PREVIOUSLY: Mother came home! The girls and Marmee enjoyed tea, and then got ready to hear an exciting letter from Father.
“Hurry up, and get done. Don’t stop to quirk your little finger, and prink over your plate, Amy,” cried Jo, choking in her tea (sic), and dropping her bread, butter side down, on the carpet, in her haste to get at the treat.
Beth ate no more, but crept away, to sit in her shadowy corner and brood over the delight to come, till the others were ready.
“I think it was so splendid in father (sic) to go as a chaplain when he was too old to be draughted, and not strong enough for a solider,” said Meg, warmly. 1
Father (iykyk)
“Don’t I wish I could go as drummer, a vivian2 - what’s its name? Or a nurse, so I could be near him and help him,” exclaimed Jo, with a groan.
“It must be very disagreeable to sleep in a tent, and eat all sorts of bad-tasting things, and drink out of a tin mug,” sighed Amy.
“When will he come home, Marmee?” asked Beth, with a little quiver in her voice.
“Not for many months, dear, unless he is as sick as I am. He will stay and do his work faithfully as long as he can, and we won’t ask for him back a minute sooner than he can be spared. Now come and hear the letter.” 3
Very few letters were written in those hard times that were not touching, especially those which fathers sent home.
They all drew to the fire, mother in the big chair with Beth at her feet, Meg and Amy perched on either arm of the chair, and Jo leaning on the back, where no one would see any sign of emotion if the letter should happen to be touching.
Very few letters were written in those hard times that were not touching, especially those which fathers sent home. In this one little was said of the hardships endured, the dangers faced, or the homesickness conquered; it was a cheerful, hopeful letter, full of lively descriptions of camp life, marches, and military news; and only at the end did the writer’s heart overflow with fatherly love and longing for the little girls at home.
“Give them all my dear love and a kiss. Tell them I think of them by day, pray for them by night, and find my best comfort in their affection at all times. A year seems very long to wait before I see them, but remind them that while we wait we may all work, so that these hard days need not be wasted. I know they will remember all I said to them, that they will be loving children to you, will do their duty faithfully, fight their bosom enemies bravely, and conquer themselves so beautifully, that when I come back to them I may be fonder and prouder than ever of my little women.”4
1 “Mr. March, just to confirm, you would like to leave your wife and four daughters in relative poverty for several years to join a war effort you will NOT actually fight in because you are not young, you are not able-bodied, you do not have medical skills, and are at worst a massive burden and at best a talking bible?” “Yes!” “Great! See you on the front.” (ASIDE: Yes, she used the word ‘draughted’.)
2Had to go to a Little Women Facebook page to find this one - Jo’s probably referring to the term “vivandier,” which is a term for civilian (generally women) canteen workers.
3 I don’t know, man. There’s a thin line between “going to war to pray with the troops” and “abandoning your annoying family under the thinnest of pretenses.”
4 Ayyyyyyyyyyyyy!