Rose in Bloom: A Sequel to 'Eight Cousins'Alcott, Louisa May
General
Rose in Bloom: A Sequel to 'Eight Cousins'
Alcott, Louisa May
Cousins -- Juvenile fiction; Families -- Juvenile fiction; New England -- Juvenile fiction; Young women -- Juvenile fiction
But bonny Rose was "all right," as these amiable youths expressed it;
and many a wistful eye followed the bright head as it flitted about
the rooms, as if it were a second Golden Fleece to be won with
difficulty; for stalwart kinsmen hedged it round, and watchful aunts
kept guard.
Little wonder that the girl found her new world an enchanting one, and
that her first sip of pleasure rather went to her head; for everybody
welcomed and smiled on her, flattered and praised, whispered agreeable
prophecies in her ear, and looked the compliments and congratulations
they dared not utter, till she felt as if she must have left her old
self somewhere abroad, and suddenly become a new and wonderfully
gifted being.
"It is very nice, uncle; and I'm not sure that I mayn't want another
three months of it when the first are gone," she whispered to Dr.
Alec, as he stood watching the dance she was leading with Charlie in
the long hall after supper.
"Steady, my lass, steady; and remember that you are not really a
butterfly, but a mortal girl with a head that will ache to-morrow," he
answered, watching the flushed and smiling face before him.
"I almost wish there wasn't any to-morrow, but that to-night would
last for ever: it is so pleasant, and every one so kind," she said
with a little sigh of happiness, as she gathered up her fleecy skirts
like a white bird pluming itself for flight.
"I'll ask your opinion about that at two A.M," began her uncle, with a
warning nod.
"I'll give it honestly," was all Rose had time to say before Charlie
swept her away into the parti-colored cloud before them.
"It's no use, Alec: train a girl as wisely as you choose, she will
break loose when the time comes, and go in for pleasure as eagerly as
the most frivolous; for ''tis their nature to,'" said Uncle Mac,
keeping time to the music as if he would not mind "going in" for a bit
of pleasure himself.
"My girl shall taste and try; but, unless I'm much mistaken, a little
of it will satisfy her. I want to see if she will stand the test; for,
if not, all my work is a failure, and I'd like to know it," answered
the doctor, with a hopeful smile on his lips, but an anxious look in
his eyes.
"She will come out all right,--bless her heart! so let her sow her
innocent wild oats and enjoy herself till she is ready to settle down.
I wish all our young folks were likely to have as small a crop, and
get through as safely as she will," added Uncle Mac, with a shake of
the head, as he glanced at some of the young men revolving before him.
"Nothing amiss with your lads, I hope?"
"No, thank heaven! So far I've had little trouble with either; though
Mac is an odd stick, and Steve a puppy. I don't complain; for both
will outgrow that sort of thing, and are good fellows at heart, thanks
to their mother. But Clara's boy is in a bad way; and she will spoil
him as a man as she has as a boy, if his father doesn't interfere."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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