In the Woods When First We Met

145. Let All That You Do Be Done In Love

Gilbert stopped the buggy and jumped out.

Then, after a second thought, he got back in the buggy and parked it behind the barn. Hopefully no one would see- if the Andrews arrived, he thought it was best if they didn't know someone had come to "warn" the Cuthberts.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Marilla answered and looked at him expectantly. "Yes?"

He asked, "Is Anne here?"

Marilla looked surprised that a boy would be here for Anne.

Anne is much too young for a boy to come calling, she thought, even if it is a good boy like John Blythe's son.

"No, she's not," she said rather questioningly, wanting to ask why he was here. "Matthew took her in to town. They're still gone."

"She's in town right now?" He asked. He hadn't seen her.

Marilla nodded. "I can let her know you stopped by...?"

Gilbert looked off to the side, thinking. Should he go back into town and try to find her? He could let her know that the Andrews were...no, if Mrs. Andrews was on her way home from town now, it might be only a few minutes before she relayed the information to her husband and they'd be on their way to Green Gables.

The prospect of Mr. Cuthbert arriving home with Anne at the very same moment the Andrews pulled up to Green Gables to confront them, was unthinkable. There would be no warning at all, no time for Anne to explain- she'd be standing there, in the middle of a group of at least four angry adults. He shook his head at the very thought. No, this had to happen now.

He looked back at Marilla and asked, "Miss Cuthbert, could I come in and talk to you for a minute?"

Marilla looks surprised. After a moment, she opened the door to him.

Gilbert stood there in the entryway, holding his hat in his hands, nervously. He didn't say anything.

Marilla noticed how worried he looked.

She said, "Come into the kitchen and sit down."

He followed her in.

Marilla stood there looking at him expectantly for a moment.

Then, seeing that whatever it was, it wasn't going to come out easily, she said: "I've just put some tea on; let me see if it's ready."

She turned away from him.

Gilbert sat down, the chair noisily scraping the floor as he pulled it out from the table.

A moment later Marilla set a teacup down in front of him. She sat down, too, and faced him, her cup between her hands. "Now, what do you want to speak to me about?"

Gilbert took a deep breath. It was now or never. Please don't hate me, Anne. I wouldn't do this to you, if there was any other way.

"The first day I met Anne, on the way to school...I happened to come upon her and...uh, a boy...in the woods..." Gilbert did not know how to say any of this. He finished, uncomfortably: "Together."

As soon as he said it, he knew it hadn't come out right, but he felt woefully unprepared, not having had any plan for how to say it and not really even knowing how to describe what had happened in the first place.

Marilla raised her eyebrows- her first thought being consensual impropriety.

She looked up at the ceiling as if looking to God for guidance. "I realize that Anne had been exposed to things at an early age, but I didn't think she'd had any personal involvement in immoral deeds." She looked absolutely heartbroken. "...I must admit I'm dismayed to hear this. It's not the sort of girl we want her to be..."

Gilbert shook his head, "No, Miss Cuthbert, it wasn't like that. She wasn't meeting him, she was just walking to school. He's the one who was planning to..." Gilbert stopped and started over. "He was waiting in the woods for her; he knew she'd have to pass through on her way to school and..."

Marilla had a very brief moment where she felt relief that Anne wasn't engaging in impurity. "So Anne wasn't-"

Gilbert shook his head. "No, she wasn't. He...attacked her. She didn't have a chance to get away or to help herself."

Marilla's moment of relief was gone as quickly as it had come. She stared at him. "Are you saying..."

Gilbert didn't know the right vocabulary for what had happened to Anne. He hoped Marilla would understand his meaning.

Gilbert took a deep breath. "He violated her, Miss Cuthbert."

Marilla's face was white as a sheet. When she spoke, her voice was shaky. "Who is this boy?"

"Billy Andrews."

The name felt like a weight being dropped.

Realization formed in Marilla's eyes. "Her wrist...my God..."

There was a second of silence before Gilbert rushed on, emotion showing in his face: "I came upon them but I was too late to stop it. It was over before I got there...I wish I'd been able to do more."

Gilbert looked despondent, looking down into his teacup, and repeated: "I wish I'd been able to do more."

He took a deep breath, looking up at Marilla's ashen face. "Anne has refused to speak about it to anyone, and I hate to go against her wishes. But I finally decided that you must know...to defend her. You see, others know, now. Some of the girls at school, and...the Andrews know, too, but they believe Anne is telling lies. They'll blame Anne; they don't understand what really happened. I overheard Mrs. Andrews say that she was going home to get her husband and they were coming over here to confront you. I had to warn you they're coming...I couldn't let them ambush you. If Anne had been here right now I would have pressed her to tell you herself, but she isn't, and I'm afraid that time is of the essence...I don't know how quickly they'll get here but it was urgent that you understand the truth before they come here and try to sell you on lies."

Marilla's hands were shaking around her teacup, she slowly breathed out. This was a lot to take in.

Gilbert looked at her, pleading in his eyes, silently begging her not to be angry with him for keeping this from her, begging her to understand that his only desire was to protect Anne.

"I've been doing my best to look out for her. I've been meeting her on the way so I can walk with her to school and back to make sure she's not left vulnerable. And I've been keeping a close eye on her in school, too, so that Billy can't upset her during the day. But..."

"But?"

"But she needs more." Gilbert finished, staring down at the teacup in his hands. "I don't know what, but she needs more."

Just then they heard the front door creak as it swung on its hinges.

Anne's voice, sounding a lot more relaxed now, called out: "Marilla, we're home! Matthew dropped me off, he's gone over to Jerry's house to give his mother a message about when they'd start up work again, but he said he'll be back before dinner. Look what Matthew bought for me at the store-" Anne talked noisily until she entered the kitchen- then stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Gilbert sitting at the table across from Marilla.

Anne looked back and forth from Gilbert to Marilla.

Gilbert's eyes already looked sorry.

Marilla said gently, "Anne, come here," and she held out her arms to Anne in perhaps the most loving and motherly gesture Anne had ever been given in her whole life.

But Anne didn't even notice. She was staring at Gilbert.

"I trusted you," she said, tears springing to her eyes.

She turned and ran from the house; the swirly orange and green sucker Matthew had bought for her falling to the floor and cracking into pieces.

The door slammed shut behind her, leaving a gust of cold wind in her wake.