Anne of Green Gables: Chapter 19: A Concert, a Catastrophe, and a Confession Summary & Analysis

One February evening, Anne is desperate to go to Diana’s. She explains to Marilla that they’ve devised a system of signaling to each other from their windows by passing cardboard back and forth in front of a candle to make flashes. Diana has just flashed five times, meaning she has something important to tell. Though she thinks the system is silly, Marilla gives Anne 10 minutes to talk to Diana. When Anne gets back, she tells Marilla that she’s invited to spend the night with Diana for her birthday tomorrow and to attend a Debating Club concert along with Diana and her visiting cousins.

Marilla thinks Anne is too young to start going out to concerts in the evening. Anne protests that the poetry recitations will have good moral lessons, and the patriotic songs will be nearly as good as hymns—even the minister will be making a speech. But her arguments are to no avail, and she goes to bed in tears. Matthew, who appeared to be asleep during the whole exchange, says that Anne ought to be allowed. Marilla, however, maintains that Anne will catch a cold and be unsettled for days by all the excitement.

The next morning, on his way to the barn, Matthew again tells Marilla that he thinks Anne should be allowed to go. Marilla seethes for a moment, then agrees, since Matthew won’t be content with anything else. Anne flies joyfully from the pantry with a wet dishcloth in hand, oblivious to Marilla’s scolding. She has always felt so left out when other schoolgirls talked about going to concerts, and it was an awful feeling. Matthew understood, and it’s nice to be understood.

At school, the students can talk of nothing but the concert. The Avonlea Debating Club often puts on public events, but this one, supporting the library, will charge an admission fee of ten cents. Many students have older siblings who are participating in the entertainment. After school, Anne and Diana have tea at her house and then retire to Diana’s room to dress. They spend a long time arranging their hair, and Anne imagines that she has fancier clothes. Then they crowd into a sleigh with Diana’s cousins, flying off to the concert with bells tinkling and a brilliant sunset over the sea.

At the concert, Anne is the most easily thrilled audience member. She delights in the poetry recitations, songs, and sketches. But when Gilbert Blythe recites “Bingen on the Rhine,” Anne pointedly reads a library book instead, and refuses to clap when he’s finished. When the happy concertgoers get home, Anne and Diana talk over everything while changing by the fire. Diana tells Anne that when Gilbert came to the line, “There’s another, not a sister,” he looked straight at her. Anne refuses to hear about it.

The two girls race to the spare bed in which they’ll be sleeping. As they leap into bed, however, something moves underneath them, and they hear a muffled voice exclaim, “Merciful goodness!” Before they know it, the girls are flying upstairs in the cold and dark. Laughing helplessly, Diana explains that it’s Aunt Josephine, though she doesn’t know why she was sleeping in the spare bedroom—she’ll be furious. Aunt Josephine is her father’s elderly aunt who is very proper and will scold them terribly about this. They hear nothing at breakfast the next morning, however.

Later that afternoon, Anne stops by Mrs. Lynde’s house. Mrs. Barry stopped by a few minutes ago, Rachel tells her, and said that Aunt Josephine was terribly angry about what happened last night. Aunt Josephine was supposed to stay for a month, but she’s threatening to return to Charlottetown tomorrow and to revoke the gift of music lessons for Diana, since Diana’s proven to be a “tomboy.” Aunt Josephine is wealthy, and the Barrys have tried to stay on her good side.

Anne is dismayed, wondering how she keeps getting not just herself, but also people she loves into trouble. Mrs. Lynde tells her it’s because she’s too impulsive and never stops to think before she speaks or acts. Sadly, Anne walks to Orchard Slope and, to Diana’s horror, says that she’s going to speak to Aunt Josephine herself—last night was her fault, after all. With her hands clasped beseechingly, Anne approaches Aunt Josephine and begs for forgiveness. They were only trying to have fun, and the blame should fall on Anne, not Diana, whose heart is set on music lessons. Aunt Josephine’s fierce gaze softens, but she still scolds Anne for frightening her like that. Anne says she can imagine how Aunt Josephine felt, and asks Aunt Josephine if she can imagine the fright she and Diana felt. And they’d so been looking forward to the honor of sleeping in the spare bedroom.

At this, Aunt Josephine actually bursts out laughing. She admits that her imagination has grown rusty from disuse and invites Anne to sit down and introduce herself. Anne explains that she has to go home to Marilla, but she hopes that Aunt Josephine will stay in Avonlea. Aunt Josephine agrees, as long as Anne visits her sometimes. That night, Aunt Josephine gives Diana a bracelet and says she wants to stay and get better acquainted with that amusing “Anne-girl.” Before the end of her stay, she makes Anne promise to come and visit her in Charlottetown. Anne tells Marilla that Aunt Josephine “was a kindred spirit after all.”