In “Winnie-the-Pooh,” A. A. Milne wrote: “Rivers know this: There is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” Just as a river’s slow, gradual movement eventually erodes the hard, stubborn rock, so a person’s patience can overcome the seemingly impossible, stubborn barriers which keep them from achieving a goal.
Patience is the key in L.M. Montgomery’s short story “The Way of the Winning of Anne.” Determined to have Anne Stockard as his wife, Jerome Irving courts her for 15 years, persisting despite her repeated refusals.
A Very Long Courtship
Jerome has been courting Anne for 15 years. Though her parents died and all her sisters have married, she refuses to marry him. He may be the only man to have courted her, but, she says, every family must have an old maid.
Despite her cool refusals, Jerome remains optimistic and continues courting her. He accompanies her home “from evening meetings and [is] her partner in the games at quilting parties.”
Then, on his 40th birthday, Jerome proposes to Anne again and, again, she refuses. Jerome walks home that night, contemplating Anne. Suddenly, he comes to the realization that, if he doesn’t win her now, she may never be his. So, with renewed determination, Jerome concocts a brilliant plan to do just that.
The result of Jerome’s plan doesn’t reach Anne’s ears until two days later when Anne’s niece, Octavia, announces that Anne has lost her beau. Octavia wickedly announces:
“Jerome Irving was at the social at the Cherry Valley parsonage last night, and he had Harriet Warren there—took her there, and drove her home again. … He looked quite beaming, and was dressed to kill, and followed Harriet around like her shadow.”
At the sound of this news, Anne grows suddenly agitated and accidentally dropped an egg she was collecting.
Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of “Anne of Green Gables” and other stories, sits at her desk with a pen. (Public Domain)What the Rivers Know
Though surprised, Anne steals herself to it and faces her niece and everyone else with the same coolness and equanimity. Nevertheless, underneath the surface, she finds herself growing more and more uneasy. She realizes that she misses Jerome. Now that he has stopped his regular visits, she finds the porch too empty and herself lonely.
When she encounters Jerome driving Harriet in his carriage, Anne feels herself overcome with remorse. She regrets having been so cold to him all of these years. But, after so much rejection, how can she expect him to come back?
Yet, when she least expects it, Jerome arrives one evening for a visit. He confesses that he hasn’t seen Anne in such a long time, so he figured he would come for a visit.
Like the ever-steady river, Montgomery weaves patience throughout this story, showing how it erodes all harsh, cold rejections. For, throughout the story, Jerome demonstrates that he will persevere in his love for Anne. Thus, Jerome knows what the rivers know: Any difficult, stubborn obstacle can be overcome through perseverance and patience. Patience is the enduring hope that sees the light at the end and pursues it, even if it takes years.
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