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Avonlea Barndance Part 1

The night was a memorable one and Anne prepared for it by bathing and washing her hair. She wore a cream colored summer dress with embroidered green flowers. The long sleeves were just light enough to feel like air in the hot humid night. Anne pulled her hair back into an empire hairstyle, the light strands falling around her face already curling as they fell. She applied a soft blush to keep her face from shining and a light coral lip tint that accented her red hair perfectly.

When Gilbert arrived, Anne floated downstairs feeling lighter than air. She saw Gilbert standing at the door talking to Matthew and his face beamed up at her as he heard her descending. He stopped talking and it looked like the wind had been sucked out of him.

"What is it ?" she said, her knees feeling weak suddenly like she was about to hear something dreadful.

"You look so pretty" he said and she smiled timidly "well, you're always pretty but I mean...".

"Ok then" Matthew said as if to stop Gilbert from embarrassing himself further. 

Anne bid Marilla and Matthew a goodnight and said "now Matthew, don't stay up too late,  you know Dr. Ward said you need a lot of rest. I'm going to be late tonight,  we're staying afterwards to help them with the cleanup, so don't worry and most certainly do not wait up". Marilla nodded and gave Anne a squeeze "you're good to help out".

Anne and Gilbert started down the path towards the Barry house. Before they got too far, he grabbed her hand and stopped her. "I wanted to give you something before we get to Diana's." 

Anne's heart skipped a beat as she saw him pull out a small package from his pocket. It's not like she expected a proposal this early in their relationship but it still made her heart flutter just the same.

She smiled and took the small tissue package from him and slowly unfolded it. Inside she found a delicate chain and a small crafted silver fern leaf. "Oh what a glorious pendant" she said slowly "my goodness Gilbert, what's this?"

"I was packing up some of my parents' belongings to make some space for Muriel's things and I found this. It was in my mother's dowry" Gilbert said.

"But that's your mom's, I can't accept that ...you should hang onto it for, well, you don't know if you might want to give it to someone else."

"Who else would it go to?" he said, looking at her with confusion. "Of course it should go to you. I want you to have it and see you wear it." He held her gaze and said "my mother would've loved you and I told you already, it's you or it's no one".

She was so humble but she smiled proudly and looked at the tiny charm in her hand.
"you'll collect many more charms for every Anne you will become" she remembered Matthew saying again. Her heart felt like it might burst and she could not believe this was really happening to her. She kept half expecting to have Gilbert move on from her but here he was, giving her a family heirloom. He took the chain from her and stepped behind her. He placed it around her neck fastening the clasp, his fingers slightly grazing the base of her neck. A shiver passed through her, despite the hot evening air. She turned and looked at it on her chest and looked up at his face. He smiled widely and said "it's perfect" and she looked at him gratefully and then pulled him in for a warm hug.

"Thank you so much, this is such a wonderful honor, I'm so incredibly touched" she said.

"I'm glad" he responded.

When they reached Diana's they were chatting away about what she was thinking about preparing for the first lesson at school and how nervous she was. Diana was already outside waiting "sorry we got delayed" Gilbert said.

As they got closer, they saw just how beautiful Diana was.

"You look so lovely" Anne exclaimed.

Diana wore a floor-length lilac dress with cream lace overlay. The beautiful lace sleeves opened wider at the wrist. The high neck was made of ornate lace, pearls and crystals. It's cream colors contrasted beautifully with her dark raven curls and her olive complexion. She looked so delicate and lovely, as a doll. She looked very proud of herself, Anne could tell she was going to have the best night!

"Lets be off then!" she said.

They reached the barn dance a little after 7:45 and the celebrations were already in full swing. The band played a lively tune and people had punch and seemed to be having the time of their lives. This was the second dance in Avonlea and people saw it as an opportunity to show off their party clothes and sometimes step out as a couple. Everyone had their eyes on Anne and Gilbert that night and he held her hand with pride as they entered.

Diana spotted several French families in the corner of the room, laughing and celebrating with such lovely abandon. They were a happy bunch and she spotted Jerry with Amélie. The girl wore her hair in a twist and fastened it with a yellow ribbon. Her chestnut hair contrasted nicely with the yellow dress she wore. It was very simple and plain but the color went with her complexion. She was as pretty as a picture.  Diana felt something in her stomach that she couldn't quite identify when she looked at them laughing and flirting with each other. She saw Jerry and he saw her and looked away coolly. Jerry then asked Amélie to dance with him.

Their back-and-forth glances went on for a few dances while Jerry and his date were on the dance floor. Diana was standing on the sidelines having idle chat with her friends but she felt actually ridiculous to have come. She wondered if she was imagining things but it seemed to her that Jerry was spending more time looking at her then he was Amélie. That poor girl was hanging on his every word and every move.

Diana finally moved out of sight and went to sit at one of the back tables, alone and defeated. A few moments later, a glass of punch was placed in front of her and she looked up to see a very attractive dark-haired man of about 24 in front of her. He wore a full suit with starched white shirt and square cufflinks. He smelled of fresh linen and Tobacco.  "I've been waiting to speak with you and it seems the opportunity has arrived" she smiled awkwardly and thanked him for the punch.

"Hello there... my name is James Andrews. I'm Billy's cousin from Nova Scotia, how do you do ?"

"Good evening,  I'm Diana..." she extended her hand and he took it and pulled it to his mouth to embrace it.

"Enchanté, and I know you're name. I've actually inquired" he said as he sat across from her. Diana smiled and was a bit embarrassed by his forward nature but still felt impressed. She looked over and saw Jane across the room grinning at her.

"I've asked my cousin to stay over there so we could talk a bit, I hope you're all right with that" she smiled again. They spent the next 30 minutes getting acquainted. James had a witty sense of humor and lots of confidence and charisma and he only had eyes for Diana in this room. Before long they were up dancing and his dance skills and gentlemanly demeanor had Diana smiling and feeling very special. She laughed so much during the last dance that she was having trouble remembering the steps. She and Anne giggled as he and Gilbert ended up in a set together.

Everyone was in hysterics and laughing when Diana looked over and saw Jerry leaning against the barn beam with Amélie standing by his side. She was smiling beside him and watching all the dancers, looking eager to get back out there but Jerry just kept glancing up at Diana, looking troubled. He caught her eye and then looked away, rubbing at his face in irritation.

It was a really hot evening and James offered to get Diana some more refreshments. When he left, she looked over to the French families again and spotted Amélie by the table. Diana couldn't see Jerry. She searched the room to find him and spotted him by the barn door now looking at her painfully. With a quick exchange of the eyes, he tipped his head toward the outside of the barn, imploring her to follow him and he disappeared.