Kate's Choice. Louisa May Alcott

       About Louisa May Alcott:

      Louisa May Alcott (November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888) was an American novelist and poet best known as the author of the novel Little Women (1868) and its sequels Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). Raised by her transcendentalist parents, Abigail May and Amos Bronson Alcott in New England, she also grew up among many of the well-known intellectuals of the day such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

      Alcott's family suffered from financial difficulties, and while she worked to help support the family from an early age, she also sought an outlet in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Early in her career, she sometimes used the pen name A. M. Barnard, under which she wrote novels for young adults that focused on spies, revenge, and cross dressers.

      Published in 1868, Little Women is set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts and is loosely based on Alcott's childhood experiences with her three sisters. The novel was very well received and is still a popular children's novel today, filmed several times.

      Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist and remained unmarried throughout her life. She died from a stroke, two days after her father died, in Boston on March 6, 1888.

      Source: Wikipedia

      Kate's Choice

      "Well, what do you think of her?"

      "I think she's a perfect dear and not a bit stuck up with all her money."

      "A real little lady and ever so pretty."

      "She kissed me lots, and she doesn't tell me to run away, so I love her."

      The group of brothers and sisters standing round the fire laughed as little May finished the chorus of praise with these crowning virtues.

      Tall Kent had asked the question and seemed satisfied with the general approval of the new cousin who had just arrived from England to live with them.

      They had often heard of Kate and rather prided themselves on the fact that she lived in a fine house, was very rich, and sent them charming presents. Now pity was added to the pride, for Kate was an orphan, and all her money could not buy back the parents she had lost.

      They had watched impatiently for her arrival, had welcomed her cordially, and after a day spent in trying to make her feel at home, they were comparing notes in the twilight, while Kate was having a quiet talk with Mamma.

      "I hope she will choose to live with us. You know she can go to any of the uncles she likes best," said Kent.

      "We are nearer her age than any of the other cousins, and Papa is the oldest uncle, so I guess she will," added Milly, the fourteen-year-old daughter of the house.

      "She said she liked America," said quiet Frank.

      "Wonder if she will give us a lot of her money?" put in practical Fred, who was always in debt.

      "Stop that!" commanded Kent. "Mind now, if you ever ask her for a penny, I'll shake you out of your jacket."

      "Hush! She's coming," cried Milly, and a dead silence followed the lively chatter.

      A fresh-faced, bright-eyed girl of fifteen came in quietly, glanced at the group on the rug, and paused as if uncertain whether she was wanted.

      "Come on!" said Fred, encouragingly.

      "Would I be in the way?" she asked.

      "Oh, dear, no! We were only talking," answered Milly, drawing her cousin nearer with an arm about her waist.

      "It sounded like something pleasant," said Kate, not exactly knowing what to say.

      "We were talking about you," began Little May. A poke from Frank made her stop to ask, "What's that for? We were talking about Kate, and we all said we liked her, so it's no matter if I tell."

      "You are very kind," said Kate looking so pleased that the children forgave May's awkward frankness.

      "Yes, and we hoped you'd like us and stay with us," added Kent, in the lofty and polite manner that he thought became a young man of his stature.

      "I am going to live with all the uncles in turn, and then decide," Kate answered. "Papa wished it." The words made her lips tremble slightly, for her father was the only parent she could remember and had been unusually dear to her for that reason.

      "Can you play billiards?" asked Fred, who had a horror of seeing girls cry.

      "Yes, and I will be glad to teach you."

      "You had a pony carriage at your house, didn't you?" added Frank, eager to hear more.

      "At Grandma's—I had no other home, you know," answered Kate.

      "What will you buy first with your money?" asked May, who seemed determined to ask improper questions.

      "I'd buy a grandma if I could," and Kate both smiled and sighed.

      "How funny!" said May. "We have a grandma who lives ever so far away in the country. We don't think of her much."

      "You do?" said Kate, who turned quickly, looking full of interest.

      "Yes! Papa's mother is very old," added Milly. "Papa writes to her sometimes, and Mamma sends her things every Christmas. We don't know much about her, for we've only seen her once, a great long time ago. But we do care for her."

      "Perhaps I shall go and see her," said Kate with a smile. "I can't get on without a grandmother. Tell me all you know about her. Is she a dear lady?"

      "We only know this. She is lame and lives in the old house where Papa grew up. She has a maid named Dolly, and—that's all I can tell you about her," said Molly looking a little vexed that she could say no more of the subject that seemed to interest her cousin so much.

      Kate looked surprised, but said nothing and stood looking at the fire as if turning the matter over in her mind and trying to answer the question she was too polite to ask—how could they have a grandmother and know so little about her?

      At that moment, the tea bell rang, and the flock ran laughing downstairs. Kate said no more to her cousins, but she remembered the conversation and laid a plan in her resolute little mind.

      According to her father's wish, Kate was to live for a while with the families of each of her four uncles before she decided with which she would make her home. All were anxious to have her, one because of her money, another because her great-grandfather had been a lord, a third hoped to secure her hand for the son of a close friend, while the fourth and best family loved her for herself alone.

      They were worthy people, as the world goes—busy, ambitious, and prosperous; and every one, old and young, was fond of bright, pretty, generous Kate. Each family was anxious to keep her, a little jealous of the rest, and very eager to know which she would choose.