| If only she could have been with him instead of Ross
She wasn't worried that the Yankees would catch him; she never
worried
about RhettWhen Eleanor Butler returned to the
library after seeing the Union soldiers out, she tucked her cashmere
shawl around Scarlett, who had fallen into a deep sleep
"No need to disturb her," she said quietly, "she'll be comfortable
hereLet's go to bed, RosemaryYou've had a long trip, and I'm
tired, and tomorrow's bound to be very active She smiled to herself
when she saw the bookmark placed well along in the pages of
Ivanhoe
Rosemary was a fast readerAnd not nearly as modern as she liked to
think she wasThe Market was abuzz with indignation and illconceived
plans the next morningScarlett listened to the agitated
conversations around her with scornWhat did they expect, the
Charlestonians? That the Yankees would let people go around
shooting
them and do nothing? All they were going to do was make things
worse
if they tried to argue or protestWhat difference did montre cartier extra plate it make after
all this time that General Lee had talked Grant into allowing
Confederate officers to keep their sidearms after the surrender at
Appomattox? It was still the end of the South, and what good did a
revolver do you if you were too poor to buy bullets for it? As for
duelling pistols! Who on earth would care about saving them? They
weren't good for anything except men showing off how brave they
were
and getting their fool heads blown offShe kept her mouth shut and
concentrated on the shoppingOtherwise it would never get done
Even
Miss Eleanor was running around like a chicken with its head cut off,
talking to everybody in a barely audible, urgent tone"They say the
men all want to finish what Ross started," she told Scarlett when they
were walking home"It's more than they can bear to have their
homes
ransacked by the troopsWe women are going to have to manage
things;
the men are too hot under the collar Scarlett felt a chill of
terrorShe'd thought it was all talkSurely no one was copies of chanel handbags going to
make things worse! "There's nothing to manage!" she exclaimed
"The
only thing to do is lie low till it blows overRhett must have gotten
Ross away safely or we'd have heardButler looked
astonished
"We cannot allow the Union Army to get away with this, Scarlett,
surely
you see thatThey've already searched our houses, and they've
announced that curfew will be enforced, and they're arresting all the
black-market dealers in rationed goodsIf we let them keep on the
way
they're going, soon we'll be back where we were in 'sixty-four when
they had their boots on our necks, governing every breath of our
lives Scarlett wondered if the whole world was going
madWhat did 203 a bunch of tea-drinking, lace-making Charleston
ladies think they could do against an army?
She found out two nights laterLucinda Wragg's wedding had been
scheduled for January twenty-thirdThe invitations were addressed,
and waiting to be delivered on January second, but they were never
used"Terrible efficiency" was louis vuitton epi bag Rosemary Butler's tribute to the
efforts of Lucinda's mother, her own mother, and all the other ladies
of CharlestonLucinda's wedding took place on December nineteenth,
at
Saint Michael's Church, at nine o'clock in the eveningThe majestic
chords of the wedding march sounded through the open doors and
windows
of the packed and beautifully decorated church precisely at the hour
the curfew beganThey could be heard clearly in the Guardhouse
across
the street from Saint Michael's
Some officer later told his wife in the hearing of their cook that he
had never seen the men in his command so nervous, not even before
they
marched into the WildernessThe whole city heard the story the
following dayEveryone had a good laugh, but no one was surprised
At nine-thirty the entire population of Old Charleston exited from
Saint Michael's and went on foot along Meeting Street to the reception
at the South Carolina HallMen and women and children, aged five to
ninety-seven years old, strolled laughing in the warm chanel necklace night air,
breaking the law with flagrant defianceThere was no way the Union
command could claim to be unaware of the occurrence; it took place
under their very nosesNor was there any way they could arrest the
miscreantsThe Guardhouse had twenty-six jail cellsEven if the
offices and corridors had been used, there was not enough room to
hold
all the peopleSaint Michael's pews had had to be moved to its
peaceful graveyard to create enough space for everyone to crowd
inside,
standing shoulder to shoulder
During the reception people had to take turns to get out onto the
columned porch outside the crowded ballroom for a breath of air and a
view of the helpless patrol marching in futile discipline along the
empty streetRhett had returned to the city that afternoon with the
news that Ross was safely in WilmingtonScarlett confessed to him
out
on the porch that she'd been afraid to go to the wedding, even with
him
as escort"I couldn't believe that a bunch of tea-party ladies could
lick the Yankee buy tan gucci watch Army |
| 