When I was reading this chapter for the first time and was scrolling down I kept thinking "Where is she going with this?" :) And then I finished and ... wow, it was just beautiful, raw and daunting and so different (good different!) in tone from the previous chapter.

I love how your Dido and Will are coming to life in this story (he took her to fly! The Blythe men sure know how to woo the ladies!) Anne wants Dido to be head over heels in love with him as if she wanted to live vicariously in that young, fresh and exciting feeling through her. Of course Dido is already head over heels in love and yet she plays the part of a socialite and bright young thing for reasons known only to herself and Will, I presume. Very interesting. So he's supposed to be in Boston... Does Gil know that Dido has been hiding Will in her boathouse for a week now?

My favourite part of this chapter starts with meeting Dorothy. In those two occasions we saw her in AotI she was sweet and very inteligent; 30 years and a dead husband later she's more sarcastic but still has great empathy with Anne. Their dynamics is fantastic and it's great to know Anne has a loving soul next to her, because, as this chapter has shown, she's really not coping well with whatever's going on around her. Seeing Gil brought more pain and confusion than anything else. I feel that such a detailed description of their residence may actually be a metaphor for Anne's life, a crack here, some damp there, and no electricity. The fact that despite all that money she doesn't care for her house might mean that she really doesn't consider it her own, maybe? I remember reading an article in "The Toast" where it was emphasised that Maud's heroines generally adore their homespaces and find homemaking very rewarding. Now all her cheek biting and "feelings rising in her throat" that can be released only with a scream show that apart from writing she's not able to express herself in this house and in this family. Come to think of it I wonder how long (if at all) she had to live with Roy's mother...

You dropped a few bombshells in this chapter - Roy's FAILER MARRIAGE? Did he divorce his first wife or did she die after an unhappy life? Anyway, it was before 1899, a divorce in those social circles and in that era must have been a huge scandal. And I find it hilarious that Will and Dido met, fell in love and did God knows what under Aline's (of all the people!) eagle eye. Gold! I also loved the Macbeth reference, was it a conscious thing because of 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death?

I just can't wait for the next update. Anne is going to the boathouse! What if she finds Will's stuff there?!

Ooohh, kwak, I deffo don't think there's anything plain about any Mr Blythe, babe. Especially one swimming with blue lips that is then appreciating the water running off his body while he admires his young lassie in a bathing suit. Rrrrrrrr! Who wouldn't feel like home was wherever that boy was, I ask you?
I also particularly enjoyed Roy being anxious to show his daughter off in a dress to suit the garland of roses (not necessarily the other way around). To me, it's how you show his careless disregard for the way others around him are feeling (you touched on this in the RDs too), leaving murals half finished and his selfishness that expresses his indulged, rich background so well. He cares more for how Anne and Dido reflect on him than appreciating them for themselves (like someone else might). It's not that it's necessarily deliberate, but his lack of awareness is just a natural result and part of who he is.
Ah, but I'm so intrigued by what bubble, bubble, toil and trouble is brewing now? No wonder Anne is confused that Dido doesn't seem to mind being 'away' from Will, and the feeling of the suppressed scream rising in her throat - argh! so good! Then remembering the way Gilbert's coat flew out behind him at the park with Dorothy not realising just what Anne knows of having loved and lost. I'm reeeally looking forward to some kind of unexpected meeting between Anne and Will in the boathouse? Won't they?

I don't know how you are going to end this but I am on the edge of my seat. It helps that you update quickly. Cool story.

This was brilliant, desperate and brilliant, gritty and moody. My heart aches for Anne, who is seemingly suffering from anxiety or depression...cheek chewing is a classic sign of anxiety. She feels detached from everything, even from her own daughter. Was it always like that I wonder? To compare her life in the Glen with this, in a house that is cracking and unloved with a neglected garden! How Anne has lost her love of beauty in nature, of the joy in growing things! It says so much of her marriage and life. And Roy, what a tosser. This is an addictive story, thanks so much!

Such a lovely, gentle shift from the levity of the waterside to the solemnity of Anne and Dorothy walking in the garden and unpicking the past. I think this may be my favourite of these chapters yet. There's a hopefulness and a rightness between Dido and Will that takes some of the sting out of Anne's own story, and it's gratifying to find Anne recognises this too.

I loved the witchery of that garden walk with Dorothy. There's a closeness there that I'm glad they've cultivated since that first meeting -when, convocation? My memory of the book is hazy. But I'm glad that there's someone Anne can talk with in this alternate reality, someone who knows enough of her to see she's not herself, not at home.

It should go without saying the description was lovely. 'Moonlight falling like cherry blossoms' stands out especially, so very evocative. Another beautiful and absorbing read.

The scene between Will and Dido at the boat house in the lake, did it happened on the same day as I supposed this ''Bal of the debutant'' that Roy had perfectly arranged and prepared for his daughter, with the meaning of ending the night with the announcement of her engagement to some wealthy young men ?

Did Gilbert and Will already left to go back to Boston ?

Anne or Dido or Gilbert or Will ( If they are still around ) have to talk against Roy and forbid for this arrange wedding to take place...

Please bring Will and Dido back together!

I just posted a really long review. It did not go through. In a nutshell, fabulous.

This story is such a treat! In every chapter you answer some of my questions, but at the same time you add another hundred of them! :D Beautiful writing, using those two tenses was a great idea actually, one can clearly see the levels of the narrative, flashbacks and so on.

In just two chapters you painted a better picture of Gil's relationship with his son than LMM did in AoI, RV or Rilla. They truly are allies and best friends and their sense of humour and love for each other is visible in every paragraph. Your biggest "achievement" here is the portrayal of Will - he is his own man in this AU and I don't see any particular traces of Jem, Walter or Shirley (btw, I wonder what the name of their hotel's street is, haha. Gil finally remembered it when looking at a pie-cart. Was there a famous Pye, perhaps? :D).

If Will knows some secret about Anne he must have heard it from Dido herself, right? Anyway, will he be willing to share it when sober?

The depiction of Katherine's depression was heartbreaking, as was the Green Gables Christmas that never happened. I almost feel sorry that after the third chapter I was happy that you now have only one unsuitable spouse to dispose of... It makes perfect sense that Will used to call her Kat - she would want to be "chums" with her son, because calling her "mum" would be a constant reminder of her being not motherly enough - thus another blow to her heart. As to Will's scars, I wonder if Dido saw them as a nurse at a hospital or... well, she might have had another reason to see him naked :D

The scene at the tea house was amazing, from the "Isn't he a dish" line from the Letters to the apple tree comment. If only Gilbert could have been there!

It reads beautifully, slips time gently and comes back like a whisper. I'm suddenly glad Gilbert and Will have each other, you feel the depth of their bond and the way they must have needed each other for years. I liked Will's use of 'Kat' it delineated that relationship perfectly, and of course Anne's talk of tree people was lovely, though that memory of the Windy Poplars Cheistmas made my heart ache. As did Gilbert's gladness thst mother and daughter weren't alike. But it wouldn't be you if there wasn't light mixed in with the dark, and it was good to see the Blythe humour drawn out of both men, Gil's cleverness, Will's seeing through the nonsense of R.M.C. Esqu etc. Mind you, the idea that Dido is willingly called 'freckles,' well perhaps Gilbert's right after all. My vote though says that she has the confidence to buoy up the kind of creativity we see in Anne and so doesn't mind. In any event, I can't wait for more.

Ah, kwak, you do know how to mess with my mind with your irresistible depiction of Gilbert and his son getting drunk together - you know I can't resist a tipsy Gilbert Blythe in any circumstances! With Gilbert remembering Ruby Gillis in amongst it with the cherry made me sigh. Isn't he gorgeous? Then you had to make Will so like his father (what about his gold eyes - rrrrrrrrrr!) that I love him and want to hug him, too. Even though at the same time I so desperately want him to be Anne & Gilbert's son I want to cry. What are you doing to me, woman?
The emotional roller coaster continues: nicknames without slates being broken over heads, Gilbert leaning in to hear what Will has to say about Anne and calling Will 'Mr Christian' instead of Fletcher seemed to particularly appeal to me. But Gilbert singing to Will as a baby, letting him climb trees, Katherine in her depression running that knife over her arm and Will calling his mother Kat were details that made me want to weep again.
Then the Tree Folk books - G to the E to the N to the I-U-S! Of COURSE he was an apple tree, just like his father. Of course, Anne would write a series such as that. More LMM of her than Beatrix Potter, I thought. :)
And as if 'R.M.C. Gardner, Esq' wasn't enough gold - 'Artiste and Explorer'? ? ? ! ! ? And Will burning that card made me clap my hands in glee.
Bring. It. On, kwaky. I'm loving this far too much!

I can't believe that Will was able to call Dido "Freckles" and "Redhead" essentially and still has his head in one piece. She didn't smash a slate over his head?

"Will has survived four missions without being captured, shot down or burned to death in his beloved Sopworth Strutter. Gilbert, who had already buried his wife, spent the best part of two years expecting to bury his son. What sets them apart from other men is that they never needed a war to bring them together. They were allies from the start.": I like this whole section though my mind gave an exclaimed "*WHAT?!*" at the end of the first sentence. Y'know, it seems to me that Will is a combination of Jem (a Captain), Walter (I don't remember why but I thought so in the last chapter for some reason), and Shirley (was in the Air Force).

"Gilbert discovered he preferred a chaotic home": This is probably what canon Ingleside was like during canon Anne of Ingleside and Rainbow Valley.

Why does Will call his mother Kat?

If Dido has seen all of Will's scars, does that mean they met when he was in the hospital? That would make sense.

"Isn't he a dish?": Haha! Isn't this straight from the More Windy Willows Love Letters?

"'An apple tree,' Anne said decidedly.": Of course, since he's Gilbert Blythe's son.

I found it interesting how you portrayed Anne of Windy Poplars in this AU. How long did Anne stay at Summerside/Windy Poplars? Was she there longer than three years? And how does Will know that Anne is from the Island? Did Dido tell him?

"High strained laughter": Anne's laughing while trying desperately not to cry, right?

Don't worry; this chapter reads fine. I only once noticed the change from present to past to present again.

You know, after much thoughts, I knew what would your answer to my question of why does Will calls Dodie ''Tash'' be. Taches de rousseurs of course !

And my guess is that she didn't hurt him with anything on his head or somewhere else on his body when he called her that, was because they all had nicknames in the army... And now to the both of them, they are ''Tash'' and ''Fletcher'' !

I kind of understand why Will didn't and never called Katherine ''mom'' and was always calling her ''Kat'' it was not only because this is what Gilbert used to call her, but from the very beginning, she was never a mother to him, she was Kat !

Now, what is this secret that Will knows about Anne that he so wanted to tell his father, but instead, Gil told him to sleep ?!

As much I as was surprised to learn that Gilbert had married Katherine and saddened that she had died that day on the Quebec bridge, I am glad that she had given Gilbert a son, Will !

In this story, just like Anne became a great author, did Gilbert became a great surgeon as well ? With him travelling all around the world, giving lectures in amphitheatres ! Does this mean that he teaches as well as practices medicine ?

I love it that even if they hadn't seen each other for so long, the chemistry, bond, friendship and intimacy between Anne and Gilbert, seem to have not faded away !

I LOOOOVE this! I have loved all of your work, but I especially love the idea of a "what happens if 'x' happened or didn't happen. I am so intrigued by this and where it's going. And I am impatiently waiting for more. Thank you for keeping pen to paper!