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In the low-country, Scarlett...
Posted on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 6:34 AM
In the low-country, Scarlett learned,
summertime
was citytimeThere was a fever that rose from the swamps to lay
whites lowBecause of it everyone left their plantations
from the middle of May until after the first frost in late OctoberSo
Rhett would have time for her, after all
here was the Season, too, for nearly two more monthsHe had to be
there to escort his mother and sister-and herShe'd be glad to let him
fiddle with his flowers for five months a year if she could have the
other sevenShe'd even learn the names of hiscamellias
What was that? Scarlett stared at the tremendous white stone object
It looked like an angel was standing on a big box"Oh, that's our
tomb," said Rosemary"A century and a half of Butlers, all in wholesale chanel bags neat
rowsWhen I go toes up, that's where I'll be put, too
The Yankees shot off big chunks of the angel's wings, but they had the
decency to leave the dead aloneI heard that some places they dug
up
graves to look for jewelry Child of an Irish immigrant father,
Scarlett was overwhelmed by the permanence of the tombAll those
generations, and all the generations to come, forever and ever, amen
"I'm going back to a place with roots that go deep," Rhett had said
Now she understood what he had meantShe felt sorrow for what he
had
lost, and envy that she had never had itYou're standing there as if you were planted
We're almost back to the houseYou can't be too tired to walk that
little bit Scarlett remembered why she had agreed chanel black and white purse in the first place
to go on the walk with Rosemary"I'm not the least bit tired!" she
insisted"I think we should gather some pine branches and things to
decorate the house a littleThese are the holidays, after allThey'll cut the stinkThere's plenty of pine, and holly,
too, in the wood next to where the stables used to be And mistletoe,
Scarlett added silentlyShe wasn't taking any chances with the New
Year's Eve midnight ritual"Very nice," said Rhett when he came up
to
the house after the platform was built and draped with red, white, and
blue bunting"It looks festive, just right for the party
"What party?" asked Scarlett"I invited the sharecropper families
It makes them feel important, and God willing the men will be fake prada too
hungover from rotgut whiskey to make trouble tomorrow when the
blacks
are hereYou and Rosemary and Pansy will go upstairs before they
comeIt's likely to get rough
Scarlett watched the Roman candles arc through the sky from her
bedroom
windowThe fireworks to celebrate the New Year lasted from midnight
until nearly one o'clockShe wished with all her heart that she had
stayed in the cityTomorrow she'd be cooped up all day while the
blacks celebrated, and by the time they got back to town on Saturday
it
would probably be too late to wash and dry her hair for the BallAnd
Rhett had never kissed herDuring the days that followed, Scarlett
recaptured all the giddy excitement of what she remembered as the
best
time of her rolex explorer lifeShe was a belle, with men clustered around her at
receptions, with her dance card filled as soon as she entered the
ballroom, with all her old games of flirtation producing the same
admiration that they had beforeIt was like being sixteen again, with
nothing to think about other than the last party and the compliments
she'd been paid, and the next party and how she would wear her hair
But it was not long before the thrills became flatShe was not
sixteen, and she didn't really want a string of beauxShe wanted
Rhett, and she was no closer to winning him back than she had been
He
kept up his end of their bargain: he was attentive to her at parties,
pleasant to her whenever they were together in the house-with very cheap chanel bags other
peo
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