'Oh Bethy, such news!' Jo came running into the parlour even more dishevelled than usual, having slept late and missed breakfast after burning the midnight oil.
Beth looked up expectantly from the doll's pinafore she was making for Tina. 'Is it Meg? Is there going to be another baby?'
'Better than that. Amy's engaged to Fred Vaughan! They're still in Nice at the moment, but will be married in London, and that angelic old dragon Aunt March is paying my passage to England for the wedding. I'm sure she just wants to stop the family name appearing in bylines for a few months, but no matter. Marmee won't leave Meg and the twins, and Father won't leave Marmee, so you and I are going in their stead. Mr Laurence has business to attend to in London, so he will play chaperone, and it sounds as if he'll bring Teddy too since the boy can't be trusted to look after himself. How delicious it will be! London, at last!' and Jo, quite worn out by this effusion, fairly hurled herself on to the sofa.
Beth skimmed through her mother's letter, so expertly summarised by Jo, with mounting anxiety. 'I don't know. It's so far, and so expensive...'
'Mr. Laurence won't hear of going without you, and for that matter neither will I. Sea air has always done you good, and where better to get it than crossing the Atlantic? You must supply Marmee's place, and say all the homely, comforting things to Amy that she would say.'
'I don't know any comforting things,' murmured Beth, a little crossly. The sight of Marmee's handwriting always made her homesick, and the prospect of spending even more time away from home was a daunting one. If only she could see her parents, and Meg, and the babies, before she went!
But, since she was already in New York, the plan was for her to stay a month or so longer at Mrs Kirke's before being joined by the Laurences and setting sail. Then they would be travelling with a stranger; since the world at large stubbornly refused to recognise Laurie as their brother, the girls must needs be chaperoned by a Mrs. McIntyre, the widow of one of Mr. Laurence's business partners, who was going to visit her family in Scotland. Jo skipped over this detail, airily saying that she was sure they would 'shake her off somehow, and have larks', but Beth was not quite so sanguine. She did worry that putting Laurie and Jo on a ship together would reawaken all his 'lovelornity', which would in turn exasperate Jo... but, well, he had been getting back to something like his old self before she left for New York, so all she could do was hope for the best. And, after all, it would be pleasant to see old Mr Laurence again, and to see Amy married and settled, even if it was so very far away.
Naturally, new clothes had to be bought; and shopping with Jo was a trial as always, her sister refusing to take the requisite interest in fabrics and slipping off to gaze longingly at expensive pens and inlaid writing-desks instead. Then there were packing-cases to be fitted out, and wedding presents to be acquired, all of which thrifty little Beth managed to accomplish without bothering anybody else too much; though the first time she walked into one of the great department stores by herself she thought she would surely have a heart attack. It is remarkable what impossible feats we can manage when necessity requires them, and before the month was out Beth was no longer quite so intimidated by the shop assistants who looked askance at her simple clothes, nor the fast-talking city dwellers who crowded the streets. The weather was starting to get hotter, too, the gentle breezes of spring giving way to the heavy stillness of summer, and Beth began to see the advantages of quitting the city for the sea.
Almost before she knew it, the trunks were packed and the Laurences were upon them, like a benevolent wind blowing in from home and bearing all manner of gifts and good wishes. Beth had a little weep over Marmee's note, but there was little time for sadness when there was so much news to be exchanged on both sides. She kept a weather eye on Laurie, who seemed almost too full of gaiety, if anything, addressing all his remarks to the general company, and barely looking at Jo. Beth observed that he had shaved off his moustache, and hoped this had nothing to do with the fact that Jo detested it. When Jo introduced him to Professor Bhaer on their way out to dinner, both men seemed unusually stiff and cold with each other, not at all their normal gregarious selves; but Jo seemed only to notice Laurie's behavior, complaining later as she and Beth got ready for bed:
'Ridiculous boy! Did you see how stand-offish he was with the Professor? I truly thought he would be over his jealousy by now, but apparently not. It's a shame, since they'd get on famously if only Teddy would give him a chance.'
Beth, employed in setting out their travelling clothes for the morning, said only 'I hope you will be kind to him, Jo. You know how fond he is of you.'
'As I am of him, but not in that way. And, really, he should know better than to suspect me of dallying with any one, least of all the Professor, who is forty if he's a day, and the least flirtatious fellow ever to walk this earth, dear man! I wish there was some way I could smuggle him in my luggage and get him back to the Fatherland. It would be so nice to see him in his native habitat, among his own people.' Jo smiled at the thought as she threw back the covers and jumped underneath.
A stab of pity went through Beth's heart. Poor Professor, to be dismissed so kindly, so airily! Poor Laurie, to be labelled 'ridiculous' for his fears! And poor Jo, fated to break the hearts of both these men whom she liked so much and would not willingly have hurt for all the world. Not for the first time, Beth reflected that 'lovering' was, on the whole, quite a dreadful business and she was happy to be excluded from it. It must be a great relief to Amy finally to have accepted Fred and not have to worry about such things any more. She only hoped that Jo would be more patient, and Laurie less trying, and that the voyage would not be too much of an ordeal.