Chapter 6: Wedding Plans

A flummox of wedding-plans followed. The folks of Ingleside and the

manse were bewildered by the announcement, but they soon accustomed
themselves to it. It was only so sudden! They had never suspected that
Shirley – and Una! They were all very pleased, of course. The last two
unmarried children of the clan – marrying each other! It was too perfect.
The Blythes and Merediths threw themselves into planning with much
enthusiasm, as they did all things.

Somehow without speaking, Shirley and Una had decided to play the part
of young lovers before the family. They would not like the idea of a
marriage without love – or where the love was one-sided. And it would
look funny – as if they were doing it for Susan's money. Una gave not a
whit about the money. Dr. Blythe had presented them with the bank-
issued check the night before, and Una had wanted to tear it to pieces
and run—oh, how she wanted to run! But Shirley's arm lightly around her
waist kept her rooted in place.

Others besides Blythes and Merediths visited Una at the manse to see
what this was all about. Mary Vance came up one day to talk it over. She
brought with her a little noisy bundle of a Cornelia – Cornelia was Mary's
little baby. Una would have liked to coo over the baby, but Mary had
business to attend to. So while Mary jounced the babe on her knee, she
fired question after question at Una until Una's head whirled.

"Well, I never knew that you were in love with Shirley Blythe," she said
finally, and the baby yowled.

"Of course I have always been fond of him, Mary."

"Yes – I'm fond of Shirley too. But I ain't marrying him." This said with a
long keen look at Una. "You didn't tell me you liked him especially."

"I – I didn't know it myself," said Una weakly. "I didn't see what was in
front of me all along, I suppose."

"Ain't that the way of the world," marveled Mary.

Irene Howard visited another day under the pretext of offering

congratulations. Silly, overdressed, overblown Irene. With a cloud of
noxious perfume about her. During the interview she made several
pointed little barbs that made Una want to gnash her teeth. Irene
insinuated again and again that she could have had Shirley if she'd
wanted him. It was ridiculous of course – if Una had loved Shirley – loved
him like that – Irene's cruelty would have hurt her immensely. Only now
she laughed it bitterly away. It only made her feel very tired.
And Rilla met her in the garden of the manse one cool, crystal twilight.
The clarity of the night almost scared Una – it was hard to keep secrets
on such a night. Rilla, who had given Una Walter's dear last letter – Rilla,
who was the only one to know Una's true feelings – was quite perplexed
by this recent development. Una had been dreading the moment when
she would have to face Rilla.

"Do you love him, Una?" she asked, a little fiercely – a little pityingly. "You
mustn't marry him if you don't love him. It would be – cruel. And you
mustn't marry someone you don't love!"

"Oh, go away," Una said, a little harshly. "I love him – I love him. And he
loves me, and that is all that matters. Don't ask me such horrid
questions!"

Rilla had taken Una at her word and gone – but not before casting at her
another soul-searching glance before she went.

Shirley came up to walk with her every night, as he had always done
before. Only, Una thought furiously, things between them had changed
anyway. Shirley could no longer hide his feelings and though he never
spoke of them again Una could not help seeing that he loved her. It was
in every look, every glance. She felt like a beast because she could not
love him back. And when they were together she could not think of
anything besides the fact that soon she would have to live with him as his
wife. Everything was spoiled. She never would have promised to marry
him if this is how things were going to be! But she had promised, and Una
would never go back on her word.

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They had an engagement party at Ingleside—Nan and Jerry were there,

and Rilla and Ken. Carl and Persis could not come of course – they would
come for the wedding – but Di and Jack came all the way from Avonlea.
Una over and over held out her hand so that they all could admire her
ring. It was a single diamond, set in gold, quite the nicest ring that any girl
in the Glen had. Shirley had sent to Boston to for it. It was not large, but it
was beautiful – and perfect. "Like you," Shirley had told her quietly, and
that had made Una's heart beat faster.

She had never before been called beautiful. She had often been
compared to beautiful things – hadn't she once been called a 'tea rose?' –
but this was the first time anyone had told her simply how lovely she was.
Una liked that. She had never considered herself beautiful. Faith was the
beautiful, womanly one. Una was sweet. She quite liked Shirley's
compliments, even if she could not love Shirley himself in that way.
A wedding date was set— the last Saturday in September – two weeks
hence it would all come to pass. It was to be very much a family affair.
Jerry would marry them, of course, and Nan and Rosemary and Mrs.
Blythe baked until the manse kitchen was bursting with food.

Rosemary came to Una in her room one evening and lovingly offered to
lend Una her wedding dress and veil—Una had thought them the height
of loveliness when she was young, and it had been her secret hope that
she could wear them at her wedding—to Walter. She decided instead to
wear her mother's old gray dress. She could not wear to marry Shirley the
dress she had dreamed of wearing when she married Walter.

Walter—was she betraying Walter? "I don't care," thought Una

rebelliously. He had given her nothing except one brief, brotherly kiss
before he'd gone away for ever. He had left her with no promises—no
words of love—not even any hints. For the first time there was a flicker of
bitterness in that old flame of love she'd kept alight for many years.