"Oh, my dear, he never didHe died only ten days...

Posted at 6:26 AM, Monday, February 15, 2010

"Oh, my dear, he never didHe died only ten days after the ship made landfallBut in the meantime he had wagered some other gambler at dice and won a girl-one of the indentured servants from the ship-and, since later she turned out to be carrying his child, there was a sort of postfacto wedding at his grave marker, and her son became one of my great-great-grandfathers "He was rather a gamester himself, wasn't he?" Rhett askedIt truly ran in the familyButler continued along the family treeScarlett glanced at Rhett oftenHow many surprises were there in this man she hardly knew? She'd never seen him so relaxed and happy and totally at homeI never made a home for him, she realizedHe never even liked the houseIt was mine, done the way I wanted, a present from him, not his at allScarlett wanted to break in on Miss Eleanor's stories, to tell silver rolex daytona watches Rhett that she was sorry for the past, that she'd make up for all her mistakes He was content, enjoying himself and his mother's ramblingsShe mustn't break this moodThe candles in their tall silver holders were reflected in the polish of the mahogany table and in the pupils of Rhett's gleaming black eyesThey bathed the table and the three of them in a warm, still light, making an island of soft brilliance in the shadows of the long roomThe world outside was closed off by the thick folds of curtains at the windows and by the intimacy of the small candlelit islandEleanor Butler's voice was gentle, Rhett's laughter a quiet, encouraging chuckleLove made an airy yet unbreakable web between mother and sonScarlett had a sudden consuming yearning to be enclosed in that webThen Rhett said, "Tell Scarlett about Cousin Townsend, Mama," and she was safe men's rolex watches in the warmth of the candlelight, included in the happiness that ringed the tableShe wished that it could last forever, and she begged Miss Eleanor to tell about Cousin Townsend"Townsend's not really a cousin-cousin, you know, only a third cousin twice removed, but he is the direct descendent of Great-GreatGrandfather Ellinton, only son of an eldest son of an eldest sonSo he inherited that original land grant, and the Ellinton gambler's fever, and the Ellinton luckThey were always lucky, the EllintonsExcept for one thing: there's another Ellinton family trait, the boys are always cross-eyedTownsend married an extremely beautiful girl from a fine Philadelphia family-Philadelphia called it the wedding of beauty and the beast But the girl's father was a lawyer and a very sensible man about property, and Townsend was fabulously richTownsend and chanel purse styles his wife settled in BaltimoreThen, of course, the War cameTownsend's wife went running home to her family the minute Townsend went off to join General Lee's armyShe was a Yankee, after all, and Townsend would more than likely get killedHe couldn't shoot a barn, much less a barn door, because of his cross eyesHowever, he still had the Ellinton luckHe never got anything worse than chilblains although he served all the way through to Appomattox Meanwhile, his wife's three brothers and her father were all killed, fighting in the Union ArmySo she inherited everything piled up by her careful father and his careful ancestors Townsend's living like a king in Philadelphia and doesn't care a fig that all his property in Savannah was confiscated by Sherman Did you see him, Rhett? How is he?" "More cross-eyed than ever, with two cross-eyed sons and a rolex watch for sale daughter that, thank God, takes after her mother Scarlett hardly heard Rhett's answer"Did you say the Ellintons were from Savannah, Miss Eleanor? My mother was from Savannah," she said eagerlyThe crisscross of relations that was so much a part of Southern life had long been a frustrating lack in her ownEveryone she knew had a network of cousins and uncles and aunts that covered generations and hundreds of milesPauline and Eulalie had no childrenGerald O'Hara's brothers in Savannah were childless, tooThere must be lots of O'Haras still in Ireland, but that did her no good, and all the Robillards except her grandfather were gone from SavannahNow here she was, again hearing about somebody else's familyRhett had kin in PhiladelphiaNo doubt he was related to half of Charleston, tooBut maybe these Ellinton people were tied to the Robillards chanel black and white purse som