["[Event happened on 2024-01-01 The user is reading a book]\n<User> Jo was alone in the twilight, lying on the old sofa, looking at the\nfire, and thinking. It was her favorite way of spending the hour of\ndusk. No one disturbed her, and she used to lie there on Beth's little\nred pillow, planning stories, dreaming dreams, or thinking tender\nthoughts of the sister who never seemed far away. Her face looked\ntired, grave, and rather sad, for tomorrow was her birthday, and she\nwas thinking how fast the years went by, how old she was getting, and\nhow little she seemed to have accomplished. Almost twenty-five, and\nnothing to show for it. Jo was mistaken in that. There was a good\ndeal to show, and by-and-by she saw, and was grateful for it. \"An old maid, that's what I'm to be. A literary spinster, with a pen\nfor a spouse, a family of stories for children, and twenty years hence\na morsel of fame, perhaps, when, like poor Johnson, I'm old and can't\nenjoy it, solitary, and can't share it, independent, and don't need it. Well, I needn't be a sour saint nor a selfish sinner, and, I dare say,\nold maids are very comfortable when they get used to it, but...\" and\nthere Jo sighed, as if the prospect was not inviting. It seldom is, at first, and thirty seems the end of all things to\nfive-and-twenty. But it's not as bad as it looks, and one can get on\nquite happily if one has something in one's self to fall back upon. At\ntwenty-five, girls begin to talk about being old maids, but secretly\nresolve that they never will be. At thirty they say nothing about it,\nbut quietly accept the fact, and if sensible, console themselves by\nremembering that they have twenty more useful, happy years, in which\nthey may be learning to grow old gracefully. Don't laugh at the\nspinsters, dear girls, for often very tender, tragic romances are\nhidden away in the hearts that beat so quietly under the sober gowns,\nand many silent sacrifices of youth, health, ambition, love itself,\nmake the faded faces beautiful in God's sight. Even the sad, sour\nsisters should be kindly dealt with, because they have missed the\nsweetest part of life, if for no other reason. And looking at them\nwith compassion, not contempt, girls in their bloom should remember\nthat they too may miss the blossom time. That rosy cheeks don't last\nforever, that silver threads will come in the bonnie brown hair, and\nthat, by-and-by, kindness and respect will be as sweet as love and\nadmiration now. Gentlemen, which means boys, be courteous to the old maids, no matter\nhow poor and plain and prim, for the only chivalry worth having is that\nwhich is the readiest to pay deference to the old, protect the feeble,\nand serve womankind, regardless of rank, age, or color. Just recollect\nthe good aunts who have not only lectured and fussed, but nursed and\npetted, too often without thanks, the scrapes they have helped you out\nof, the tips they have given you from their small store, the stitches\nthe patient old fingers have set for you, the steps the willing old\nfeet have taken, and gratefully pay the dear old ladies the little\nattentions that women love to receive as long as they live. The\nbright-eyed girls are quick to see such traits, and will like you all\nthe better for them, and if death, almost the only power that can part\nmother and son, should rob you of yours, you will be sure to find a\ntender welcome and maternal cherishing from some Aunt Priscilla, who\nhas kept the warmest corner of her lonely old heart for 'the best nevvy\nin the world'. Jo must have fallen asleep (as I dare say my reader has during this\nlittle homily), for suddenly Laurie's ghost seemed to stand before her,\na substantial, lifelike ghost, leaning over her with the very look he\nused to wear when he felt a good deal and didn't like to show it. But,\nlike Jenny in the ballad...\n\n  \"She could not think it he,\"\n\nand lay staring up at him in startled silence, till he stooped and\nkissed her. Then she knew him, and flew up, crying joyfully...\n\n\"Oh my Teddy! Oh my Teddy!\" \"Dear Jo, you are glad to see me, then?\" \"Glad! My blessed boy, words can't express my gladness. Where's Amy?\" \"Your mother has got her down at Meg's. We stopped there by the way,\nand there was no getting my wife out of their clutches.\" \"Your what?\" cried Jo, for Laurie uttered those two words with an\nunconscious pride and satisfaction which betrayed him. \"Oh, the dickens! Now I've done it,\" and he looked so guilty that Jo\nwas down on him like a flash. \"You've gone and got married!\" \"Yes, please, but I never will again,\" and he went down upon his knees,\nwith a penitent clasping of hands, and a face full of mischief, mirth,\nand triumph. \"Actually married?\" \"Very much so, thank you.\" \"Mercy on us. What dreadful thing will you do next?\" and Jo fell into\nher seat with a gasp. \"A characteristic, but not exactly complimentary, congratulation,\"\nreturned Laurie, still in an abject attitude, but beaming with\nsatisfaction. \"What can you expect, when you take one's breath away, creeping in like\na burglar, and letting cats out of bags like that? Get up, you\nridiculous boy, and tell me all about it.\" \"Not a word, unless you let me come in my old place, and promise not to\nbarricade.\" Jo laughed at that as she had not done for many a long day, and patted\nthe sofa invitingly, as she said in a cordial tone, \"The old pillow is\nup garret, and we don't need it now. So, come and 'fess, Teddy.\" \"How good it sounds to hear you say 'Teddy'! No one ever calls me that\nbut you,\" and Laurie sat down with an air of great content. \"What does Amy call you?\" \"My lord.\" \"That's like her. Well, you look it,\" and Jo's eye plainly betrayed\nthat she found her boy comelier than ever. The pillow was gone, but there was a barricade, nevertheless, a natural\none, raised by time, absence, and change of heart. Both felt it, and\nfor a minute looked at one another as if that invisible barrier cast a\nlittle shadow over them. It was gone directly however, for Laurie\nsaid, with a vain attempt at dignity...\n\n\"Don't I look like a married man and the head of a family?\" \"Not a bit, and you never will. You've grown bigger and bonnier, but\nyou are the same scapegrace as ever.\" \"Now really, Jo, you ought to treat me with more respect,\" began\nLaurie, who enjoyed it all immensely. \"How can I, when the mere idea of you, married and settled, is so\nirresistibly funny that I can't keep sober!\" answered Jo, smiling all\nover her face, so infectiously that they had another laugh, and then\nsettled down for a good talk, quite in the pleasant old fashion. \"It's no use your going out in the cold to get Amy, for they are all\ncoming up presently. I couldn't wait. I wanted to be the one to tell\nyou the grand surprise, and have 'first skim' as we used to say when we\nsquabbled about the cream.\" \"Of course you did, and spoiled your story by beginning at the wrong\nend. Now, start right, and tell me how it all happened. I'm pining to\nknow.\" \"Well, I did it to please Amy,\" began Laurie, with a twinkle that made\nJo exclaim...\n\n\"Fib number one. Amy did it to please you. Go on, and tell the truth,\nif you can, sir.\" \"Now she's beginning to marm it. Isn't it jolly to hear her?\" said\nLaurie to the fire, and the fire glowed and sparkled as if it quite\nagreed. \"It's all the same, you know, she and I being one. We planned\nto come home with the Carrols, a month or more ago, but they suddenly\nchanged their minds, and decided to pass another winter in Paris. But\nGrandpa wanted to come home. He went to please me, and I couldn't let\nhim go alone, neither could I leave Amy, and Mrs. Carrol had got\nEnglish notions about chaperons and such nonsense, and wouldn't let Amy\ncome with us. So I just settled the difficulty by saying, 'Let's be\nmarried, and then we can do as we like'.\" \"Of course you did. You always have things to suit you.\" \"Not always,\" and something in Laurie's voice made Jo say hastily...\n\n\"How did you ever get Aunt to agree?\"\n\n<System> Please remember what the user reads on 2024-01-01, save the details within the book, and retain a summary of the book the user has read so far.", "[Event happened on 2024-01-04 The user is reading a book]\n<User> \"It was hard work, but between us, we talked her over, for we had heaps\nof good reasons on our side. There wasn't time to write and ask leave,\nbut you all liked it, had consented to it by-and-by, and it was only\n'taking time by the fetlock', as my wife says.\" \"Aren't we proud of those two words, and don't we like to say them?\" interrupted Jo, addressing the fire in her turn, and watching with\ndelight the happy light it seemed to kindle in the eyes that had been\nso tragically gloomy when she saw them last. \"A trifle, perhaps, she's such a captivating little woman I can't help\nbeing proud of her. Well, then Uncle and Aunt were there to play\npropriety. We were so absorbed in one another we were of no mortal use\napart, and that charming arrangement would make everything easy all\nround, so we did it.\" \"When, where, how?\" asked Jo, in a fever of feminine interest and\ncuriosity, for she could not realize it a particle. \"Six weeks ago, at the American consul's, in Paris, a very quiet\nwedding of course, for even in our happiness we didn't forget dear\nlittle Beth.\" Jo put her hand in his as he said that, and Laurie gently smoothed the\nlittle red pillow, which he remembered well. \"Why didn't you let us know afterward?\" asked Jo, in a quieter tone,\nwhen they had sat quite still a minute. \"We wanted to surprise you. We thought we were coming directly home,\nat first, but the dear old gentleman, as soon as we were married, found\nhe couldn't be ready under a month, at least, and sent us off to spend\nour honeymoon wherever we liked. Amy had once called Valrosa a regular\nhoneymoon home, so we went there, and were as happy as people are but\nonce in their lives. My faith! Wasn't it love among the roses!\" Laurie seemed to forget Jo for a minute, and Jo was glad of it, for the\nfact that he told her these things so freely and so naturally assured\nher that he had quite forgiven and forgotten. She tried to draw away\nher hand, but as if he guessed the thought that prompted the\nhalf-involuntary impulse, Laurie held it fast, and said, with a manly\ngravity she had never seen in him before...\n\n\"Jo, dear, I want to say one thing, and then we'll put it by forever. As I told you in my letter when I wrote that Amy had been so kind to\nme, I never shall stop loving you, but the love is altered, and I have\nlearned to see that it is better as it is. Amy and you changed places\nin my heart, that's all. I think it was meant to be so, and would have\ncome about naturally, if I had waited, as you tried to make me, but I\nnever could be patient, and so I got a heartache. I was a boy then,\nheadstrong and violent, and it took a hard lesson to show me my\nmistake. For it was one, Jo, as you said, and I found it out, after\nmaking a fool of myself. Upon my word, I was so tumbled up in my mind,\nat one time, that I didn't know which I loved best, you or Amy, and\ntried to love you both alike. But I couldn't, and when I saw her in\nSwitzerland, everything seemed to clear up all at once. You both got\ninto your right places, and I felt sure that it was well off with the\nold love before it was on with the new, that I could honestly share my\nheart between sister Jo and wife Amy, and love them dearly. Will you\nbelieve it, and go back to the happy old times when we first knew one\nanother?\" \"I'll believe it, with all my heart, but, Teddy, we never can be boy\nand girl again. The happy old times can't come back, and we mustn't\nexpect it. We are man and woman now, with sober work to do, for\nplaytime is over, and we must give up frolicking. I'm sure you feel\nthis. I see the change in you, and you'll find it in me. I shall miss\nmy boy, but I shall love the man as much, and admire him more, because\nhe means to be what I hoped he would. We can't be little playmates any\nlonger, but we will be brother and sister, to love and help one another\nall our lives, won't we, Laurie?\" He did not say a word, but took the hand she offered him, and laid his\nface down on it for a minute, feeling that out of the grave of a boyish\npassion, there had risen a beautiful, strong friendship to bless them\nboth. Presently Jo said cheerfully, for she didn't want the coming\nhome to be a sad one, \"I can't make it true that you children are\nreally married and going to set up housekeeping. Why, it seems only\nyesterday that I was buttoning Amy's pinafore, and pulling your hair\nwhen you teased. Mercy me, how time does fly!\" \"As one of the children is older than yourself, you needn't talk so\nlike a grandma. I flatter myself I'm a 'gentleman growed' as Peggotty\nsaid of David, and when you see Amy, you'll find her rather a\nprecocious infant,\" said Laurie, looking amused at her maternal air. \"You may be a little older in years, but I'm ever so much older in\nfeeling, Teddy. Women always are, and this last year has been such a\nhard one that I feel forty.\" \"Poor Jo! We left you to bear it alone, while we went pleasuring. You\nare older. Here's a line, and there's another. Unless you smile, your\neyes look sad, and when I touched the cushion, just now, I found a tear\non it. You've had a great deal to bear, and had to bear it all alone. What a selfish beast I've been!\" and Laurie pulled his own hair, with a\nremorseful look. But Jo only turned over the traitorous pillow, and answered, in a tone\nwhich she tried to make more cheerful, \"No, I had Father and Mother to\nhelp me, and the dear babies to comfort me, and the thought that you\nand Amy were safe and happy, to make the troubles here easier to bear. I am lonely, sometimes, but I dare say it's good for me, and...\"\n\n\"You never shall be again,\" broke in Laurie, putting his arm about her,\nas if to fence out every human ill.  \"Amy and I can't get on without\nyou, so you must come and teach 'the children' to keep house, and go\nhalves in everything, just as we used to do, and let us pet you, and\nall be blissfully happy and friendly together.\" \"If I shouldn't be in the way, it would be very pleasant. I begin to\nfeel quite young already, for somehow all my troubles seemed to fly\naway when you came. You always were a comfort, Teddy,\" and Jo leaned\nher head on his shoulder, just as she did years ago, when Beth lay ill\nand Laurie told her to hold on to him. He looked down at her, wondering if she remembered the time, but Jo was\nsmiling to herself, as if in truth her troubles had all vanished at his\ncoming. \"You are the same Jo still, dropping tears about one minute, and\nlaughing the next. You look a little wicked now. What is it, Grandma?\" \"I was wondering how you and Amy get on together.\" \"Like angels!\" \"Yes, of course, but which rules?\" \"I don't mind telling you that she does now, at least I let her think\nso, it pleases her, you know. By-and-by we shall take turns, for\nmarriage, they say, halves one's rights and doubles one's duties.\" \"You'll go on as you begin, and Amy will rule you all the days of your\nlife.\" \"Well, she does it so imperceptibly that I don't think I shall mind\nmuch. She is the sort of woman who knows how to rule well. In fact, I\nrather like it, for she winds one round her finger as softly and\nprettily as a skein of silk, and makes you feel as if she was doing you\na favor all the while.\" \"That ever I should live to see you a henpecked husband and enjoying\nit!\" cried Jo, with uplifted hands. It was good to see Laurie square his shoulders, and smile with\nmasculine scorn at that insinuation, as he replied, with his \"high and\nmighty\" air, \"Amy is too well-bred for that, and I am not the sort of\nman to submit to it. My wife and I respect ourselves and one another\ntoo much ever to tyrannize or quarrel.\" Jo liked that, and thought the new dignity very becoming, but the boy\nseemed changing very fast into the man, and regret mingled with her\npleasure. \"I am sure of that. Amy and you never did quarrel as we used to.\n\n<System> Please remember what the user reads on 2024-01-04, save the details within the book, and retain a summary of the book the user has read so far.", "[Event happened on 2024-01-05 The user is reading a book]\n<User> She\nis the sun and I the wind, in the fable, and the sun managed the man\nbest, you remember.\" \"She can blow him up as well as shine on him,\" laughed Laurie. \"Such a\nlecture as I got at Nice! I give you my word it was a deal worse than\nany of your scoldings, a regular rouser. I'll tell you all about it\nsometime, she never will, because after telling me that she despised\nand was ashamed of me, she lost her heart to the despicable party and\nmarried the good-for-nothing.\" \"What baseness! Well, if she abuses you, come to me, and I'll defend\nyou.\" \"I look as if I needed it, don't I?\" said Laurie, getting up and\nstriking an attitude which suddenly changed from the imposing to the\nrapturous, as Amy's voice was heard calling, \"Where is she? Where's my\ndear old Jo?\" In trooped the whole family, and everyone was hugged and kissed all\nover again, and after several vain attempts, the three wanderers were\nset down to be looked at and exulted over. Mr. Laurence, hale and\nhearty as ever, was quite as much improved as the others by his foreign\ntour, for the crustiness seemed to be nearly gone, and the\nold-fashioned courtliness had received a polish which made it kindlier\nthan ever. It was good to see him beam at 'my children', as he called\nthe young pair. It was better still to see Amy pay him the daughterly\nduty and affection which completely won his old heart, and best of all,\nto watch Laurie revolve about the two, as if never tired of enjoying\nthe pretty picture they made. The minute she put her eyes upon Amy, Meg became conscious that her own\ndress hadn't a Parisian air, that young Mrs. Moffat would be entirely\neclipsed by young Mrs. Laurence, and that 'her ladyship' was altogether\na most elegant and graceful woman. Jo thought, as she watched the\npair, \"How well they look together! I was right, and Laurie has found\nthe beautiful, accomplished girl who will become his home better than\nclumsy old Jo, and be a pride, not a torment to him.\" Mrs. March and\nher husband smiled and nodded at each other with happy faces, for they\nsaw that their youngest had done well, not only in worldly things, but\nthe better wealth of love, confidence, and happiness. For Amy's face was full of the soft brightness which betokens a\npeaceful heart, her voice had a new tenderness in it, and the cool,\nprim carriage was changed to a gentle dignity, both womanly and\nwinning. No little affectations marred it, and the cordial sweetness of\nher manner was more charming than the new beauty or the old grace, for\nit stamped her at once with the unmistakable sign of the true\ngentlewoman she had hoped to become. \"Love has done much for our little girl,\" said her mother softly. \"She has had a good example before her all her life, my dear,\" Mr.\nMarch whispered back, with a loving look at the worn face and gray head\nbeside him. Daisy found it impossible to keep her eyes off her 'pitty aunty', but\nattached herself like a lap dog to the wonderful chatelaine full of\ndelightful charms. Demi paused to consider the new relationship before\nhe compromised himself by the rash acceptance of a bribe, which took\nthe tempting form of a family of wooden bears from Berne. A flank\nmovement produced an unconditional surrender, however, for Laurie knew\nwhere to have him. \"Young man, when I first had the honor of making your acquaintance you\nhit me in the face. Now I demand the satisfaction of a gentleman,\" and\nwith that the tall uncle proceeded to toss and tousle the small nephew\nin a way that damaged his philosophical dignity as much as it delighted\nhis boyish soul. \"Blest if she ain't in silk from head to foot; ain't it a relishin'\nsight to see her settin' there as fine as a fiddle, and hear folks\ncalling little Amy 'Mis. Laurence!'\" muttered old Hannah, who could\nnot resist frequent \"peeks\" through the slide as she set the table in a\nmost decidedly promiscuous manner. Mercy on us, how they did talk! first one, then the other, then all\nburst out together--trying to tell the history of three years in half\nan hour. It was fortunate that tea was at hand, to produce a lull and\nprovide refreshment--for they would have been hoarse and faint if they\nhad gone on much longer. Such a happy procession as filed away into\nthe little dining room! Mr. March proudly escorted Mrs. Laurence. Mrs.\nMarch as proudly leaned on the arm of 'my son'. The old gentleman took\nJo, with a whispered, \"You must be my girl now,\" and a glance at the\nempty corner by the fire, that made Jo whisper back, \"I'll try to fill\nher place, sir.\" The twins pranced behind, feeling that the millennium was at hand, for\neveryone was so busy with the newcomers that they were left to revel at\ntheir own sweet will, and you may be sure they made the most of the\nopportunity. Didn't they steal sips of tea, stuff gingerbread ad\nlibitum, get a hot biscuit apiece, and as a crowning trespass, didn't\nthey each whisk a captivating little tart into their tiny pockets,\nthere to stick and crumble treacherously, teaching them that both human\nnature and a pastry are frail? Burdened with the guilty consciousness\nof the sequestered tarts, and fearing that Dodo's sharp eyes would\npierce the thin disguise of cambric and merino which hid their booty,\nthe little sinners attached themselves to 'Dranpa', who hadn't his\nspectacles on. Amy, who was handed about like refreshments, returned\nto the parlor on Father Laurence's arm. The others paired off as\nbefore, and this arrangement left Jo companionless. She did not mind\nit at the minute, for she lingered to answer Hannah's eager inquiry. \"Will Miss Amy ride in her coop (coupe), and use all them lovely silver\ndishes that's stored away over yander?\" \"Shouldn't wonder if she drove six white horses, ate off gold plate,\nand wore diamonds and point lace every day. Teddy thinks nothing too\ngood for her,\" returned Jo with infinite satisfaction. \"No more there is! Will you have hash or fishballs for breakfast?\" asked Hannah, who wisely mingled poetry and prose. \"I don't care,\" and Jo shut the door, feeling that food was an\nuncongenial topic just then. She stood a minute looking at the party\nvanishing above, and as Demi's short plaid legs toiled up the last\nstair, a sudden sense of loneliness came over her so strongly that she\nlooked about her with dim eyes, as if to find something to lean upon,\nfor even Teddy had deserted her. If she had known what birthday gift\nwas coming every minute nearer and nearer, she would not have said to\nherself, \"I'll weep a little weep when I go to bed. It won't do to be\ndismal now.\" Then she drew her hand over her eyes, for one of her\nboyish habits was never to know where her handkerchief was, and had\njust managed to call up a smile when there came a knock at the porch\ndoor. She opened with hospitable haste, and started as if another ghost had\ncome to surprise her, for there stood a tall bearded gentleman, beaming\non her from the darkness like a midnight sun. \"Oh, Mr. Bhaer, I am so glad to see you!\" cried Jo, with a clutch, as\nif she feared the night would swallow him up before she could get him\nin. \"And I to see Miss Marsch, but no, you haf a party,\" and the Professor\npaused as the sound of voices and the tap of dancing feet came down to\nthem. \"No, we haven't, only the family. My sister and friends have just come\nhome, and we are all very happy. Come in, and make one of us.\" Though a very social man, I think Mr. Bhaer would have gone decorously\naway, and come again another day, but how could he, when Jo shut the\ndoor behind him, and bereft him of his hat? Perhaps her face had\nsomething to do with it, for she forgot to hide her joy at seeing him,\nand showed it with a frankness that proved irresistible to the solitary\nman, whose welcome far exceeded his boldest hopes. \"If I shall not be Monsieur de Trop, I will so gladly see them all. You haf been ill, my friend?\" He put the question abruptly, for, as Jo hung up his coat, the light\nfell on her face, and he saw a change in it. \"Not ill, but tired and sorrowful. We have had trouble since I saw you\nlast.\" \"Ah, yes, I know.\n\n<System> Please remember what the user reads on 2024-01-05, save the details within the book, and retain a summary of the book the user has read so far.", "[Event happened on 2024-01-07 The user is reading a book]\n<User> My heart was sore for you when I heard that,\" and he\nshook hands again, with such a sympathetic face that Jo felt as if no\ncomfort could equal the look of the kind eyes, the grasp of the big,\nwarm hand. \"Father, Mother, this is my friend, Professor Bhaer,\" she said, with a\nface and tone of such irrepressible pride and pleasure that she might\nas well have blown a trumpet and opened the door with a flourish. If the stranger had any doubts about his reception, they were set at\nrest in a minute by the cordial welcome he received. Everyone greeted\nhim kindly, for Jo's sake at first, but very soon they liked him for\nhis own. They could not help it, for he carried the talisman that\nopens all hearts, and these simple people warmed to him at once,\nfeeling even the more friendly because he was poor. For poverty\nenriches those who live above it, and is a sure passport to truly\nhospitable spirits. Mr. Bhaer sat looking about him with the air of a\ntraveler who knocks at a strange door, and when it opens, finds himself\nat home. The children went to him like bees to a honeypot, and\nestablishing themselves on each knee, proceeded to captivate him by\nrifling his pockets, pulling his beard, and investigating his watch,\nwith juvenile audacity. The women telegraphed their approval to one\nanother, and Mr. March, feeling that he had got a kindred spirit,\nopened his choicest stores for his guest's benefit, while silent John\nlistened and enjoyed the talk, but said not a word, and Mr. Laurence\nfound it impossible to go to sleep. If Jo had not been otherwise engaged, Laurie's behavior would have\namused her, for a faint twinge, not of jealousy, but something like\nsuspicion, caused that gentleman to stand aloof at first, and observe\nthe newcomer with brotherly circumspection. But it did not last long. He got interested in spite of himself, and before he knew it, was drawn\ninto the circle. For Mr. Bhaer talked well in this genial atmosphere,\nand did himself justice. He seldom spoke to Laurie, but he looked at\nhim often, and a shadow would pass across his face, as if regretting\nhis own lost youth, as he watched the young man in his prime. Then his\neyes would turn to Jo so wistfully that she would have surely answered\nthe mute inquiry if she had seen it. But Jo had her own eyes to take\ncare of, and feeling that they could not be trusted, she prudently kept\nthem on the little sock she was knitting, like a model maiden aunt. A stealthy glance now and then refreshed her like sips of fresh water\nafter a dusty walk, for the sidelong peeps showed her several\npropitious omens. Mr. Bhaer's face had lost the absent-minded\nexpression, and looked all alive with interest in the present moment,\nactually young and handsome, she thought, forgetting to compare him\nwith Laurie, as she usually did strange men, to their great detriment. Then he seemed quite inspired, though the burial customs of the\nancients, to which the conversation had strayed, might not be\nconsidered an exhilarating topic. Jo quite glowed with triumph when\nTeddy got quenched in an argument, and thought to herself, as she\nwatched her father's absorbed face, \"How he would enjoy having such a\nman as my Professor to talk with every day!\" Lastly, Mr. Bhaer was\ndressed in a new suit of black, which made him look more like a\ngentleman than ever. His bushy hair had been cut and smoothly brushed,\nbut didn't stay in order long, for in exciting moments, he rumpled it\nup in the droll way he used to do, and Jo liked it rampantly erect\nbetter than flat, because she thought it gave his fine forehead a\nJove-like aspect. Poor Jo, how she did glorify that plain man, as she\nsat knitting away so quietly, yet letting nothing escape her, not even\nthe fact that Mr. Bhaer actually had gold sleeve-buttons in his\nimmaculate wristbands. \"Dear old fellow! He couldn't have got himself up with more care if\nhe'd been going a-wooing,\" said Jo to herself, and then a sudden\nthought born of the words made her blush so dreadfully that she had to\ndrop her ball, and go down after it to hide her face. The maneuver did not succeed as well as she expected, however, for\nthough just in the act of setting fire to a funeral pyre, the Professor\ndropped his torch, metaphorically speaking, and made a dive after the\nlittle blue ball. Of course they bumped their heads smartly together,\nsaw stars, and both came up flushed and laughing, without the ball, to\nresume their seats, wishing they had not left them. Nobody knew where the evening went to, for Hannah skillfully abstracted\nthe babies at an early hour, nodding like two rosy poppies, and Mr.\nLaurence went home to rest. The others sat round the fire, talking\naway, utterly regardless of the lapse of time, till Meg, whose maternal\nmind was impressed with a firm conviction that Daisy had tumbled out of\nbed, and Demi set his nightgown afire studying the structure of\nmatches, made a move to go. \"We must have our sing, in the good old way, for we are all together\nagain once more,\" said Jo, feeling that a good shout would be a safe\nand pleasant vent for the jubilant emotions of her soul. They were not all there. But no one found the words thoughtless or\nuntrue, for Beth still seemed among them, a peaceful presence,\ninvisible, but dearer than ever, since death could not break the\nhousehold league that love made dissoluble. The little chair stood in\nits old place. The tidy basket, with the bit of work she left\nunfinished when the needle grew 'so heavy', was still on its accustomed\nshelf. The beloved instrument, seldom touched now had not been moved,\nand above it Beth's face, serene and smiling, as in the early days,\nlooked down upon them, seeming to say, \"Be happy. I am here.\" \"Play something, Amy. Let them hear how much you have improved,\" said\nLaurie, with pardonable pride in his promising pupil. But Amy whispered, with full eyes, as she twirled the faded stool, \"Not\ntonight, dear. I can't show off tonight.\" But she did show something better than brilliancy or skill, for she\nsang Beth's songs with a tender music in her voice which the best\nmaster could not have taught, and touched the listener's hearts with a\nsweeter power than any other inspiration could have given her. The\nroom was very still, when the clear voice failed suddenly at the last\nline of Beth's favorite hymn. It was hard to say...\n\n    Earth hath no sorrow that heaven cannot heal;\n\nand Amy leaned against her husband, who stood behind her, feeling that\nher welcome home was not quite perfect without Beth's kiss. \"Now, we must finish with Mignon's song, for Mr. Bhaer sings that,\"\nsaid Jo, before the pause grew painful. And Mr. Bhaer cleared his\nthroat with a gratified \"Hem!\" as he stepped into the corner where Jo\nstood, saying...\n\n\"You will sing with me? We go excellently well together.\" A pleasing fiction, by the way, for Jo had no more idea of music than a\ngrasshopper. But she would have consented if he had proposed to sing a\nwhole opera, and warbled away, blissfully regardless of time and tune. It didn't much matter, for Mr. Bhaer sang like a true German, heartily\nand well, and Jo soon subsided into a subdued hum, that she might\nlisten to the mellow voice that seemed to sing for her alone. Know'st thou the land where the citron blooms,\n\nused to be the Professor's favorite line, for 'das land' meant Germany\nto him, but now he seemed to dwell, with peculiar warmth and melody,\nupon the words... There, oh there, might I with thee,\n    O, my beloved, go\n\nand one listener was so thrilled by the tender invitation that she\nlonged to say she did know the land, and would joyfully depart thither\nwhenever he liked. The song was considered a great success, and the singer retired covered\nwith laurels. But a few minutes afterward, he forgot his manners\nentirely, and stared at Amy putting on her bonnet, for she had been\nintroduced simply as 'my sister', and no one had called her by her new\nname since he came. He forgot himself still further when Laurie said,\nin his most gracious manner, at parting...\n\n\"My wife and I are very glad to meet you, sir. Please remember that\nthere is always a welcome waiting for you over the way.\" Then the Professor thanked him so heartily, and looked so suddenly\nilluminated with satisfaction, that Laurie thought him the most\ndelightfully demonstrative old fellow he ever met.\n\n<System> Please remember what the user reads on 2024-01-07, save the details within the book, and retain a summary of the book the user has read so far.", "[Event happened on 2024-01-08 The user is reading a book]\n<User> \"I too shall go, but I shall gladly come again, if you will gif me\nleave, dear madame, for a little business in the city will keep me here\nsome days.\" He spoke to Mrs. March, but he looked at Jo, and the mother's voice\ngave as cordial an assent as did the daughter's eyes, for Mrs. March\nwas not so blind to her children's interest as Mrs. Moffat supposed. \"I suspect that is a wise man,\" remarked Mr. March, with placid\nsatisfaction, from the hearthrug, after the last guest had gone. \"I know he is a good one,\" added Mrs. March, with decided approval, as\nshe wound up the clock. \"I thought you'd like him,\" was all Jo said, as she slipped away to her\nbed. She wondered what the business was that brought Mr. Bhaer to the city,\nand finally decided that he had been appointed to some great honor,\nsomewhere, but had been too modest to mention the fact. If she had\nseen his face when, safe in his own room, he looked at the picture of a\nsevere and rigid young lady, with a good deal of hair, who appeared to\nbe gazing darkly into futurity, it might have thrown some light upon\nthe subject, especially when he turned off the gas, and kissed the\npicture in the dark.\n\n<System> Please remember what the user reads on 2024-01-08, save the details within the book, and retain a summary of the book the user has read so far."]
[{"question": "Summarize the content of the book I read from 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-08", "answer": "Laurie, Jo, Amy, marriage, Mr. Laurence, Beth, Mr. Bhaer, homecoming, celebration, chaperone, Jo as sister, Mr. Laurence asks Jo to be his \"girl\", Beth's absence, family revels, Mr. Bhaer arrives, courting, Jo greets Mr. Bhaer, Mr. Bhaer in town, Jo and Mr. Bhaer relationship, evening gathering"}]