Thread by @lainasparetime

Alright, Anne time! #LainaReadsAnne

#LainaReadsAnne So, to recap last chapter, Anne yelled at Mrs Rachel when she insulted Anne, and Marilla decided Anne would stay in her room until she was ready to apologize.

Anne has spent the last night and the current day in her room, honestly kind of sulking.

#LainaReadsAnne Marilla is also kind of sulking when she tells Matthew what's going on as Anne isn't at the breakfast table and he noticed her absence.

Matthew calls Mrs Rachel a "meddlesome old gossip" when he hears what happened. Go off, Matthew.

#LainaReadsAnne He actually asks that Marilla not be too hard on Anne - mind you, when Marilla agreed to keep Anne, they agreed that raising her would be Marilla's domain and he wouldn't interfere.

#LainaReadsAnne Mostly for sexist "what would an old bachelor know about raising a child" reasons, to be fair, but they did agree to that.

#LainaReadsAnne Marilla is super offended by the suggestion she wouldn't feed Anne. She takes meals up to Anne's room on a tray, but they come down basically untouched - Anne is not eating, and Matthew becomes concerned.

#LainaReadsAnne Matthew has a little bedroom off the hall, and generally spends his time in the house there or the kitchen. He hasn't been upstairs in four years.

#LainaReadsAnne He sneaks upstairs and it takes him several minutes to work up the courage to knock.

Anne's being rather dramatic about her punishment like she's going to spend years in her room. It's been maybe 24 full hours. Just saying.

#LainaReadsAnne Matthew asks her to apologize because Marilla won't be quick to change her mind (lol). Anne has gotten past being angry and is rather embarassed now, especially at the idea of talking to Mrs Rachel again.

#LainaReadsAnne And honestly this is a good lesson. Sometimes things are worth losing your temper over. Other times, when you look back on them, are you going to feel proud of them or are you going to be embarrassed?

#LainaReadsAnne Some time to think things through is not the worst thing in the world for Anne.

She agrees to apologize for Matthew's sake as he misses seeing her at meals very dearly, and they very much have a bond already.

#LainaReadsAnne Not gonna lie, some of the language in this scene hasn't aged the best. Specifically that Matthew asks Anne not to tell Marilla that he came to see her. It'd have some not good connotations today, lol, but it's solely about the fact that he agreed not to interfere

#LainaReadsAnne He then runs away to "the remotest corner of the horse pasture" XD

Anne tells Marilla she'll apologize to Mrs Rachel and Marilla is relieved as she didn't know what to do if Anne didn't give in.

#LainaReadsAnne They go next door to Mrs Rachel's house and Anne rather dramatically apologizes to Mrs Rachel, flustering her and making Marilla realize she's enjoying... well, the drama of it, tbh.

#LainaReadsAnne "Where was the wholesome punishment upon which she, Marilla, had plumed herself? Anne had turned it into a species of positive pleasure."

The narrative also dumps on Mrs Rachel again: "Good Mrs Lynde, not being overburdened with perception, did not see this."

#LainaReadsAnne The narration is so sarcastic about Mrs Rachel and I love it XD

Mrs Rachel sort of apologizes, but she's one of those people who says stuff like, "I'm such an outspoken person" and very ugh. She does suggest Anne's hair might darken to auburn, which pleases Anne.

#LainaReadsAnne Anne leaves to sit in her garden, and Mrs Rachel admits that though she's an odd child, she rather likes Anne.

#LainaReadsAnne As they leave, Marilla is caught between feeling as though she ought to scold Anne for "apologizing so well", even though that seems ridiculous, and feeling like she wanted to laugh about it.

She compromises by saying she hopes Anne won't need to make many more.

#LainaReadsAnne As they approach Green Gables, Anne takes Marilla's hand and remarks how nice it is to be heading home and also to know that it is, in fact, home.

Marilla's heart warms and she tries to cover it, but barely manages.

#LainaReadsAnne As we finish this chapter, I'd like to suggest that Anne and Marilla are a lot more alike than either of them think. Especially, perhaps, in the stubbornness department.

#LainaReadsAnne And this, I think, is why they do need Matthew - he very much balances them both.

And perhaps keeps them from murdering each other :P