Stephen Irving's Return and Reunion with Paul

Stephen Irving's return transforms an ordinary evening visit into a long-awaited family reunion: Paul discovers that his father has arrived, and Anne Shirley sees the happiness of their meeting at close range. The scene also makes clear that Paul's two years of teaching have mattered deeply to Stephen, who credits Anne with understanding and guiding the boy in ways his grandmother's practical good sense could not always manage.

Circumstances and Surprise

Midway through her visit, Anne returns to Green Gables for a day of practical work: she mends the twins' stockings and catches up with Davy's accumulated questions. That evening she goes down the shore road to see Paul Irving. Passing the low, square window of the Irving sitting room, she glimpses Paul on someone's lap; before she can learn more, he comes flying through the hall to announce that his father is there and to bring Anne in to meet him.

The arrival is a surprise even within Paul's household. Stephen came the previous night after Paul had gone to bed, and neither Paul nor his grandmother knew he was coming. Stephen and Mrs. Irving went upstairs intending to look at the sleeping boy without waking him, but Paul woke and saw his father. The unexpected arrival is therefore not merely news delivered to Anne: it is a reunion already begun in the night, when Paul sprang toward the father he had not expected to find at home.

Paul admits that he usually dislikes surprises because they deprive him of the pleasure of anticipating what is to come. His exception is this one. The distinction captures the emotional force of Stephen's return: the joy of having his father present outweighs Paul's ordinary preference for knowing what lies ahead. His explanation makes the surprise legible as an intimate family moment rather than a plot announcement alone.

The Reunion

Stephen steps forward to greet Anne with a smile and a hearty handshake. He is described as tall and handsome, with iron-gray hair, deep-set dark-blue eyes, and a strong, sad face. Anne privately finds that he looks the part of the romantic hero she associates with Miss Lavendar Lewis's story. The detail briefly places her imaginative response alongside the concrete reunion: Stephen's appearance matters to Anne because of the romance attached to him, while for Paul the decisive fact is simply that his father is there.

Paul sits between Anne and Stephen, blissfully happy. His account of the moment when he woke and saw his father gives the reunion its most physical expression: he sprang at him. Stephen remembers the embrace as a bear-like hug and says he hardly knew how much his boy had grown, now bigger, browner, and sturdier. The two perspectives meet in the same gesture. Paul's sudden leap conveys the intensity of recognition; Stephen's observation registers the time and growth that have passed during their separation.

Anne's Place in Paul's Life

Stephen already knows Anne through Paul's letters, which have been so full of her that he feels acquainted with her before their meeting. He thanks her for what she has done for Paul and tells her that her influence has been just what the boy needed. In Stephen's view, Mrs. Irving is one of the best and dearest of women, but her robust, matter-of-fact Scottish common sense cannot always understand a temperament like Paul's. Anne has supplied something missing from that care, and Stephen considers the combination of the two women's influence nearly ideal for a motherless boy over the preceding two years.

The praise makes the reunion a recognition of Anne's work as well as a meeting between father and son. Anne's face blooms under Stephen's appreciation, while he sees in her the sweetness and liveliness of a young teacher from the East. Paul's affection for her is thus confirmed by the adult who has heard about her at a distance and can now thank her directly. Stephen's gratitude does not diminish Mrs. Irving's place; it describes the different kinds of understanding the two women have offered Paul.

Domestic Affection and Significance

Paul's happiness appears in small choices as well as in the first embrace. He distinguishes his grandmother's way of showing gladness from his own: she has spent the day making the foods Stephen likes and would not entrust their preparation to Mary Joe, while Paul most wants to sit and talk with his father. Their different responses make the household's welcome visible through care, food, conversation, and the pleasure of simply being together.

The reunion does not suspend ordinary responsibility. When Paul leaves the conversation, he explains that he must get the cows for Mary Joe, one of his daily duties. His return to work follows the emotional high point without cancelling it: father and son have greeted one another, Paul has sat happily between Stephen and Anne, and now the boy resumes a familiar task. After Paul goes, Stephen continues talking with Anne about various matters, though she senses that he has something else in mind beneath the conversation. The scene establishes their renewed closeness and Anne's importance to Paul, while leaving Stephen's unspoken concern poised for what follows.