said Amy , who objected to silence just then . `` So well that I wish we might always pull in the same boat . Will you , Amy ? '' very tenderly . `` Yes , Laurie , '' very low . Then they both stopped rowing , and unconsciously added a pretty little tableau of human love and happiness to the dissolving views reflected in the lake . CHAPTER FORTY-TWO ALL ALONE It was easy to promise self-abnegation when self was wrapped up in another , and heart and soul were purified by a sweet example . But when the helpful voice was silent , the daily lesson over , the beloved presence gone , and nothing remained but loneliness and grief , then Jo found her promise very hard to keep . How could she ` comfort Father and Mother ' when her own heart ached with a ceaseless longing for her sister , how could she ` make the house cheerful ' when all its light and warmth and beauty seemed to have deserted it when Beth left the old home for the new , and where in all the world could she ` find some useful , happy work to do ' , that would take the place of the loving service which had been its own reward ? She tried in a blind , hopeless way to do her duty , secretly rebelling against it all the while , for it seemed unjust that her few joys should be lessened , her burdens made heavier , and life get harder and harder as she toiled along . Some people seemed to get all sunshine , and some all shadow . It was not fair , for she tried more than Amy to be good , but never got any reward , only disappointment , trouble and hard work . Poor Jo , these were dark days to her , for something like despair came over her when she thought of spending all her life in that quiet house , devoted to humdrum cares , a few small pleasures , and the duty that never seemed to grow any easier . `` I ca n't do it . I was n't meant for a life like this , and I know I shall break away and do something desperate if somebody does n't come and help me , '' she said to herself , when her first efforts failed and she fell into the moody , miserable state of mind which often comes when strong wills have to yield to the inevitable . But someone did come and help her , though Jo did not recognize her good angels at once because they wore familiar shapes and used the simple spells best fitted to poor humanity . Often she started up at night , thinking Beth called her , and when the sight of the little empty bed made her cry with the bitter cry of unsubmissive sorrow , `` Oh , Beth , come back ! Come back ! '' she did not stretch out her yearning arms in vain . For , as quick to hear her sobbing as she had been to hear her sister 's faintest whisper , her mother came to comfort her , not with words only , but the patient tenderness that soothes by a touch , tears that were mute reminders of a greater grief than Jo 's , and broken whispers , more eloquent than prayers , because hopeful resignation went hand-in-hand with natural sorrow .
Sacred moments , when heart talked to heart in the silence of the XXXXX , turning affliction to a blessing , which chastened grief and strengthned love .
Beth Laurie Mother daily days first left night rowing self-abnegation