The lunch looked charming , and as she surveyed it , she sincerely hoped it would taste well , and that the borrowed glass , china , and silver would get safely home again . The carriages were promised , Meg and Mother were all ready to do the honors , Beth was able to help Hannah behind the scenes , Jo had engaged to be as lively and amiable as an absent mind , and aching head , and a very decided disapproval of everybody and everything would allow , and as she wearily dressed , Amy cheered herself with anticipations of the happy moment when , lunch safely over , she should drive away with her friends for an afternoon of artistic delights , for the ` cherry bounce ' and the broken bridge were her strong points . Then came the hours of suspense , during which she vibrated from parlor to porch , while public opinion varied like the weathercock . A smart shower at eleven had evidently quenched the enthusiasm of the young ladies who were to arrive at twelve , for nobody came , and at two the exhausted family sat down in a blaze of sunshine to consume the perishable portions of the feast , that nothing might be lost . `` No doubt about the weather today , they will certainly come , so we must fly round and be ready for them , '' said Amy , as the sun woke her next morning . She spoke briskly , but in her secret soul she wished she had said nothing about Tuesday , for her interest like her cake was getting a little stale . `` I ca n't get any lobsters , so you will have to do without salad today , '' said Mr. March , coming in half an hour later , with an expression of placid despair . `` Use the chicken then , the toughness wo n't matter in a salad , '' advised his wife . `` Hannah left it on the kitchen table a minute , and the kittens got at it . I 'm very sorry , Amy , '' added Beth , who was still a patroness of cats . `` Then I must have a lobster , for tongue alone wo n't do , '' said Amy decidedly . `` Shall I rush into town and demand one ? '' asked Jo , with the magnanimity of a martyr . `` You 'd come bringing it home under your arm without any paper , just to try me . I 'll go myself , '' answered Amy , whose temper was beginning to fail . Shrouded in a thick veil and armed with a genteel traveling basket , she departed , feeling that a cool drive would soothe her ruffled spirit and fit her for the labors of the day . After some delay , the object of her desire was procured , likewise a bottle of dressing to prevent further loss of time at home , and off she drove again , well pleased with her own forethought . As the omnibus contained only one other passenger , a sleepy old lady , Amy pocketed her veil and beguiled the tedium of the way by trying to find out where all her money had gone to . So busy was she with her card full of refractory figures that she did not observe a newcomer , who entered without stopping the vehicle , till a masculine voice said , `` Good morning , Miss March , '' and , looking up , she beheld one of Laurie 's most elegant college friends . Fervently hoping that he would get out before she did , Amy utterly ignored the basket at her feet , and congratulating herself that she had on her new traveling dress , returned the young man 's greeting with her usual suavity and spirit .
They got on excellently , for XXXXX 's chief care was soon set at rest by learning that the gentleman would leave first , and she was chatting away in a peculiarly lofty strain , when the old lady got out .
Amy Hannah Jo Laurie Meg afternoon congratulating hours left weathercock