shores of Anne Shirley's folly and vulgarity." Mrs. Harmon Andrews swept her gloved hands into the wind of the room, adding drama to her words.
Josie Pye's older sister Gertie's condescending laughter erupted as she sat beside her mother with a piece of cake in her hand.
"What can you expect from a boy who proposes to his fiancée in a school? By giving up the wealth of the Charlottetown debutante and falling for the Cuthbert foster child, the man could only be doomed to scorn!"
And for good reason. The shock came as the pastor asked them to recite their vows, while little Delphine, accompanied by her crown of yellow flowers and her little dress specially designed by Marilla, approached with the wedding ring cushion in her arms.
Anne and Gilbert had looked at each other with a mad, insane intensity, able of making even the most fragile souls turn their eyes, while they repeated the most unconventional wishes that existed on Earth.
The young man then took the ring in his palm, feeling a fireball in his veins. "Finally.” -he thought. - “Finally, I will put the ring on her finger so that it may rest there for this life and the next one."
"I, Gilbert John Blythe, do solemnly swear to you, Anne, to love and cherish you, to protect you and to accompany you along this path that life takes us on. I promise to be there for you in the twists and turns of life, as well as in the doubts, fears, and mistrusts, to be that voice that guides you when you get lost from weariness. Beyond writing our history, we will continue the fight, our fight, since your struggles are now anchored to my ankles. I will make you mine as much as you will make me yours, and I know that if it were up to me, our intertwined wings would shine like fireflies, for at least eternity.”
The mouths of the guests were wide open and the furrowed brows of some gave them an ungraceful look, but all this was the least of the worries of our two revolutionary brides.
As Gilbert gently took her hand to place the golden band next to his late mother's emerald engagement ring, Anne watched with sweet tears moistening her lips reddened by the rose of love. Her eyes, the exact colour of a summer lagoon, glistened with secrets that only Gilbert's hazel pupils could decipher.
She then took the remaining ring from the immaculately sewn white cushion. With a wry smile she took hold of Gilbert's soft yet calloused hand, which stared at her in disbelief and longing. She breathed for a second before speaking in a clear and convincing voice.
"I, Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, do solemnly swear to you, Gilbert John Blythe, to love and care for you, to cherish you at all times for better or for worse, to help you and bind up the smallest wounds. When raindrops flood your beautiful face, I will be the honey to make you smile, when you feel lost or ravaged by grief, I will become the sugar to make you whole. Since you pledge to be only mine, I promise to be only yours, on the edge between day and night, at the heart of one of our thousand and one adventures."
After a few incomprehensible words from the pastor, came the most awaited moment for the bride and groom.
"Mr. Doctor Blythe, you may now kiss the bride."
To the astonishment of all the members of the community present in the church, with one movement Anne burned the slight separation between herself and Gilbert by rising on tiptoe as she placed a kiss as warm as flannel on his lips, leaving a foretaste of delight, whetting the appetite for a most voracious meal in privacy.
At first surprised, Gilbert smiled against Anne's mouth as he placed his hands on her waist, savouring her soft curves under that enchanting white dress adorned with flowers and subtly puffed sleeves. He suddenly bent down with ardour to offer her a kiss that made the old fantasies of yesteryear pale.
It was truly inappropriate and so unworthy of society's fixed papers, and yet there they were, simply happy and in love as young Dr. Blythe carried the new Mrs. Blythe in his arms, while outside the church the children and Bash gleefully threw fresh rose petals at them.
The little celebration in the garden had been just as perfect, laughter was synonymous with melodies and old memories were in the spotlight. Luckily, the women had provided enough food to feed a whole regiment, and they were not a little proud to have concocted a purely exquisite meal in honour of these two special and different young people.
Shortly after five o'clock, the familiar melody of the Dashing White Sergeant began to emanate, as orange colours began to paint themselves in the autumnal sky. The groom rose to his feet, taking his wife's hand and leading her to the centre of the estate.
Only the two of them existed at that moment. No more noise, no more prying eyes, no more murmurs or imposed limits. They were free and powerful to eat each other's eyes as many times as their souls desired, and their bodies were so close that they were on the verge of extreme combustion. Only a few hours left...
As the others joined them, probably unaware of their torment, they communicated with their eyes to the sound of bagpipes and banjos that drove the whole of Avonlea crazy.
Without even deigning to glance at the frenzied crowd, Anne, and Gilbert shook hands, grabbing a wretched bag that the redhead had hastily and secretly prepared and hidden nearby as they quietly walked away to where their hearts called them.
When they were sure they were too far away to be seen, they began to speed up slightly, their fingers still entwined. Then, as they passed through the white way of delights, they slowed down, enjoying the silence and the musicality of the wind as the young man began to twirl her gently. The low bun that Diana had made flew up in the twilight, revealing long, fiery locks on Anne's shoulders, under Gilbert's sparkling gaze.
After a few minutes, Anne suddenly knelt down under her husband's furrowed brow as she began to pick small flowers, her fingers cradling the varieties that nature was now offering her. She picked a few dahlias, three chrysanthemums, and then was seduced by a bright yellow helianthus, which she placed in the centre of her wreath.
Gilbert was transfixed by the speed and cunning of his sweetheart, and he could not suppress the smile that beamed on his mouth as he watched her, his hazel eyes bafflingly tender. She looked up at him from time to time, winking at him before returning to her work.
It took her only a few minutes to create two crowns of fortune, serving as their blessings in their kingdom of love. Anne stood on her tiptoes again to reach Gilbert's head, placing the crown on his head before kissing him gently on the cheek. He then took her arm as he placed his other hand on her back, lifting her up as he let out a laugh.
He would then take her to their favourite place, their refuge, their secret hideout, where they had taken up residence to flourish their clandestine outings of foolishness and love. It was a little-known garden in Avonlea, once private and deserted by its remoteness from the civilised world. In the distance, from Hester's garden, named after the woman for whom this place of a hundred and two flowery scents had been built, they could see the sea dancing carelessly.
Gilbert set Anne on her feet before opening the bag, taking out an emerald green satin tablecloth, a bottle of French wine offered by Diana Barry's parents, biscuits, apples from the Blythe-Lacroix orchard and some old glasses. After they had eaten their little collation, the redhead came and hoisted herself up in the arms of her soul mate, for whom she could pay the price of her own happiness with her life. He then laid his head on that of the one who had stolen his heart at first sight, and they remained a few moments in silence, simply enjoying being together without anyone coming to disturb them.
"And to think everyone believes we're already comfortable in our house of dreams, if they knew we were planning to spend our first time under the stars, I think they'd turn as red as carrots." Anne exclaimed with a laugh as she looked up into Gilbert's eyes.
With a sly smile, he then grasped a long red lock of her hair in his fingers, caressing it with the utmost gentleness and whispering in Anne's ear: "Perhaps. However, the one and only Carrot in my life is here.
Anne then raised her arm, gently slapping him, while pointing her finger sealed by the sacred ring at his chest, camouflaged by his white shirt. "Very well. I agree to be your Carrot, I warn you, you have no interest in abusing the privilege that marriage affords you, but in these cases, you are absolutely and truly the Gill of my existence."
He laughed delightfully, his eyes crinkling lovingly.
"You always have to have the last word, but it's a tempting deal.
And then the moonlight came to greet them with its splendour, while the stars began to dot the sky with their points of light. And Gilbert and Anne felt gracefully that the famous moment had arrived.
They stood facing each other as Gilbert took out the thick pale green sheet Anne had brought with her and laid it quickly on the floor. As he looked away, he was startled by his fiancée's elbow as she called out, "Gilbert, look! There's a filler star right there! Let's make a wish!"
So, as she closed her eyes, moving her lips silently, his body was turned towards her, realising once again that his dearest wish had just been granted. Unable to contain himself any longer, he lowered himself to her height, letting the candle vibrate in her breast to kiss her with fury and longing, hunger, and thirst. Gilbert felt like a vampire drawn to the juicy taste of Anne Blythe's lips, or like an ancient Egyptian mummy brought back to life by the scent of this unique woman, his wife.
Anne responded to his kisses with madness, revived by the taste of his mouth, salty as seawater in the hollow of an arid desert. She had a slight taste of shyness and modesty at what they were about to initiate, yet she didn't let her anxieties get the better of her desire and anticipation.
After a few minutes of languid kissing, their hands were together, linking their respective little fingers raised to the shining sky as they repeated in unison:
"I love you. Forever and a day."
Gilbert then briefly removed his black suit jacket as Anne began to feel a little feverish, but still smirked. However, in time, Doctor Blythe had become an expectation in Anne's silent language.
"Everything is going to be fine, my love. I promise you, it will be like our own little candy cane and butterfly paradise." He then said in a soft, bewitching voice as he moved as close to her as possible, kissing her gently again.
During the kiss, he took the opportunity to unbutton the buttons of Anne's wedding dress with candour, sliding the sleeves over her arms, revealing her shoulders sprinkled with little freckles that made him melt with adoration.
"You are so beautiful, Anne. I've always known it, and I'll proclaim it under the roofs of all the palaces until the end of time, if I have to.” He whispered in her ear like a cloud of whipped chantilly on a chocolate pie.
Gilbert placed her with finesse on the tablecloth, while they continued to kiss while touching each other with urgency, finally letting their bodies give in to each other, tasting each other with happiness and passion.
And they say that pain is only an illusion when love is present. So let us leave the fears that have fallen into the pits of oblivion and let our spirits express themselves without thinking about nothing else.
Under the glow of the silver moon, they discovered each other fully and completely for the very first time, making that old garden and that magical night, lit by the stars and surrounded by the autumnal trees, their little corner of paradise on the planet, where dreams come true, and love is crowned king of the universe.
The crumpled sheet laid over their naked bodies, in the cool of October, as they fell asleep after a few fiery hours. Anne had her head resting on Gilbert's chest, her long locks of hair curled, somewhat tickling his broad shoulder. He opened his eyelids, watching her amorously as he placed a wet kiss on her sleeping forehead.
Not even heaven could compare to this.