I used to think I could n't let you go , but I 'm learning to feel that I do n't lose you , that you 'll be more to me than ever , and death ca n't part us , though it seems to . '' `` I know it can not , and I do n't fear it any longer , for I 'm sure I shall be your Beth still , to love and help you more than ever . You must take my place , Jo , and be everything to Father and Mother when I 'm gone . They will turn to you , do n't fail them , and if it 's hard to work alone , remember that I do n't forget you , and that you 'll be happier in doing that than writing splendid books or seeing all the world , for love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go , and it makes the end so easy . '' `` I 'll try , Beth . '' and then and there Jo renounced her old ambition , pledged herself to a new and better one , acknowledging the poverty of other desires , and feeling the blessed solace of a belief in the immortality of love . So the spring days came and went , the sky grew clearer , the earth greener , the flowers were up fairly early , and the birds came back in time to say goodbye to Beth , who , like a tired but trustful child , clung to the hands that had led her all her life , as Father and Mother guided her tenderly through the Valley of the Shadow , and gave her up to God . Seldom except in books do the dying utter memorable words , see visions , or depart with beatified countenances , and those who have sped many parting souls know that to most the end comes as naturally and simply as sleep . As Beth had hoped , the ` tide went out easily ' , and in the dark hour before dawn , on the bosom where she had drawn her first breath , she quietly drew her last , with no farewell but one loving look , one little sigh . With tears and prayers and tender hands , Mother and sisters made her ready for the long sleep that pain would never mar again , seeing with grateful eyes the beautiful serenity that soon replaced the pathetic patience that had wrung their hearts so long , and feeling with reverent joy that to their darling death was a benignant angel , not a phantom full of dread . When morning came , for the first time in many months the fire was out , Jo 's place was empty , and the room was very still . But a bird sang blithely on a budding bough , close by , the snowdrops blossomed freshly at the window , and the spring sunshine streamed in like a benediction over the placid face upon the pillow , a face so full of painless peace that those who loved it best smiled through their tears , and thanked God that Beth was well at last . CHAPTER FORTY-ONE LEARNING TO FORGET Amy 's lecture did Laurie good , though , of course , he did not own it till long afterward . Men seldom do , for when women are the advisers , the lords of creation do n't take the advice till they have persuaded themselves that it is just what they intended to do . Then they act upon it , and , if it succeeds , they give the weaker vessel half the credit of it . If it fails , they generously give her the whole . Laurie went back to his grandfather , and was so dutifully devoted for several weeks that the old gentleman declared the climate of Nice had improved him wonderfully , and he had better try it again . There was nothing the young gentleman would have liked better , but elephants could not have dragged him back after the scolding he had received . Pride forbid , and whenever the longing grew very strong , he fortified his resolution by repeating the words that had made the deepest impression -- `` I despise you . '' `` Go and do something splendid that will make her love you . ''
XXXXX turned the matter over in his mind so often that he soon brought himself to confess that he had been selfish and lazy , but then when a man has a great sorrow , he should be indulged in all sorts of vagaries till he has lived it down .
Beth Father Laurie countenances days fire first months morning weeks