When Good Intentions Fall Apart — Little Women

For a week after Marmee leaves, virtue floods the March house. Self-denial is fashionable, everyone is patient, and the neighborhood could borrow moral credit from the kitchen. Relieved that Father still lives, the girls turn anxiety into good deeds. Meg returns to the King children. Jo shoulders endless tasks. Beth remembers the poor Hummel family Marmee told them not to neglect.

Beth and Amy visit the Hummels with food and help. The baby is sick with scarlet fever; Mrs. Hummel is overwhelmed. Beth holds the child while Amy fetches hot water. The infant dies in Beth's lap before the mother returns. Beth comes home shattered, whispering that she has never been near death before. Marmee had forbidden visits while scarlet fever raged in town, but Beth's conscience would not let her stay away from need.

Fear follows fast. Amy must be sent to Aunt March's to escape infection. Laurie bargains like a gentleman to visit daily, drive her in Puck's wagon, and charm the old lady so Amy survives exile. Beth grows quiet. The chapter's title, Little Faithful, belongs to her: she serves until service costs grief, then keeps serving anyway. Love here is not dramatic speech. It is sitting with a dying baby and later accepting quarantine for a sister's sake.