Marmee-isms #4 ~ Even Marmee's Girls Grow Up

"That evening . . . Jo slipped upstairs into Beth's room, &, finding her mother in her usual place, stood a minute twisting her fingers in her hair, w/a worried gesture & an undecided look.

"'What is it, deary?' asked Mrs. March, holding out her hand, w/a face which invited confidence.
"'I want to tell you something, Marmee.'

"'About Meg?'

"'How quickly you guessed! Yes, it's about her, & though it's a little thing, it fidgets me.' . . . settling herself on the floor at her mother's feet. 'Last summer Meg left a pair of gloves over at the Laurences', & only 1 was returned. We forgot all about it, till Teddy told that Mr. Brooke had it. He kept it in his waistcoat pocket, & once it fell out, & Teddy joked him about it, & Mr. Brooke owned that he liked Meg, but didn't dare say so, she was so young & he so poor. Now, isn't is a dreadful state of things?'

"'Do you think Meg cares for him?' asked Mrs. March, w/an anxious look.

"' . . . In novels, the girls show it by starting & blushing, fainting away, growing thin, & acting like fools. Now Meg does not do anything of the sort: she eats & drinks & sleeps, like a sensible creature; she looks straight in my face when I talk about that man, & only blushes a little bit when Teddy jokes about lovers . . . '. . . 'Oh, dear! I know you'll take his part: he's been good to father, & you won't send him away, but let Meg marry him, if she wants to. Mean thing!' . . . and Jo pulled her hair again w/a wrathful tweak.

"'My dear, don't get angry about it, & I will tell you how it happened . . . he was perfectly open & honorable about Meg, for he told us he loved her, but would earn a comfortable home before he asked her to marry him. He only wanted our leave to love her & work for her, & the right to make her love him if he could. He is a truly excellent young man, we could not refuse to listen to him . . . '"

" . . . Mrs. March sighed, & Jo looked up w/an air of relief.

". . . 'I was wrong to sigh, Jo. It is natural & right you should all go to homes of your own, in time; but I do want to keep my girls as long as I can . . . '"

Little Women ~ Ch. 20

Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><