“He has a lot of money,”she was thinking swiftly,as a thought and a plan went through her brain.“And he hasn't any parents to bother me and he lives in Atlanta.And if I married him right away,it would show Ashley that I didn't care a rap—that I was only flirting with him.And it would just kill Honey.She'd never,never catch another beau and everybody'd laugh fit to die at her.And it would hurt Melanie,because she loves Charles so much.And it would hurt Stu and Brent—”She didn't quite know why she wanted to hurt them,except that they had catty sisters.“And they'd all be sorry when I came back here to visit in a fine carriage and with lots of pretty clothes and a house of my own.And they would never,never laugh at me.”
“Of course,it will mean fighting,”said Charles,after several more embarrassed attempts.“But don't you fret,Miss Scarlett,it'll be over in a month and we'll have them howling.Yes,sir!Howling!I wouldn't miss it for anything.I'm afraid there won't be much of a ball tonight,because the Troop is going to meet at Jonesboro.The Tarleton boys have gone to spread the news.I know the ladies will be sorry.”
She said,“Oh,”for want of anything better,but it sufficed.
Coolness was beginning to come back to her and her mind was collecting itself.A frost lay over all her emotions and she thought that she would never feel anything warmly again.Why not take this pretty,flushed boy?He was as good as anyone else and she didn't care.No,she could never care about anything again,not if she lived to be ninety.
“I can't decide now whether to go with Mr.Wade Hampton's South Carolina Legion or with the Atlanta Gate City Guard.”
She said,“Oh,”again and their eyes met and the fluttering lashes were his undoing.
“Will you wait for me,Miss Scarlett?It—it would be Heaven just knowing that you were waiting for me until after we licked them!”He hung breathless on her words,watching the way her lips curled up at the corners,noting for the first time the shadows about these corners and thinking what it would mean to kiss them.Her hand,with palm clammy with perspiration,slid into his.
“I wouldn't want to wait,”she said and her eyes were veiled.
He sat clutching her hand,his mouth wide open.Watching him from under her lashes,Scarlett thought detachedly that he looked like a gigged frog.He stuttered several times,closed his mouth and opened it again,and again became geranium colored.
“Can you possibly love me?”
She said nothing but looked down into her lap,and Charles was
thrown into new states of ecstasy and embarrassment.Perhaps a man should not ask a girl such a question.Perhaps it would be unmaidenly for her to answer it.Having never possessed the courage to get himself into such a situation before,Charles was at a loss as to how to act.He wanted to shout and to sing and to kiss her and to caper about the lawn and then run tell everyone,black and white,that she loved him.But he only squeezed her hand until he drove her rings into the flesh.
“You will marry me soon,Miss Scarlett?”
“Um,”she said,fingering a fold of her dress.
“Shall we make it a double wedding with Mel—”
“No,”she said quickly,her eyes glinting up at him ominously.Charles knew again that he had made an error.Of course,a girl wanted her own wedding—not shared glory.How kind she was to overlook his blunderings.If it were only dark and he had the courage of shadows and could kiss her hand and say the things he longed to say.
“When may I speak to your father?”
“The sooner the better,”she said,hoping that perhaps he would release the crushing pressure on her rings before she had to ask him to do it.
He leaped up and for a moment she thought he was going to cut a caper,before dignity claimed him.He looked down at her radiantly,his whole clean simple heart in his eyes.She had never had anyone look at her thus before and would never have it from any other man,but in her queer detachment she only thought that he looked like a calf.
“I'll go now and find your father,”he said,smiling all over his face.“I can't wait.Will you excuse me—dear?”The endearment came hard but having said it once,he repeated it again with pleasure.
“Yes,”she said,“I'll wait here.It's so cool and nice here.”
He went off across the lawn and disappeared around the house,and she was alone under the rustling oak.From the stables,men were streaming out on horseback,negro servants riding hard behind their masters.The Munroe boys tore past waving their hats,and the Fontaines and Calverts went down the road yelling.The four Tarletons charged across the lawn by her and Brent shouted:“Mother's going to give us the horses!Yee-aay-ee!”Turf flew and they were gone,leaving her alone again.
The white house reared its tall columns before her,seeming to withdraw with dignified aloofness from her.It would never be her house now.Ashley would never carry her over the threshold as his bride.Oh,Ashley,Ashley!What have I done?Deep in her,under layers of hurt pride and cold practicality,something stirred hurtingly.An adult emotion was being born,stronger than her vanity or her willful selfishness.She loved Ashley and she knew she loved him and she had never cared so much as in that instant when she saw Charles disappearing around the curved graveled walk.
Chapter 7
Within two weeks Scarlett had become a wife,and within two months more she was a widow.She was soon released from the bonds she had assumed with so much haste and so little thought,but she was never again to know the careless freedom of her unmarried days.Widowhood had crowded closely on the heels of marriage but,to her dismay,motherhood soon followed.
