…the violin — that most human of all instruments… - Louisa May Alcott

"I know I ought to be contented, but I'm not. My life is very comfortable, but so quiet and uneventful, I get tired of it and want to launch out as the others have, and do something, or at least try. ... I'd like to know what my gift is," said Rose ....
"The art of living for others so patiently and sweetly that we enjoy it as we do the sunshine, and are not half grateful enough for the great blessing." [said Uncle Alec.]

Well. I’m not a poet, I’m just a
woman. And as a woman I have no way
to make money, not enough to earn a
living and support my family.
Even if I had my own money, which I
don’t, it would belong to my
husband the minute we were married.
If we had children they would
belong to him not me. They would be
his property. So don’t sit there
and tell me that marriage isn’t an
economic proposition, because it
is. It may not be for you but it
most certainly is for me.

In vain she told herself that he was unworthy any woman's trust and love, still the unconquerable sentiment that once made her happiness now remained to become her torment.