Anne of the Island 4 - Home Again
The first month at Redmond College had seemed long, but the rest of the term went by quickly. Before they realized how much time had gone by, Anne and all the Redmond students were facing their exams. When the results came back, the top places in first-year subjects were taken by Anne, Gilbert, and Philippa. Priscilla did very well, and Charlie scraped through respectably.
After exams, came vacation. "I can't believe that this time tomorrow I'll be in Green Gables," said Anne to Philippa on the night before her departure. "But I shall be. And you, Phil, will be in Bolingbroke with Alec and Alonzo."
"I'm longing to see them," admitted Philippa. "They really are such nice boys. And in Bolingbroke there'll be dances and parties and all kinds of fun. But I shall never forgive you, Queen Anne, for not coming home with me for the holidays."
"I'm sure you'll forgive me. 'Never' lasts only three days with you, Phil!" joked Anne. "It was sweet of you to ask me and I'd love to go to Bolingbroke someday. I'd especially like to see the house where my parents lived and where I was born. But these holidays I must visit Green Gables."
"You won't have a very good time," said Phil scornfully. "It sounds so boring there!"
"In Avonlea?" said Anne, highly amused.
"If you'd come with me to Bolingbroke," Phil insisted, "you'd have a wonderful time. People would go wild over you, Anne—your hair and your style and, oh, everything! You're so unique."
"That sounds interesting, Phil, but picture this," Anne said. "I'm going home to an old country farmhouse, once green, rather faded now, set among some apple orchards. There's a stream nearby, and down the road is a wood with old fir trees. In the farmhouse there will be two middle-aged ladies: one tall and thin, one short and fat. They are Marilla and Mrs. Lynde. And there will be the twins, Dora and Davy—one a perfect model, the other what Mrs. Lynde calls a 'terror.' There will be a little room upstairs with an old feather bed, which will seem like heaven after sleeping on that hard mattress in the boardinghouse. How do you like my picture, Phil?"
"It seems a very dull one," said Phil with a frown.
"Oh, but I've left out one thing," said Anne softly. "There'll be love there, Phil—love like nowhere else in the world, tender love that's waiting for me. That makes my picture a masterpiece, doesn't it, even if the colors are not very bright?"
Phil got up, went up to Anne, and hugged her. "Anne, I wish I were like you," she said soberly.
The following evening Diana met Anne at the Avonlea station. As they drove up the lane, Anne saw that Green Gables had a very festive appearance. A candle burned in every window, and in the yard was a big bonfire with two little figures, Davy and Dora, dancing around it.
"Davy was determined to make a bonfire for you," Diana told Anne. Anne got out of the buggy, and Davy hugged her tightly. Even Dora held her hand.
"Isn't it a great bonfire, Anne?" asked Davy. "I'll poke it—see the sparks? I did it for you because I was so glad you were coming home."
The kitchen door opened and Marilla greeted Anne. Marilla had a big smile, but not too big, since she had the old-fashioned belief that you should not show too much emotion. Mrs. Lynde was behind her, smiling warmly. They both hugged Anne and welcomed her home. This was the love Anne had described to Phil.
A few days later, Anne met her old friend Jane Andrews. After they had caught up on each other's news, Jane grew silent. Then she turned to Anne. "I want to ask you something, Anne," she said solemnly. "What do you think of my brother Billy?"
Anne gasped at this unexpected question. Goodness, what did she think of Billy Andrews?
Anne had never thought anything about him. He was just the round-faced, perpetually smiling, not too smart, good-natured Billy Andrews. "I—I don't understand, Jane," Anne stammered. "What do you mean . . . exactly?"
"Do you like Billy?" asked Jane bluntly.
"Oh, uh—yes, I like him, of course," said Anne. Anne knew that she didn't dislike him. What exactly was Jane trying to say?
"Would you like him for a husband?" asked Jane calmly.
"A husband!" Anne exclaimed.
"Billy wants to marry you," Jane explained. "He's always been crazy about you. But he was too shy to ask you himself, so he got me to do it. I didn't want to ask you, but he insisted. Well, what do you think, Anne?"
Was it a dream? Anne did not know whether she wanted to laugh or cry, but she could do neither, because she didn't want to hurt Jane's feelings. "I—I can't marry your brother, Jane," Anne said. "It never even occurred to me that Billy would ask!"
"Well, think it over, Anne," said Jane. "Billy is a good fellow."
"I'm sorry, I can't marry Billy," said Anne firmly.
"Well, you've made your decision, Anne," replied Jane somewhat coldly. "And I hope you won't regret it. Billy is a good fellow, even if he is my brother. Anyway, he also likes Nettie Blewett, so he'll probably ask her."
"Nettie Blewett!" Anne thought. After Jane had gone, Anne laughed but she also felt a hint of sadness.
Anne had imagined that her first proposal would be very romantic, and that it would come from someone who was handsome, distinguished, and eloquent—her own Prince Charming. There was nothing romantic about this proposal! Billy Andrews had asked his sister to propose for him, and if Anne wouldn't marry him, he would ask Nettie Blewett instead.
"Well, that ends my romantic dream," thought Anne sadly, "even if it was a bit girlish."
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