第28章

"He's away all day, and at night when I want to see him, he is continually going over to the Scotts'. It isn't fair that I should have the hardest work, and never any amusement. Men are very selfish, even the best of them.""So are women. Don't blame John till you see where you are wrong yourself.""But it can't be right for him to neglect me.""Don't you neglect him?""Why, Mother, I thought you'd take my part!""So I do, as far as sympathizing goes, but I think the fault is yours, Meg.""I don't see how.""Let me show you. Did John ever neglect you, as you call it, while you made it a point to give him your society of an evening, his only leisure time?""No, but I can't do it now, with two babies to tend.""I think you could, dear, and I think you ought. May I speak quite freely, and will you remember that it's Mother who blames as well as Mother who sympathizes?""Indeed I will! Speak to me as if I were little Meg again. I often feel as if I needed teaching more than ever since these babies look to me for everything."Meg drew her low chair beside her mother's, and with a little interruption in either lap, the two women rocked and talked lovingly together, feeling that the tie of motherhood made them more one than ever.