| Granted he was only a few steps away, at his
sister Patricia's house; still, he was goneIt gave Maureen immense
satisfaction that Brian still preferred her cooking to Patricia's
fancier menus"Ah, well, what can you expect," she said
complacently,
"when Patricia won't allow the smell of fish to get into her fine lace
curtains?" And she piled four glistening butter-coated fried fish on
her son's plate"It's a hardship to be such a lady during Lent, I'm
sure
"Bite your tongue, woman," said Jamie, "that's your own daughter
you're maligning And who has a better right than her own mother?"
Old James spoke up then
"Maureen has a pointI well remember my own mother's sharp
tongue
He rambled fondly through a series of memories of hisyouth
Scarlett listened intently for mention of her father"Now, Gerald,"
said Old James, and she leaned toward him, "Gerald was always the
apple
of her eye, being the baby and allHe always got pasha cartier watches blue face off with no more
than a small scoldingIt was just like Pa to be
his mother's favoriteWho could resist the soft heart he tried to hide
under all hisblustering? Oh, how she wished he could be here now
with
all his family"Are we going to Matthew's after supper?" Old James
asked"Or is everyone coming here?"
"We're going to Matt's," Jamie repliedMatt was the one who'd started
the dancing at Patricia's birthday, Scarlett rememberedHer feet
began to tapMaureen smiled at her"I believe there's a readiness
for a reel," she saidShe picked up the spoon by her plate, reached
across Daniel and took his; then, placing their bowls back to back, she
held the tips of the handles loosely together and tapped the spoons
against her palm, against her wrist, her forearm, Daniel's forehead
The rhythm of the beating was like playing the bones, but lighter, and
the sheer silliness of making music with a pair of mismatched
tablespoons was chanel pearl necklace cause for delighted, spontaneous laughter from
Scarlett
Without thinking about it, she began to pound on the table with her
open hands, matching the beat of the spoons"It's time we were
going," Jamie laughed
"We'll bring the chairs," said Mary Kate"Matt and Katie only have
two," Daniel explained to Scarlett"They're the newest O'Haras to
come to Savannah It didn't matter at all that Matt and Katie
O'Hara's double parlors held almost no furnitureThey had fireplaces
for warmth, gaslit ceiling globes for light, and a broad, polished wood
floor for dancingThe hours Scarlett passed in those bare rooms that
Saturday were among the happiest she'd ever knownWithin the
family
the O 'Haras shared love and happiness as freely and unconsciously as
they shared the air they breathedScarlett felt within her the growth
of something she had lost too long ago to rememberShe became,
like
them, unaffected and spontaneous and open to chanel purse for cheap carefree joyShe
could
shed the artifice and calculation that she'd learned to use in the
battles for conquest and dominance that were part of being a belle in
Southern societyShe had no need to charm or conquer; she was
welcome
as she was, one of the familyFor the first time in her life she was
willing to relinquish the spotlight to let someone else be the center
of attentionThe others were fascinating to her, primarily because
they were her new-found family, but also because she'd never known
anyone like them in her lifeScarlett looked at
Maureen, with Brian and Daniel making music behind her, Helen and
Mary
Kate clapping in time with the rhythm she was setting with the bones,
and for a moment it was as if the vivid redheads were the youthful
Tarletons come back to lifeThe twins, tall and handsome, the girls
squirming with juvenile impatience to move on to the next adventure
life held for themScarlett had always envied replica chanel watches the Tarleton girls
their freeand-easy ways with their motherNow she saw the same
easiness between Maureen and her childrenAnd she knew that she,
too,
was welcome to laugh with Maureen, to tease and be teased, to share
in
the bounteous affection that Jamie's wife showered on everyone
around
herAt that moment Scarlett's near-worship of her serene,
self-contained mother shivered and suffered a tiny crack, and she
began
to free herself of the guilt she'd always felt because she couldn't
live up to her mother's teachingsPerhaps it was all right if she
wasn't a perfect lady
The idea was too rich, too complicatedShe'd think about it later
She didn't want to think about anything nowNot yesterday, not
tomorrowThe only thing that mattered was this moment and the
happiness it held, the music and singing and clapping and dancing
After the formal rituals of Charleston's balls, the spontaneous
home-made pleasures were chanel purses and handbags intoxicati |