wohnzimmer inspiration braun
chapter xxviiithe prince comes back to the enchanted palace the last day of school came and went.a triumphant "semi-annual examination" was held and anne's pupils acquitted themselvessplendidly. at the close they gave her an address and awriting desk. all the girls and ladies present cried, andsome of the boys had it cast up to them later on that they cried too, although theyalways denied it. mrs. harmon andrews, mrs. peter sloane, andmrs. william bell walked home together and talked things over.
"i do think it is such a pity anne isleaving when the children seem so much attached to her," sighed mrs. peter sloane,who had a habit of sighing over everything and even finished off her jokes that way. "to be sure," she added hastily, "we allknow we'll have a good teacher next year too.""jane will do her duty, i've no doubt," said mrs. andrews rather stiffly. "i don't suppose she'll tell the childrenquite so many fairy tales or spend so much time roaming about the woods with them. but she has her name on the inspector'sroll of honor and the newbridge people are
in a terrible state over her leaving.""i'm real glad anne is going to college," said mrs. bell. "she has always wanted it and it will be asplendid thing for her." "well, i don't know."mrs. andrews was determined not to agree fully with anybody that day. "i don't see that anne needs any moreeducation. she'll probably be marrying gilbert blythe,if his infatuation for her lasts till he gets through college, and what good willlatin and greek do her then? if they taught you at college how to managea man there might be some sense in her
going." mrs. harmon andrews, so avonlea gossipwhispered, had never learned how to manage her "man," and as a result the andrewshousehold was not exactly a model of domestic happiness. "i see that the charlottetown call to mr.allan is up before the presbytery," said mrs. bell."that means we'll be losing him soon, i suppose." "they're not going before september," saidmrs. sloane. "it will be a great loss to thecommunity...though i always did think that
mrs. allan dressed rather too gay for aminister's wife. but we are none of us perfect. did you notice how neat and snug mr.harrison looked today? i never saw such a changed man.he goes to church every sunday and has subscribed to the salary." "hasn't that paul irving grown to be a bigboy?" said mrs. andrews. "he was such a mite for his age when hecame here. i declare i hardly knew him today. he's getting to look a lot like hisfather."
"he's a smart boy," said mrs. bell. "he's smart enough, but"...mrs. andrewslowered her voice..."i believe he tells queer stories. gracie came home from school one day lastweek with the greatest rigmarole he had told her about people who lived down at theshore...stories there couldn't be a word of truth in, you know. i told gracie not to believe them, and shesaid paul didn't intend her to. but if he didn't what did he tell them toher for?" "anne says paul is a genius," said mrs.sloane.
"he may be.you never know what to expect of them americans," said mrs. andrews. mrs. andrews' only acquaintance with theword "genius" was derived from the colloquial fashion of calling any eccentricindividual "a queer genius." she probably thought, with mary joe, thatit meant a person with something wrong in his upper story. back in the schoolroom anne was sittingalone at her desk, as she had sat on the first day of school two years before, herface leaning on her hand, her dewy eyes looking wistfully out of the window to thelake of shining waters.
her heart was so wrung over the partingwith her pupils that for a moment college had lost all its charm. she still felt the clasp of annetta bell'sarms about her neck and heard the childish wail, "i'll never love any teacher as muchas you, miss shirley, never, never." for two years she had worked earnestly andfaithfully, making many mistakes and learning from them.she had had her reward. she had taught her scholars something, butshe felt that they had taught her much more...lessons of tenderness, self-control,innocent wisdom, lore of childish hearts. perhaps she had not succeeded in"inspiring" any wonderful ambitions in her
pupils, but she had taught them, more byher own sweet personality than by all her careful precepts, that it was good and necessary in the years that were beforethem to live their lives finely and graciously, holding fast to truth andcourtesy and kindness, keeping aloof from all that savored of falsehood and meannessand vulgarity. they were, perhaps, all unconscious ofhaving learned such lessons; but they would remember and practice them long after theyhad forgotten the capital of afghanistan and the dates of the wars of the roses. "another chapter in my life is closed,"said anne aloud, as she locked her desk.
she really felt very sad over it; but theromance in the idea of that "closed chapter" did comfort her a little. anne spent a fortnight at echo lodge earlyin her vacation and everybody concerned had a good time. she took miss lavendar on a shoppingexpedition to town and persuaded her to buy a new organdy dress; then came theexcitement of cutting and making it together, while the happy charlotta thefourth basted and swept up clippings. miss lavendar had complained that she couldnot feel much interest in anything, but the sparkle came back to her eyes over herpretty dress.
"what a foolish, frivolous person i mustbe," she sighed. "i'm wholesomely ashamed to think that anew dress... even it is a forget-me-not organdy...should exhilarate me so, when agood conscience and an extra contribution to foreign missions couldn't do it." midway in her visit anne went home to greengables for a day to mend the twins' stockings and settle up davy's accumulatedstore of questions. in the evening she went down to the shoreroad to see paul irving. as she passed by the low, square window ofthe irving sitting room she caught a glimpse of paul on somebody's lap; but thenext moment he came flying through the
hall. "oh, miss shirley," he cried excitedly,"you can't think what has happened! something so splendid.father is here... just think of that! father is here! come right in.father, this is my beautiful teacher. you know, father."stephen irving came forward to meet anne with a smile. he was a tall, handsome man of middle age,with iron-gray hair, deep-set, dark blue eyes, and a strong, sad face, splendidlymodeled about chin and brow.
just the face for a hero of romance, annethought with a thrill of intense satisfaction. it was so disappointing to meet someone whoought to be a hero and find him bald or stooped, or otherwise lacking in manlybeauty. anne would have thought it dreadful if theobject of miss lavendar's romance had not looked the part. "so this is my little son's 'beautifulteacher,' of whom i have heard so much," said mr. irving with a hearty handshake. "paul's letters have been so full of you,miss shirley, that i feel as if i were
pretty well acquainted with you already.i want to thank you for what you have done for paul. i think that your influence has been justwhat he needed. mother is one of the best and dearest ofwomen; but her robust, matter-of-fact scotch common sense could not alwaysunderstand a temperament like my laddie's. what was lacking in her you have supplied. between you, i think paul's training inthese two past years has been as nearly ideal as a motherless boy's could be."everybody likes to be appreciated. under mr. irving's praise anne's face"burst flower like into rosy bloom," and
the busy, weary man of the world, lookingat her, thought he had never seen a fairer, sweeter slip of girlhood than this little "down east" schoolteacher with her red hairand wonderful eyes. paul sat between them blissfully happy."i never dreamed father was coming," he said radiantly. "even grandma didn't know it.it was a great surprise. as a general thing ..."paul shook his brown curls gravely..."i don't like to be surprised. you lose all the fun of expecting thingswhen you're surprised.
but in a case like this it is all right.father came last night after i had gone to bed. and after grandma and mary joe had stoppedbeing surprised he and grandma came upstairs to look at me, not meaning to wakeme up till morning. but i woke right up and saw father. i tell you i just sprang at him.""with a hug like a bear's," said mr. irving, putting his arms around paul'sshoulder smilingly. "i hardly knew my boy, he had grown so bigand brown and sturdy." "i don't know which was the most pleased tosee father, grandma or i," continued paul.
"grandma's been in kitchen all day makingthe things father likes to eat. she wouldn't trust them to mary joe, shesays. that's her way of showing gladness. i like best just to sit and talk to father.but i'm going to leave you for a little while now if you'll excuse me.i must get the cows for mary joe. that is one of my daily duties." when paul had scampered away to do his"daily duty" mr. irving talked to anne of various matters.but anne felt that he was thinking of something else underneath all the time.
presently it came to the surface."in paul's last letter he spoke of going with you to visit an old ...friend ofmine...miss lewis at the stone house in grafton. do you know her well?" "yes, indeed, she is a very dear friend ofmine," was anne's demure reply, which gave no hint of the sudden thrill that tingledover her from head to foot at mr. irving's question. anne "felt instinctively" that romance waspeeping at her around a corner. mr. irving rose and went to the window,looking out on a great, golden, billowing
sea where a wild wind was harping. for a few moments there was silence in thelittle dark-walled room. then he turned and looked down into anne'ssympathetic face with a smile, half- whimsical, half-tender. "i wonder how much you know," he said."i know all about it," replied anne promptly."you see," she explained hastily, "miss lavendar and i are very intimate. she wouldn't tell things of such a sacrednature to everybody. we are kindred spirits.""yes, i believe you are.
well, i am going to ask a favor of you. i would like to go and see miss lavendar ifshe will let me. will you ask her if i may come?"would she not? oh, indeed she would! yes, this was romance, the very, the realthing, with all the charm of rhyme and story and dream. it was a little belated, perhaps, like arose blooming in october which should have bloomed in june; but none the less a rose,all sweetness and fragrance, with the gleam of gold in its heart.
never did anne's feet bear her on a morewilling errand than on that walk through the beechwoods to grafton the next morning.she found miss lavendar in the garden. anne was fearfully excited. her hands grew cold and her voice trembled."miss lavendar, i have something to tell you...something very important.can you guess what it is?" anne never supposed that miss lavendarcould guess; but miss lavendar's face grew very pale and miss lavendar said in aquiet, still voice, from which all the color and sparkle that miss lavendar'svoice usually suggested had faded. "stephen irving is home?""how did you know?
who told you?" cried anne disappointedly,vexed that her great revelation had been anticipated."nobody. i knew that must be it, just from the wayyou spoke." "he wants to come and see you," said anne."may i send him word that he may?" "yes, of course," fluttered miss lavendar. "there is no reason why he shouldn't.he is only coming as any old friend might." anne had her own opinion about that as shehastened into the house to write a note at miss lavendar's desk. "oh, it's delightful to be living in astorybook," she thought gaily.
"it will come out all right of course...itmust...and paul will have a mother after his own heart and everybody will be happy. but mr. irving will take miss lavendaraway...and dear knows what will happen to the little stone house...and so there aretwo sides to it, as there seems to be to everything in this world." the important note was written and anneherself carried it to the grafton post office, where she waylaid the mail carrierand asked him to leave it at the avonlea office. "it's so very important," anne assured himanxiously.
the mail carrier was a rather grumpy oldpersonage who did not at all look the part of a messenger of cupid; and anne was nonetoo certain that his memory was to be trusted. but he said he would do his best toremember and she had to be contented with that. charlotta the fourth felt that some mysterypervaded the stone house that afternoon...a mystery from which she was excluded.miss lavendar roamed about the garden in a distracted fashion. anne, too, seemed possessed by a demon ofunrest, and walked to and fro and went up
and down. charlotta the fourth endured it tillpatience ceased to be a virtue; then she confronted anne on the occasion of thatromantic young person's third aimless peregrination through the kitchen. "please, miss shirley, ma'am," saidcharlotta the fourth, with an indignant toss of her very blue bows, "it's plain tobe seen you and miss lavendar have got a secret and i think, begging your pardon if i'm too forward, miss shirley, ma'am, thatit's real mean not to tell me when we've all been such chums."
"oh, charlotta dear, i'd have told you allabout it if it were my secret...but it's miss lavendar's, you see. however, i'll tell you this much...and ifnothing comes of it you must never breathe a word about it to a living soul.you see, prince charming is coming tonight. he came long ago, but in a foolish momentwent away and wandered afar and forgot the secret of the magic pathway to theenchanted castle, where the princess was weeping her faithful heart out for him. but at last he remembered it again and theprincess is waiting still...because nobody but her own dear prince could carry heroff."
"oh, miss shirley, ma'am, what is that inprose?" gasped the mystified charlotta. anne laughed."in prose, an old friend of miss lavendar's is coming to see her tonight." "do you mean an old beau of hers?" demandedthe literal charlotta. "that is probably what i do mean...inprose," answered anne gravely. "it is paul's father...stephen irving. and goodness knows what will come of it,but let us hope for the best, charlotta." "i hope that he'll marry miss lavendar,"was charlotta's unequivocal response. "some women's intended from the start to beold maids, and i'm afraid i'm one of them,
miss shirley, ma'am, because i've awfullittle patience with the men. but miss lavendar never was. and i've been awful worried, thinking whaton earth she'd do when i got so big i'd have to go to boston. there ain't any more girls in our familyand dear knows what she'd do if she got some stranger that might laugh at herpretendings and leave things lying round out of their place and not be willing to becalled charlotta the fifth. she might get someone who wouldn't be asunlucky as me in breaking dishes but she'd never get anyone who'd love her better."
and the faithful little handmaiden dashedto the oven door with a sniff. they went through the form of having tea asusual that night at echo lodge; but nobody really ate anything. after tea miss lavendar went to her roomand put on her new forget-me-not organdy, while anne did her hair for her. both were dreadfully excited; but misslavendar pretended to be very calm and indifferent. "i must really mend that rent in thecurtain tomorrow," she said anxiously, inspecting it as if it were the only thingof any importance just then.
"those curtains have not worn as well asthey should, considering the price i paid. dear me, charlotta has forgotten to dustthe stair railing again. i really must speak to her about it." anne was sitting on the porch steps whenstephen irving came down the lane and across the garden. "this is the one place where time standsstill," he said, looking around him with delighted eyes. "there is nothing changed about this houseor garden since i was here twenty-five years ago.it makes me feel young again."
"you know time always does stand still inan enchanted palace," said anne seriously. "it is only when the prince comes thatthings begin to happen." mr. irving smiled a little sadly into heruplifted face, all astar with its youth and promise."sometimes the prince comes too late," he said. he did not ask anne to translate her remarkinto prose. like all kindred spirits he "understood." "oh, no, not if he is the real princecoming to the true princess," said anne, shaking her red head decidedly, as sheopened the parlor door.
when he had gone in she shut it tightlybehind him and turned to confront charlotta the fourth, who was in the hall, all "nodsand becks and wreathed smiles." "oh, miss shirley, ma'am," she breathed, "ipeeked from the kitchen window...and he's awful handsome...and just the right age formiss lavendar. and oh, miss shirley, ma'am, do you thinkit would be much harm to listen at the door?" "it would be dreadful, charlotta," saidanne firmly, "so just you come away with me out of the reach of temptation.""i can't do anything, and it's awful to hang round just waiting," sighed charlotta.
"what if he don't propose after all, missshirley, ma'am? you can never be sure of them men.my older sister, charlotta the first, thought she was engaged to one once. but it turned out he had a differentopinion and she says she'll never trust one of them again. and i heard of another case where a manthought he wanted one girl awful bad when it was really her sister he wanted all thetime. when a man don't know his own mind, missshirley, ma'am, how's a poor woman going to be sure of it?""we'll go to the kitchen and clean the
silver spoons," said anne. "that's a task which won't require muchthinking fortunately... for i couldn't think tonight.and it will pass the time." it passed an hour. then, just as anne laid down the lastshining spoon, they heard the front door shut.both sought comfort fearfully in each other's eyes. "oh, miss shirley, ma'am," gaspedcharlotta, "if he's going away this early there's nothing into it and never will be."they flew to the window.
mr. irving had no intention of going away. he and miss lavendar were strolling slowlydown the middle path to the stone bench. "oh, miss shirley, ma'am, he's got his armaround her waist," whispered charlotta the fourth delightedly. "he must have proposed to her or she'dnever allow it." anne caught charlotta the fourth by her ownplump waist and danced her around the kitchen until they were both out of breath. "oh, charlotta," she cried gaily, "i'mneither a prophetess nor the daughter of a prophetess but i'm going to make aprediction.
there'll be a wedding in this old stonehouse before the maple leaves are red. do you want that translated into prose,charlotta?" "no, i can understand that," saidcharlotta. "a wedding ain't poetry.why, miss shirley, ma'am, you're crying! what for?" "oh, because it's all so beautiful...andstory bookish...and romantic...and sad," said anne, winking the tears out of hereyes. "it's all perfectly lovely...but there's alittle sadness mixed up in it too, somehow."
"oh, of course there's a resk in marryinganybody," conceded charlotta the fourth, "but, when all's said and done, missshirley, ma'am, there's many a worse thing than a husband."