Part 2 of "In The Woods When First We Met"

225. The Reverend Again

Note-

In the books, the reverend is very different, but since this is story about the tv show, I'm writing him how he is in the show.

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Marilla had long given up trying to make Anne come to church, but she thought that the more religion Anne got, the better her condition would be. She told Anne to read the Bible- that it would help her- but after realizing that Anne was likely sitting with the open book and not reading it at all, she began to read to her instead.

But Anne hardly ever listened when Marilla read the Bible to her. She lay in bed, Marilla sitting by her side, patting her hair or rubbing her back, and let the words fall down over her, not taking them in at all.

Marilla had begun with Proverbs, thinking that life advice would be beneficial for Anne. But after a few days of reading, and seeing Anne wither away the more 'wisdom' she got, Marilla had turned to the Psalms.

"Psalms are comforting," she told Anne.

Anne agreed that they were, and she listened for a little while- more than she had when Marilla read Proverbs- but she found that no matter how much she tried to listen, she had lost her ability to focus on anything. Her mind too easily drifted back into darkness.

When people in town began to understand what had really happened, churchgoers started to pray for Anne, and sometimes members of the congregation tried to visit, but Anne did not want to see anyone, and Marilla stopped letting people in when it became clear that the visits only upset Anne further.

She wanted the reverend to visit Anne- surely that would help- but since Anne didn't like the reverend, she was torn over it. Finally she decided to ask the reverend to come talk to her instead of Anne. Perhaps he could offer her some advice.

Despite her long look at the library and at the mail order catalogs, she had found no book that offered any advice about coping with an assault. She found several health books, but none that discussed conditions of the mind at any great length. Marilla felt she had read the same two paragraphs over and over in every book.

But the reverend proved to be unhelpful, too.

"The real problem isn't about her feelings at all," he said. "The real problem is her defiance- and her sloth."

"Sloth?" Marilla said, surprised. She did not consider Anne's melancholy to be sloth.

"Sloth. You have allowed her to become lazy."

"Well, Reverend..."

"And as for her defiance, you have told her she must get up and do things, and she is being defiant in refusing. You must be harder on her."

"But I don't want to be hard on her," Marilla explained. "'Not after all she's been through."

The reverend insisted, "She should be in church. You must make her attend. You cannot let her give the devil a foothold."

Marilla did not know what to say to that, but she didn't need to say anything, because the reverend continued:

"But where school is concerned, I don't see why she must go back to school. It isn't necessary. At her age she surely has not yet perfected her housekeeping skills; she should stay home and work on accomplishing those."

"Well, I think a girl should start out with an education...It's a very unpredictable world, you know. Not all women marry," Marilla said pointedly, wanting the reverend to remember that she herself had never married, and if she hadn't had her brother to farm with, she may have had very different circumstances. She told him, "...I think a girl ought to have a way to make a living for herself if the need should arise."

He paused to consider this. "I would disagree," he said, "...Except in her case, perhaps you are right. We have to consider her different from other girls now, unfortunate as the case may be..."

"What do you mean, consider her different from other girls?" Marilla interrupted, feeling a small bubble of anger deep in her chest.

"I mean that we cannot assume she will be able to find a husband, after this."

"Whether she marries or not is her own decision, Reverend, but I would like to know why you think she can't find a man to marry her?"

The reverend looked uncomfortable. "A bride is meant to be pure as the driven snow, and wait for marriage. She has engaged in fornication. After the act she committed-"

"She committed?!"

"Yes."

"Reverend, how exactly do you think she committed fornication?"

The reverend said placidly, "Now, now, there's no need for upset. Surely we cannot blame the boy completely- yes, he ought to have had more self-control, but he only fell prey to natural urges."

"So his natural urges made it acceptable for him to attack my child?" Marilla's voice shook.

"That is not what I am saying."

"Then what are you saying?"

"Are you quite sure that Anne wasn't doing anything to make herself a temptation to this young man?"

"I think our conversation here is finished," Marilla said sharply. She stood up. "I'd like you to leave now."

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Ok so I may not update again til next week. I need a little time because the next chapter I'm going to post is the most important chapter in the whole story so I just want some time to make sure it's exactly the way I want it. I think when you read it you will see why it's the most important to me.