If Nat comes home all right , I 'd say : `` Bless you , my children , '' and give them a nest of their own . Then you and I will help little Jo to find out if it is to be `` All the world 's a stage '' or `` Home , sweet home '' , for her . ' ' I suppose we must , John ; but I ca n't help making plans , and hoping they will come to pass . I see that Daisy is bound up in Nat ; and if he is worthy of her I shall let them be happy in their own way , as my parents let me . But Josie will be a trial , I foresee ; and much as I love the stage , and always did , I do n't see how I can ever let my little girl be an actress , though she certainly has great talent for it . ' ` Whose fault is that ? ' asked Demi , smiling , as he remembered his mother 's early triumphs and unquenchable interest in the dramatic efforts of the young people round her . ` Mine , I know . How could it be otherwise when I acted Babes in the Wood with you and Daisy before you could speak , and taught Josie to declaim Mother Goose in her cradle . Ah , me ! the tastes of the mother come out in her children , and she must atone for them by letting them have their own way , I suppose . ' And Mrs Meg laughed , even while she shook her head over the undeniable fact that the Marches were a theatrical family . ` Why not have a great actress of our name , as well as an authoress , a minister , and an eminent publisher ? We do n't choose our talents , but we need n't hide them in a napkin because they are not just what we want . I say , let Jo have her way , and do what she can . Here am I to take care of her ; and you ca n't deny you 'd enjoy fixing her furbelows , and seeing her shine before the footlights , where you used to long to be . Come , mother , better face the music and march gaily , since your wilful children will `` gang their ain gait '' . ' ' I do n't see but I must , and `` leave the consequences to the Lord '' , as Marmee used to say when she had to decide , and only saw a step of the road . I should enjoy it immensely , if I could only feel that the life would not hurt my girl , and leave her unsatisfied when it was too late to change ; for nothing is harder to give up than the excitements of that profession . I know something of it ; and if your blessed father had not come along , I 'm afraid I should have been an actress in spite of Aunt March and all our honoured ancestors . '
` Let XXXXX add new honour to the name , and work out the family talent in its proper place .
Demi Jo John Josie Marmee Meg Nat ain excitements footlights