` Bless me ! the boy is in dead earnest , and I shall forget prudence in sympathy I 'm afraid , ' thought Mrs Jo , surprised and pleased by the unexpected manliness Nat showed . ` I 'll tell you what I should do . I 'd say to myself : `` I 'll prove that my love is strong and faithful , and make Daisy 's mother proud to give her to me by being not only a good musician but an excellent man , and so command respect and confidence . This I will try for ; and if I fail , I shall be the better for the effort , and find comfort in the thought that I did my best for her sake . '' ' ` That is what I meant to do . But I wanted a word of hope to give me courage , ' cried Nat , firing up as if the smouldering spark was set ablaze by a breath of encouragement . ` Other fellows , poorer and stupider than I , have done great things and come to honour . Why may not I , though I 'm nothing now ? I know Mrs Brooke remembers what I came from , but my father was honest though everything went wrong ; and I have nothing to be ashamed of though I was a charity boy . I never will be ashamed of my people or myself , and I 'll make other folks respect me if I can . ' ` Good ! that 's the right spirit , Nat . Hold to it and make yourself a man . No one will be quicker to see and admire the brave work than my sister Meg . She does not despise your poverty or your past ; but mothers are very tender over their daughters , and we Marches , though we have been poor , are , I confess , a little proud of our good family . We do n't care for money ; but a long line of virtuous ancestors is something to desire and to be proud of . ' ` Well , the Blakes are a good lot . I looked 'em up , and not one was ever in prison , hanged , or disgraced in any way . We used to be rich and honoured years ago , but we 've died out and got poor , and father was a street musician rather than beg ; and I 'll be one again before I 'll do the mean things some men do and pass muster . '
XXXXX was so excited that Mrs Jo indulged in a laugh to calm him , and both went on more quietly . '
Blakes Brooke Daisy Meg Nat money past people proud right