Anne Shirley Cuthbert... Bylthe - translation

Meetings and reunions

Anne was overexcited today, and even though she was still smiling, Roy Gardner (who had become her friend in the meantime) was surprised at her good humour when he saw her arrive on that splendid Friday in October. 

"Anne, what puts you in such a good mood this morning? Don't tell me that it's the literature class that puts you in this state, the book we are studying is far from being interesting...

- Oh Roy, if you only knew... Gilbert! He's arriving today from Toronto and he'll spend a few days here, and I'm also finally going back to Avonlea this weekend! And please, I know you don't like Thoreau, but from there to finding him uninteresting...

- I see, it's wonderful Anne, that you can finally see him again. Roy replied with a sincere smile. 

- Oh and now that I think about it, this afternoon we're going to have tea at Aunt Jo's with Gilbert, his friend Fred who is also coming and Diana, there will be Cole too, you should come. 

- I'll... I don't know Anne. I don't want to invite myself, and maybe he won't like me at all, and ...

- Stop, of course he'll like you, you're my friend Roy, and my friends are his friends. And you don't invite yourself, Gilbert takes a friend with him too. And I've already told him about you in one of my letters, he'll be happy to meet you and to know who I spend my college days with.

- All right then, I'll come". Anne was finally satisfied and returned to her reading of Walden. She would have an exam soon on this book and she was determined to pass. But her mind wandered quickly, only a few more hours and she would finally be with Gilbert. She had so much to tell him and show him! She left to meet Diana who was to accompany her to the station to pick up Gilbert and Fred, she had also asked Roy to go with them, since they were going straight to Aunt Jo's house afterwards.

Gilbert felt both nervous and impatient, what if she had changed her mind? What if she had found someone else in Charlottetown? What about this Roy?Fred, seeing him nervous, put his hand on his shoulder and said to him

"Hey Blythe, it's going to be all right, don't worry, and if she's really like you told me, she'll be waiting for you and jump into your arms as soon as you get off the train.

- I know, I know, thanks Fred"

They arrived at the station, and Gilbert saw through the window that Anne had put on the same blue dress she had worn the last time he had seen her. He saw only her on the platform, and a big smile lit up on her face. He went down and took her in his arms.

"I missed you so much, my Anne.

- I missed you too, if you only knew how much. She replied, looking him in the eyes."

He would have liked to kiss her but he realised that the station was probably not the best place for that, so he took her hand and walked towards Fred, Diana and Roy who looked at them with a smile. Gilbert spoke first: 

"Anne, Diana, this is Fred, the best friend I could find in Toronto, he smiled.

- Nice to meet you Fred," Anne responded warmly, shaking his hand. 

-Gilbert, Fred, this is Roy Gardner, he's in university with me".

 Gilbert gave Anne and Fred a troubled look, what is he doing here? They shook his hand without much enthusiasm. Then they all left together for Miss Barry's house. Anne and Gilbert held hands, but each spoke with his neighbour, namely Anne with Fred and Gilbert with Diana.

 "I am happy to see you again Diana, and in a better mood than last time, he said laughing, even if I am more than grateful to you.

- I'm also happy to see you again Gil, I missed our friendship, Diana replied with a smile.

- Tell me, what is Roy doing with us? Do you know this guy?

- No, not especially, but I think Anne invited him to tea at Aunt Jo's house.Gilbert seemed surprised, but answered nothing. He would ask Anne for explanations later. They arrived at Miss Barry's house and were greeted by Cole, who had a big smile on his face, he had really missed his friends. Gilbert was at first surprised to see him, he had grown a lot since he had last seen him, but he was happy to see him again, he had always liked Cole very much. He also noticed that Roy was nervous behind him and wondered why. Was he planning to tell Anne something, or him? They all sat down and made the introductions. Anne glowed with joy when she saw Roy chatting with Cole. And stepped back into her seat for a moment to look at those around her, Diana and Fred were talking, Aunt Jo and Gilbert too. Gilbert. She stopped on top of him and looked at him with a smile and began to chat with them. 

Late in the afternoon they all left, except Miss Barry, to take a walk in the gardens of the property. They were all in groups of two, a few metres apart. Gilbert thought it was a good time to talk about Roy with Anne.

"Anne, let's go and sit on this bench for a while.

- Yes, good idea, the pond in front is really beautiful. 

- Anne I ... why is Roy here with us? Do you get on so well with him that you can take him with you to pick me up at the station?

 - Oh Gilbert. Did you really think I liked him very much and that he had replaced you? Do you know me that badly? She got up and wanted to leave but he held her down by the wrist.

 - No, of course, I was just wondering, Anne please sit down. You told me about it briefly in a letter and you said he was just a friend. I just wanted to know, he replied softly, thinking that she had been right, but he didn't want to show it to her, he wanted to hear her side of things first.

- He's a friend, the only one I really have in my college class, but you'll know that I brought him here to meet Cole, that's the only reason he's here, she replied coldly, still needing some time to calm down.

- Cole? Why is that? asked Gilbert, who wasn't aware of Cole's attraction to men.

- Oh it's a bit complicated, I don't know if I have the right to talk to you about it, it's something Cole confided in me and I wouldn't want to betray his confidence by telling you without him wanting to," answered Anne hesitantly. I figured they would get along and and both of them need friends here in Charlottetown.

 - Okay, I'm sorry Anne, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.

- It's OK, I shouldn't have gotten upset either. Have you seen Fred and Diana? They seem to be getting on well.

- Yes, that's what I thought, let's go and find them, our train to Avonlea leaves soon. Diana's coming too, isn't she?

- Yes of course, she hesitated a lot because she has a lot of work to do, but she thought her parents would be happy to see her. They said goodbye to Cole and Roy, Anne discreetly winked at them, went to Blackmore Manor to get Anne and Diana's suitcases and left together for the station. They were all excited to see their families again and Fred to meet Gilbert's family. They arrived in Avonlea together and left for their respective homes, promising to see each other again the next day. Anne and Gilbert walked away for a moment, he took her in his arms and gave her a tender hug. When they parted, Gilbert looked at her lovingly and whispered "I missed that too". She blushed, kissed him on the cheek and left to join Diana so that they could walk a little way together. Gilbert and Fred left on their own. Anne saw Fred waving discreetly to Diana, she smiled when she saw that. _______________________________________________________________________________Thanks for reading me! The next chapter should be coming up very soon with the reunion with Bash, Delly, Marilla, Matthew and all the others :) Vote and comment! I love to get your feedback on my chapters :)