The reader can assume that Lou is a character who embodies patience, adaptability, and quiet resilience. She responds to life's changes and challenges with 'pretty manner', 'soft grace', and 'sweet serenity', indicating a gentle and compliant nature.
From the provided text, the reader can make an assumption about Lou that she is a gentle and acquiescent character. The text describes her as having pretty manner and soft grace, and she is seen as sympathetically adapting to life’s changes. Louisa consistently responds to situations with sweet serenity, whether it is when her suitor, Joe Dagget, leaves to make his fortune or when considering the new responsibilities and loss of her comfortable former life after marriage. Lou anticipates the shift from her familiar, independent single life to one entailing care for Joe's demanding mother and a larger household, indicating she is thoughtful and foreseeing. Her actions convey she is compliant yet not without her own subtle form of strength, seen in her acceptance of her future path and the serene farewell she gives Joe as he departs, even if it meant waiting fourteen years. Assumptions about characters are critical as they provide depth and invite readers to engage with the narrative. Lou, through her actions and the descriptions provided, personifies the qualities of patience, adaptability, and quiet resilience shaped by the societal norms and expectations of her time.