The little house was not far away , and the only bridal journey Meg had was the quiet walk with John from the old home to the new . When she came down , looking like a pretty Quakeress in her dove-colored suit and straw bonnet tied with white , they all gathered about her to say ` good-by ' , as tenderly as if she had been going to make the grand tour . `` Do n't feel that I am separated from you , Marmee dear , or that I love you any the less for loving John so much , '' she said , clinging to her mother , with full eyes for a moment . `` I shall come every day , Father , and expect to keep my old place in all your hearts , though I am married . Beth is going to be with me a great deal , and the other girls will drop in now and then to laugh at my housekeeping struggles . Thank you all for my happy wedding day . Good-by , good-by ! '' They stood watching her , with faces full of love and hope and tender pride as she walked away , leaning on her husband 's arm , with her hands full of flowers and the June sunshine brightening her happy face -- and so Meg 's married life began . CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX ARTISTIC ATTEMPTS It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius , especially ambitious young men and women . Amy was learning this distinction through much tribulation , for mistaking enthusiasm for inspiration , she attempted every branch of art with youthful audacity . For a long time there was a lull in the ` mud-pie ' business , and she devoted herself to the finest pen-and-ink drawing , in which she showed such taste and skill that her graceful handiwork proved both pleasant and profitable . But over-strained eyes caused pen and ink to be laid aside for a bold attempt at poker-sketching . While this attack lasted , the family lived in constant fear of a conflagration , for the odor of burning wood pervaded the house at all hours , smoke issued from attic and shed with alarming frequency , red-hot pokers lay about promiscuously , and Hannah never went to bed without a pail of water and the dinner bell at her door in case of fire . Raphael 's face was found boldly executed on the underside of the moulding board , and Bacchus on the head of a beer barrel . A chanting cherub adorned the cover of the sugar bucket , and attempts to portray Romeo and Juliet supplied kindling for some time . From fire to oil was a natural transition for burned fingers , and Amy fell to painting with undiminished ardor . An artist friend fitted her out with his castoff palettes , brushes , and colors , and she daubed away , producing pastoral and marine views such as were never seen on land or sea . Her monstrosities in the way of cattle would have taken prizes at an agricultural fair , and the perilous pitching of her vessels would have produced seasickness in the most nautical observer , if the utter disregard to all known rules of shipbuilding and rigging had not convulsed him with laughter at the first glance . Swarthy boys and dark-eyed Madonnas , staring at you from one corner of the studio , suggested Murillo ; oily brown shadows of faces with a lurid streak in the wrong place , meant Rembrandt ; buxom ladies and dropiscal infants , Rubens ; and Turner appeared in tempests of blue thunder , orange lightning , brown rain , and purple clouds , with a tomato-colored splash in the middle , which might be the sun or a bouy , a sailor 's shirt or a king 's robe , as the spectator pleased . Charcoal portraits came next , and the entire family hung in a row , looking as wild and crocky as if just evoked from a coalbin .
Softened into crayon sketches , they did better , for the likenesses were good , and XXXXX 's hair , Jo 's nose , Meg 's mouth , and Laurie 's eyes were pronounced ` wonderfully fine ' .
Amy John Marmee Murillo Raphael attack cherub kindling lightning mud-pie