Thread by @lainasparetime

Right, let's do today's Anne chapter! #LainaReadsAnne

#LainaReadsAnne When we finished the last chapter, Anne and Marilla had just arrived at Mrs Spencer's house, who was the one who brought Anne from the asylum. She's obviously surprised to see them and is quick to shift the blame for the situation around.

#LainaReadsAnne I get a weird feeling off her, and I'm not sure why. She's probably fine. There's just something that doesn't sit right about her.

Anyways, the reason for the mix-up is that the Cuthberts told her brother who told his daughter who told Mrs Spencer.

#LainaReadsAnne Moral of the story, don't rely on word of mouth/a game of Telephone to pick your orphan for you.

#LainaReadsAnne Marilla wants to know if Anne can be sent back to the asylum and Mrs Spencer says that another woman, a Mrs Blewitt, had just visited saying she wished she'd asked Mrs Spencer to bring home a little girl for her.

#LainaReadsAnne Her reason? She has a large family and "finds it hard to get help".

Ya see where this is going? Yeah, I don't like it either.

#LainaReadsAnne Marilla is also uneasy about this idea. She knows Mrs Blewitt to be a "terrble worker and driver" and that "discharged servant girls told fearsome tales of her temper and stinginess, and her family of pert, quarrelsome children."

#LainaReadsAnne Honestly I rather enjoy these chapters where you get some of Marilla's POV. She never says everything she's thinking, and her thoughts are very interesting.

There's something interesting, also, about how she's been rather critical of other women so far.

#LainaReadsAnne I think the parts of it that are the most interesting is that she's not critical of them because of appearance or, like, their choices in having children or anything like that.

She is always critical about the way they do their "work".

#LainaReadsAnne When you're talking about housework or homekeeping in this context (or truly, in any context, but let's stick with this) it's not just about how well you vacuum or sweep or whatever. Everything you do affects others.

#LainaReadsAnne You don't keep your house clean and your children get the plague, they could take out a bunch of other kids getting them sick, too. You treat your housekeeping staff badly - do they have anywhere else to go?

#LainaReadsAnne Though she doesn't seem to like to admit, Marilla especially seems to have a definite soft spot for more vulnerable people being taken advantage of.

Montgomery valued this type of work very highly, and I don't think she approve of people not doing it well.

#LainaReadsAnne It's very interesting to look at.

So, Marilla is very uneasy with the idea of Anne going with Mrs. Blewitt... who just so happens to be riding up outside at that very moment. DRAMA.

#LainaReadsAnne Anne sits very quietly and watches Mrs Blewitt who's described as a "sharp-faced, sharpe-eyed" woman. She's so nervous and on edge and is struggling very hard not to break down in tears.

#LainaReadsAnne Again, the only other times she's cried was IMMEDIATELY after the home she was expecting to have was ripped away from her, and when she was alone in bed. Anne is a tough cookie.

#LainaReadsAnne Mrs Blewitt basically wants someone to clean and take care of her kids and if that someone is an 11 year old orphaned child, she's fine with that.

I don't like Mrs Blewitt.

It doesn't say how many she has explicitly, but I'm assuming several.

#LainaReadsAnne Marilla sees how miserable Anne is and realizes she can't let Anne go with Mrs Blewitt because she's absolutely terrible, and, in Marilla's words, Anne is a sensitive child.

#LainaReadsAnne She speaks up and says no, actually they're not so sure they've decided they won't keep her after all and she needs to consult with Matthew first.

She's TOTALLY using him as an excuse, lol. Marilla has no qualms about making decisions without his imput.

#LainaReadsAnne Anne waits only until the other women leave the room to spring up in joy and ask if she might really be allowed to stay or if she was just imagining it.

Marilla VERY GRUMPILY tells her to get a hold on her imagination if she can't tell what's real.

#LainaReadsAnne Things are, of course, not going to plan. And we've discussed that Marilla really does not like when things don't go according to plan. And she gets grumpy when that happens.

But she tells Anne that, yes, she might be able to stay.

#LainaReadsAnne Anne is OVERJOYED. And she also adds that she'd rather go back to the asylum than with Mrs Blewitt, who "looks like a gimlet", which is a... *googles* Cocktail? No, that can't be right.

#LainaReadsAnne Ah, there we go. "A small hand tool having a spiraled shank, a screw tip, and a cross handle and used for boring holes."

Kinda like a corkscrew but for wood.

#LainaReadsAnne Marilla has to stop herself from laughing at that, which honestly is a struggle anyone who spends time with kids understands. You can tell how much she's amused and kinda agrees, but it's not appropriate for Anne to say things like that.

#LainaReadsAnne Frankly, she's not wrong again. It's probably not the best time to insult someone when they're just in the other room.

It's impressive that Marilla often doesn't come off as unreasonable, even if she's being strict.

#LainaReadsAnne They go home and another interesting thing is that Marilla actually seems to do a fair amount of physical labour on the farm. She's out there milking cows with Matthew while they talk.

#LainaReadsAnne She fills him in on Anne's history, and what happened at Mrs Spencer's and Matthew replies with, "I wouldn't give a dog I liked to that Blewitt woman" which is a much harsher thing than you'd ever expect him to say, especially about a woman.

#LainaReadsAnne It's unexpected and goes to show both how terribl Mrs Blewitt is and how deeply Matthew already cares about Anne.

They talk and Marilla basically bounces her worries off him until she convinces herself Anne should stay.

#LainaReadsAnne This scene is really great for showing the dynamic of their relationship. It reminds me of the earlier one where it says Matthew is fond of people who talk to fill the silence so he doesn't have to talk.

#LainaReadsAnne This chapter is also the first time we're really told they're brother and sister? Marilla is referred to as "Miss Cuthbert" and she mentions they're an old bachelor and an old maid, lol.

Just saying there XD

#LainaReadsAnne As the chapter closes, Marilla decides not to tell Anne until the morning, suspecting Anne won't sleep at all due to excitement, and grumps back into the house.

Gosh you can tell how much she hates change XD

#LainaReadsAnne I think that's one of the things that really makes you connect to Marilla even though she's strict and not as approachable, is that you can just feel how uncomfortable she is. When she's thinking about keeping Anne, she worries deeply about doing it wrong.

#LainaReadsAnne She's a creature of habit with a lot of anxiety, and that's relateable. At least to me!

And that's all I've got for today, lol.