With a penchant for matchmaking, Anne strains her efforts all summer to form a match between Stella Chase and Alden Churchill. In Chapter 15 of Anne of Ingleside, Stella announces her engagement:

Stella seemed absent-minded and quiet. Presently she said abruptly, looking up at a sorcery of stars that was being woven in the purple night, “Mrs. Blythe, I want to tell you something.”

“Yes, dear?”

“I’m engaged to Alden Churchill,” said Stella desperately. “We’ve been engaged ever since last Christmas. We told Father and Mrs. Churchill right away but we’ve kept it a secret from everyone else just because it was so sweet to have such a secret. We hated to share it with the world. But we are going to be married next month.”

Anne gave an excellent imitation of a woman who had been turned to stone. Stella was still staring at the stars, so she did not see the expression on Mrs. Blythe’s face. She went on, a little more easily:

“Alden and I met at a party in Lowbridge last November. We . . . loved each other from the very first moment. He said he had always dreamed of me . . . had always been looking for me. He said to himself, ‘There is my wife,’ when he saw me come in at the door. And I . . . felt just the same. Oh, we are so happy, Mrs. Blythe!”

Still Anne said nothing, several times over.

“The only cloud on my happiness is your attitude about the matter, Mrs. Blythe. Won’t you try to approve? You’ve been such a dear friend to me since I came to Glen St. Mary . . . I’ve felt as if you were an older sister. And I’ll feel so badly if I think my marriage is against your wish.”

There was a sound of tears in Stella’s voice. Anne recovered her powers of speech.

“Dearest, your happiness is all I’ve wanted. I like Alden . . . he’s a splendid fellow . . . only he had the reputation of being a flirt . . .”

“But he isn’t. He was just looking for the right one, don’t you see, Mrs. Blythe? And he couldn’t find her.”

“How does your father regard it?”

“Oh, Father is greatly pleased. He took to Alden from the start. They used to argue for hours about evolution. Father said he always meant to let me marry when the right man came along. I feel dreadfully about leaving him, but he says young birds have a right to their own nest. Cousin Delia Chase is coming to keep house for him and Father likes her very much.”

“And Alden’s mother?”

“She is quite willing, too. When Alden told her last Christmas that we were engaged she went to the Bible and the very first verse she turned up was, ‘A man shall leave father and mother and cleave unto his wife.’ She said it was perfectly clear then what she ought to do and she consented at once. She is going to go to that little house of hers in Lowbridge.”

“I am glad you won’t have to live with that green plush sofa,” said Anne.

“The sofa? Oh, yes, the furniture is very old-fashioned, isn’t it? But she is taking it with her and Alden is going to refurnish completely. So you see everyone is pleased, Mrs. Blythe, and won’t you give us your good wishes, too?”

Mark 10:7
King James Bible

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife