I found it rather hard to imagine the proposal because I had no experience to go by . I asked Ruby Gillis if she knew anything about how men proposed because I thought she 'd likely be an authority on the subject , having so many sisters married . Ruby told me she was hid in the hall pantry when Malcolm Andres proposed to her sister Susan . She said Malcolm told Susan that his dad had given him the farm in his own name and then said , ` What do you say , darling pet , if we get hitched this fall ? ' And Susan said , ` Yes -- no -- I do n't know -- let me see ' -- and there they were , engaged as quick as that . But I did n't think that sort of a proposal was a very romantic one , so in the end I had to imagine it out as well as I could . I made it very flowery and poetical and Bertram went on his knees , although Ruby Gillis says it is n't done nowadays . Geraldine accepted him in a speech a page long . I can tell you I took a lot of trouble with that speech . I rewrote it five times and I look upon it as my masterpiece . Bertram gave her a diamond ring and a ruby necklace and told her they would go to Europe for a wedding tour , for he was immensely wealthy . But then , alas , shadows began to darken over their path . Cordelia was secretly in love with Bertram herself and when Geraldine told her about the engagement she was simply furious , especially when she saw the necklace and the diamond ring . All her affection for Geraldine turned to bitter hate and she vowed that she should never marry Bertram . But she pretended to be Geraldine 's friend the same as ever . One evening they were standing on the bridge over a rushing turbulent stream and Cordelia , thinking they were alone , pushed Geraldine over the brink with a wild , mocking , ` Ha , ha , ha . ' But Bertram saw it all and he at once plunged into the current , exclaiming , ' I will save thee , my peerless Geraldine . ' But alas , he had forgotten he could n't swim , and they were both drowned , clasped in each other 's arms . Their bodies were washed ashore soon afterwards . They were buried in the one grave and their funeral was most imposing , Diana .
It 's so much more romantic to end a story up XXXXX a funeral than a wedding .
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