`` Oh , yes , much better , you are so comfortable , Jo . '' `` Go to sleep , dear . I 'll stay with you . '' So cheek to cheek they fell asleep , and on the morrow Beth seemed quite herself again , for at eighteen neither heads nor hearts ache long , and a loving word can medicine most ills . But Jo had made up her mind , and after pondering over a project for some days , she confided it to her mother . `` You asked me the other day what my wishes were . I 'll tell you one of them , Marmee , '' she began , as they sat along together . `` I want to go away somewhere this winter for a change . '' `` Why , Jo ? '' and her mother looked up quickly , as if the words suggested a double meaning . With her eyes on her work Jo answered soberly , `` I want something new . I feel restless and anxious to be seeing , doing , and learning more than I am . I brood too much over my own small affairs , and need stirring up , so as I can be spared this winter , I 'd like to hop a little way and try my wings . '' `` Where will you hop ? '' `` To New York . I had a bright idea yesterday , and this is it . You know Mrs. Kirke wrote to you for some respectable young person to teach her children and sew . It 's rather hard to find just the thing , but I think I should suit if I tried . '' `` My dear , go out to service in that great boarding house ! '' and Mrs. March looked surprised , but not displeased .
`` It 's not exactly going out to service , for Mrs. XXXXX is your friend -- the kindest soul that ever lived -- and would make things pleasant for me , I know .
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