`` Quite right , and beautifully written . Please add that I send my love to John , '' said Mrs. March , as she glanced over the letter and gave it back . `` Do you call him ` John ' ? '' asked Meg , smiling , with her innocent eyes looking down into her mother 's . `` Yes , he has been like a son to us , and we are very fond of him , '' replied Mrs. March , returning the look with a keen one . `` I 'm glad of that , he is so lonely . Good night , Mother , dear . It is so inexpressibly comfortable to have you here , '' was Meg 's answer . The kiss her mother gave her was a very tender one , and as she went away , Mrs. March said , with a mixture of satisfaction and regret , `` She does not love John yet , but will soon learn to . '' CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE LAURIE MAKES MISCHIEF , AND JO MAKES PEACE Jo 's face was a study next day , for the secret rather weighed upon her , and she found it hard not to look mysterious and important . Meg observed it , but did not trouble herself to make inquiries , for she had learned that the best way to manage Jo was by the law of contraries , so she felt sure of being told everything if she did not ask . She was rather surprised , therefore , when the silence remained unbroken , and Jo assumed a patronizing air , which decidedly aggravated Meg , who in turn assumed an air of dignified reserve and devoted herself to her mother . This left Jo to her own devices , for Mrs. March had taken her place as nurse , and bade her rest , exercise , and amuse herself after her long confinement . Amy being gone , Laurie was her only refuge , and much as she enjoyed his society , she rather dreaded him just then , for he was an incorrigible tease , and she feared he would coax the secret from her . She was quite right , for the mischief-loving lad no sooner suspected a mystery than he set himself to find it out , and led Jo a trying life of it . He wheedled , bribed , ridiculed , threatened , and scolded ; affected indifference , that he might surprise the truth from her ; declared he knew , then that he did n't care ; and at last , by dint of perseverance , he satisfied himself that it concerned Meg and Mr. Brooke . Feeling indignant that he was not taken into his tutor 's confidence , he set his wits to work to devise some proper retaliation for the slight . Meg meanwhile had apparently forgotten the matter and was absorbed in preparations for her father 's return , but all of a sudden a change seemed to come over her , and , for a day or two , she was quite unlike herself . She started when spoken to , blushed when looked at , was very quiet , and sat over her sewing , with a timid , troubled look on her face . To her mother 's inquiries she answered that she was quite well , and Jo 's she silenced by begging to be let alone .
`` She feels it in the air -- XXXXX , I mean -- and she 's going very fast .
CHAPTER MISCHIEF change devices everything love reserve retaliation trouble truth