him and he fiddle a fortune into her lap. Mrs Jo knew this; and
though he was not exactly the man she would have chosen for her
niece, she felt that Nat would always need just the wise and loving
care Daisy could give him, and that without it there was danger of
his being one of the amiable and aimless men who fail for want of the
right pilot to steer them safely through the world. Mrs Meg decidedly
frowned upon the poor boy's love, and would not hear of giving her
dear girl to any but the best man to be found on the face of the
earth. She was very kind, but as firm as such gentle souls can be;
and Nat fled for comfort to Mrs Jo, who always espoused the interests
of her boys heartily. A new set of anxieties was beginning now that
the aforesaid boys were growing up, and she foresaw no end of worry
as well as amusement in the love-affairs already budding in her
flock. Mrs Meg was usually her best ally and adviser, for she loved
romances as well now as when a blooming girl herself. But in this
case she hardened her heart, and would not hear a word of entreaty.
'Nat was not man enough, never would be, no one knew his family, a
musician's life was a hard one; Daisy was too young, five or six
years hence when time had proved both perhaps. Let us see what
absence will do for him.' And that was the end of it, for when the
maternal Pelican was roused she could be very firm, though for her
precious children she would have plucked her last feather and given
the last drop of her blood.

Mrs Jo was thinking of this as she looked at Nat while he talked with
her husband about Leipzig, and she resolved to have a clear
understanding with him before he went; for she was used to
confidences, and talked freely with her boys about the trials and
temptations that beset all lives in the beginning, and so often mar
them, for want of the right word at the right moment.