Between the words: Anne with an E

Letter 24

The girls sat in Diana and Anne's room in a circle on the floor. Josie had come across a book from the library, it was shoved in the middle of a book she had borrowed from school, and according to the girl, the contents would shock them. Their excitement was muted into whispers as they stayed up past their ten o'clock curfew "Diana, you should read it" Jane Andrews pushed the book closer to Diana. She rolled her eyes and began to read the detailed text.

Their eyes grew and darted around the room as they soaked in the information, Diana could not even believe the words that she read aloud. "Perhaps we shouldn't read further" Diana stopped sensibly. All of what the book explained seemed to make sense to why their parents had never wanted their daughters to know the details of being with a man. And the process seemed to make sense in Anne's head, as she had kissed and hugged Gilbert many times and yet her monthly bleeding seemed to continue. It also completely explained the improperness of Anne being in Gilbert's dorm room in Toronto. 

"Diana, as proper as you might be to the subject now, you and Henry are expected to do this once you marry, I surely want to understand what I shall be getting into" Josie added pulling the book away to read further. Anne for the first time fully agreed to what she said, there was certainly truth in that and so she listened further. It wasn't till the door opened and Josie quickly slid the book under Anne's bed was it when they had to call their reading to a close. Once the girls left Diana and Anne, they both settled into their beds, their minds filled.

"I am glad it is not painful, so much of being a woman is pain" Anne started looking up at the darkroom. It took Diana a moment to respond before Anne heard a soft voice.

"It sounds very... intimate" Diana added before rolling to her side to look at the ring that Henry had given her "But I do suppose that it is nice to know about these things, I suppose I would be shocked if I were completely unaware of it all" she added, Anne joined her and sighed. Her relationship felt like an accelerated version of their odd friendship, and so the thought of being so close to him seemed like a strange notion, but Anne did not oppose the idea. In fact, she could feel her cheeks warm at the thought of it and was glad at the fact that the room was dark. 

Anne would never admit to the dreams she had last night, but it did revolve around Gilbert and herself. It made the act of having a civilised breakfast with her fellow boarders all the more difficult. This new information made her feel hyper away from her figure and the fact that she did not possess a voluminous bosom as explicitly described in the story. A letter was placed beside her and she knew the writing to be Gilberts and one from the Global. As the table cleared she managed to sneak into her room to read her letters before she would be disturbed by her friends. She opened Gilbert's letter first.

My dearest Anne,

I have officially passed all my exams. This means that this final week I need to secure myself a position with a doctor. And after communicating with Doctor Ward he has happily provided me a job at his clinic in Charlottetown, so I shall be closer to you for a whole term. I also have managed to receive a letter from the Sorbonne, and once I graduate they would like me to do a year of research in Paris. I feel as if my opportunities are aligning, and you were the first person I wanted to share this news with my dear. I am excited to come work at the clinic, as I am certain that I will get a chance to learn more about different cases, than if I were to go to a larger hospital.

Your visit caused quite the ruckus as Earnest decided to tell the entire dormitory of your supposed 'escape' from our room. He described it as one of the most exciting events of his term - which my dear is a great compliment considering how much trouble he finds himself in regularly. This I look forward to sharing with you on my return. Now that I have bored you with my news please tell me about you, I find myself missing you more dearly as my good luck fountain pen seemed to have run out after my exams. 

I am thinking about you dearly and hope that you are doing well. I will be there for your graduation as well and from what I have heard there is to be a ball, so I hope that you save all your dances for me. 

Yours always,

Gilbert Blythe,

P.s- Why W.S. Juniper?

--

Dear Anne,

Your article has been extremely well received as I had suspected, and I now find myself pressing you to deliver another piece soon. You described Prince Edward Island so well, and your portrayal of such a controversial topic has gotten people quite a stir. In fact, I am pleased to report that the government is looking into the treatment in these residential schools, however, I am unfortunately doubtful that more can come from this. I will of course keep you up to date on the developments.

I do understand that coming to Toronto to be a tedious journey and so depending on your success on your next article we shall have to talk about future changes as I fear sending articles back and forth may not work well enough for the speed we require.

I have attached a contract to this letter and I suggest you seek professional conciliation before signing and sending it back. 

Sincerely

-- of the Globe

--

Dearest Gilbert,

Your letter arrived with another from the Globe and the editor would like me to submit another article before exploring the possibility of becoming a regular writer. But before I start with that I wanted to add that I wished that I were with you to celebrate. Imagining that I was, I would wrap my arms around you and never let you go. I am immensely proud and excited for you and hope that you are celebrating this news wherever you might be.

I can hardly believe that I am to graduate so soon, and the idea of future prospects has been tossed up so many times for me to ignore it any longer. I would adore being closer to you after I am complete and so I hope that the Globe can be flexible with our arrangements. But perhaps it shall mean that I get to be in Toronto for your final year, which could be grand. Congratulations on your exams, and I look forward to dancing the night away with you. 

I, unfortunately, need to complete my own exams, but the thought of you being there once I am done will make the whole ordeal more manageable I suppose. And to my pen-name, I will wait to see how long it takes for you to figure that one out.

Yours truly,

Anne