An Old-fashioned Girl by Louisa M. Alcott

“Like a lamb; for when I ‘d done, he only said, ‘My poor lad, we

must bear with one another.’ and then told his story.”

“I ‘m glad he was kind,” began Polly, in a soothing tone; but Tom

cried out, remorsefully, “That ‘s what knocks me over! Just when I

ought to be a pride and a prop to him, I bring him my debts and

disgrace, and he never says a word of blame. It ‘s no use, I can’t

stand it!” and Tom’s head went down again with something very

like a sob, that would come in spite of manful efforts to keep it

back, for the poor fellow had the warmest heart that ever was, and

all the fine waistcoats outside could n’t spoil it.

That sound gave Polly more pain than the news of a dozen failures

and expulsions, and it was as impossible for her to resist putting

her hand tenderly on the bent head, as it was for her to help

noticing with pleasure how brown the little curls were growing,

and how soft they were. In spite of her sorrow, she enjoyed that

minute very much, for she was a born consoler, and, it is hardly

necessary for me to add, loved this reprehensible Tom with all her

heart. It was a very foolish thing for her to do, she quite agreed to

that; she could n’t understand it, explain it, or help it; she only felt

that she did care for him very much, in spite of his faults, his

indifference, and his engagement. You see, she learned to love him

one summer, when he made them a visit. That was before Trix

caught him; and when she heard that piece of news, Polly could n’t

unlove him all at once, though she tried very hard, as was her duty.

That engagement was such a farce, that she never had much faith

in it, so she put her love away in a corner of her heart, and tried to

forget it, hoping it would either die, or have a right to live. It did

n’t make her very miserable, because patience, work, and

common-sense lent her a hand, and hope would keep popping up

its bright face from the bottom of her Pandora-box of troubles.

Now and then, when any one said Trix would n’t jilt Tom, or that

Tom did care for Trix more than he should, Polly had a pang, and

thought she could n’t possibly bear it. But she always found she

could, and so came to the conclusion that it was a merciful

provision of nature that girls’ hearts could stand so much, and their

appetites continue good, when unrequited love was starving.

Now, she could not help yearning over this faulty, well-beloved

scapegrace Tom, or help thinking, with a little thrill of hope, “If

Trix only cared for his money, she may cast him off now he ‘s lost

it; but I ‘ll love him all the better because he ‘s poor.” With this

feeling warm at her heart, I don’t wonder that Polly’s hand had a

soothing effect, and that after a heave or two, Tom’s shoulders

were quiet, and certain smothered sniffs suggested that he would

be all right again, if he could only wipe his eyes without any one’s

seeing him do it.

Polly seemed to divine his wish, and tucking a little, clean

handkerchief into one of his half-open hands, she said, “I ‘m going

to your father, now,” and with a farewell smooth, so comforting

that Tom wished she ‘d do it again, she went away.

As she paused a minute in the hall to steady herself, Maud called

her from above, and thinking that the women might need her more

than the men, she ran up to find Fanny waiting for her in her own

room.

“Mamma’s asleep, quite worn out, poor dear, so we can talk in here

without troubling her,” said Fanny, receiving her friend so quietly,

that Polly was amazed.

“Let me come, too, I won’t make any fuss; it ‘s so dreadful to be

shut out everywhere, and have people crying and talking, and

locked up, and I not know what it means,” said Maud,

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *