Page 281 - LITTLE WOMEN
P. 281

Little Women


                                  come home my Lady Something in a blaze of splendor
                                  and elegance.’
                                     ‘People don’t have fortunes left them in that style
                                  nowadays, men have to work and women marry for

                                  money. It’s a dreadfully unjust world,’ said Meg bitterly.
                                     ‘Jo and I are going to make fortunes for you all. Just
                                  wait ten years, and see if we don’t,’ said Amy, who sat in a
                                  corner making mud pies, as Hannah called her little clay
                                  models of birds, fruit, and faces.
                                     ‘Can’t wait, and I’m afraid I haven’t much faith in ink
                                  and dirt, though I’m grateful for your good intentions.
                                     Meg sighed, and turned to the frostbitten garden again.
                                  Jo groaned and leaned both  elbows on the table in a
                                  despondent attitude, but Amy spatted away energetically,
                                  and Beth, who sat at the  other window, said, smiling,
                                  ‘Two pleasant things are going to happen right away.
                                  Marmee is coming down the street, and Laurie is tramping
                                  through the garden as if he had something nice to tell.’
                                     In they both came, Mrs. March with her usual
                                  question, ‘Any letter from Father, girls?’ and Laurie to say
                                  in his persuasive way, ‘Won’t some of you come for a
                                  drive? I’ve been working away at mathematics till my head
                                  is in a muddle, and I’m going to freshen my wits by a brisk
                                  turn. It’s a dull day, but the air isn’t bad, and I’m going to



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