Something in his face made Amy say quickly and warmly ... `` No , be yourself with me , Laurie , and part in the good old way . I 'd rather have a hearty English handshake than all the sentimental salutations in France . '' `` Goodbye , dear , '' and with these words , uttered in the tone she liked , Laurie left her , after a handshake almost painful in its heartiness . Next morning , instead of the usual call , Amy received a note which made her smile at the beginning and sigh at the end . My Dear Mentor , Please make my adieux to your aunt , and exult within yourself , for ` Lazy Laurence ' has gone to his grandpa , like the best of boys . A pleasant winter to you , and may the gods grant you a blissful honeymoon at Valrosa ! I think Fred would be benefited by a rouser . Tell him so , with my congratulations . Yours gratefully , Telemachus `` Good boy ! I 'm glad he 's gone , '' said Amy , with an approving smile . The next minute her face fell as she glanced about the empty room , adding , with an involuntary sigh , `` Yes , I am glad , but how I shall miss him . '' CHAPTER FORTY THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW When the first bitterness was over , the family accepted the inevitable , and tried to bear it cheerfully , helping one another by the increased affection which comes to bind households tenderly together in times of trouble . They put away their grief , and each did his or her part toward making that last year a happy one . The pleasantest room in the house was set apart for Beth , and in it was gathered everything that she most loved , flowers , pictures , her piano , the little worktable , and the beloved pussies . Father 's best books found their way there , Mother 's easy chair , Jo 's desk , Amy 's finest sketches , and every day Meg brought her babies on a loving pilgrimage , to make sunshine for Aunty Beth . John quietly set apart a little sum , that he might enjoy the pleasure of keeping the invalid supplied with the fruit she loved and longed for . Old Hannah never wearied of concocting dainty dishes to tempt a capricious appetite , dropping tears as she worked , and from across the sea came little gifts and cheerful letters , seeming to bring breaths of warmth and fragrance from lands that know no winter . Here , cherished like a household saint in its shrine , sat Beth , tranquil and busy as ever , for nothing could change the sweet , unselfish nature , and even while preparing to leave life , she tried to make it happier for those who should remain behind . The feeble fingers were never idle , and one of her pleasures was to make little things for the school children daily passing to and fro , to drop a pair of mittens from her window for a pair of purple hands , a needlebook for some small mother of many dolls , penwipers for young penmen toiling through forests of pothooks , scrapbooks for picture-loving eyes , and all manner of pleasant devices , till the reluctant climbers of the ladder of learning found their way strewn with flowers , as it were , and came to regard the gentle giver as a sort of fairy godmother , who sat above there , and showered down gifts miraculously suited to their tastes and needs . If Beth had wanted any reward , she found it in the bright little faces always turned up to her window , with nods and smiles , and the droll little letters which came to her , full of blots and gratitude .
The first few months were very happy ones , and XXXXX often used to look round , and say `` How beautiful this is ! ''
Beth English Fred Laurence Mother Telemachus climbers first penwipers pothooks