"I want to buy a small closed buggy, ColumIt's...
"I want to buy a small
closed buggy, ColumIt's too cold to go around in the trap, and I
need to do thingsWill you pick one out for me?" He'd be willing,
said Colum, but she could do her own choosing if she'd preferThe
buggy makers would bring their wares to herAs would the makers of
anything else she fanciedShe was the lady of the Big House"Now
why didn't I think of that?" said ScarlettWithin a week she was
driving a neat black buggy with a thin yellow stripe on its side,
behind a neat gray horse that lived up to the seller's promise that it
had good go in it with hardly a mention of the whip ever neededShe
also had a "parlor suite" of green-upholstered shiny oak furniture with
ten extra chairs that could be pulled near the hearth, and a
marble-topped round table large enough to seat six for a mealAll
these sat on a Wilton carpet in the room adjoining her bedroomNo
matter what outrageous tales Colum might tell about French women
entertaining crowds while they lounged in their beds, she was going to
have a proper place to see her visitorsAnd no matter what MrsFitz
said, she saw no reason at all to use the downstairs rooms for
entertaining when there were plenty of empty rooms upstairs and
handy
She didn't have her big desk and chair yet because the carpenter in
Ballyhara was making themWhat point was there in having a town of
your own if you weren't smart enough chanel replica bag to support the businesses in it?
You could be sure of getting your rent if they were earning money
Cat's padded basket was beside her on the buggy seat everywhere
Scarlett went
She made baby noises and blew bubbles and Scarlett was sure that
they
were singing duets when she drove along the roadShe showed Cat
off
at every shop and house in BallyharaPeople crossed themselves
when
they saw the dark-skinned baby with the green eyes and Scarlett was
pleasedShe thought they were blessing the baby
As Christmas came nearer, Scarlett lost much of the elation she'd felt
when she was freed from the captivity of convalescence"I wouldn't
be
in Atlanta for all the tea in China, even if I was invited to all the
parties, or in Charleston, either, with their silly dance cards and
receiving lines," she told Cat, "but I'd like to be somewhere that's
not so damp all the time Scarlett thought it would be nice to be
living in a cottage so that she could whitewash it and paint the trim
the way Kathleen and the cousins were doingAnd all the other
cottagers too, in Adamstown and beside the roadsWhen she walked
over
to Kennedy's bar on December 22 and saw the shops and houses
being
limed and painted over the almost-new jobs done in the autumn, she
pranced with delightHer pleasure in the neat prosperity of her town
took away the slight sadness that she often felt when she went to chloe paddingtons her
own bar for companionshipIt sometimes seemed as if the
conversation
turned stiff as soon as she entered"We've got to decorate the house
for Christmas," she announced to Mrs"What do the Irish do?"
Holly branches on mantels and over doors and windows, said the
housekeeperAnd a big candle, usually red, in one window to light the
Christ Child's wayWe'll have one in every window, Scarlett declared,
but MrsScarlett could have all the
candles she wanted on tables-or the floor, if it made her happy-but
only one window should have a candleAnd that one could only be
lighted on Christmas Eve when the Angelus rangThe housekeeper
smiled"The tradition is that the youngest child in the house lights
a rush from the coals on the hearth as soon as the Angelus is heard,
then lights the candle with the flame from the rushYou might have
to
help her a bit Scarlett and Cat spent Christmas at Daniel's house
There was nearly enough admiration for Cat to satisfy even Scarlett
And enough people coming through the open door to keep her mind
off the
Christmases at Tara in the old days when the family and house
servants
went out onto the wide porch after breakfast in response to the cry,
"Christmas Gift
When Gerald O'Hara gave a drink of whiskey and a plug of tobacco to
every field hand as he handed him his new coat and new bootsWhen
Ellen O'Hara said a brief prayer for each woman and chanel black and white purse child as she gave
them lengths of calico and flannel together with oranges and stick
candySometimes Scarlett missed the warm slurrings of black voices
and the flashing smiles on black faces almost more than she could
bear
"I need to go home, Colum," Scarlett said"And aren't you home now,
on the land of your people that you made O'Hara land again?"
"Oh, Colum, don't be Irish at me! You know what I meanI'm
homesick
for Southern voices and Southern sunshine and Southern foodI want
some corn bread and fried chicken and gritsNobody in Ireland even
knows what corn isThat's just a word for any kind of grain to
them
"I do know, Scarlett, and I'm sorry for the heartache you're feeling
Why not go for a visit when good sailing weather comes? You can
leave
Cat hereFitzpatrick and I will take care of her
"Never! I'll never leave Cat There was nothing to be saidBut
from time to time the thought popped up in Scarlett's head: it's only
two weeks and a day to cross the ocean, and sometimes the dolphins
play
alongside for hours on endOn New Year's Day, Scarlett got her first
hint of what it really meant to be The O'HaraFitz came to her
room with morning tea instead of sending Peggy Quinn with the
breakfast
tray"The blessings of all the saints on mother and daughter in the
new year to come," she said cheerily"I must tell you about the duty
you have to do before your christian dior handbags breakfast
"Happy New Year to you, too, MrsFitz, and what on earth are you
talking about?" A tradition, a ritual, a requirement, said Mrs
Without it there'd be no luck all yearScarlett might have a taste of
tea first, but that was all
The first food eaten in the house must be the special New Year's harm
brack on the trayThree bites had to be eaten, in the name of the
Trinity"Before you start, though," MrsFitz said, "come into the
room I've got readyBecause after you have the Trinity bites you
have
to throw the cake with all your might against a wall so that it breaks
into piecesI had the wall scrubbed yesterday, and the floor
"That's the craziest thing I ever heardWhy should I ruin a perfectly
good cake? And why eat cake for breakfast anyhow?"
"Because that's the way it's doneCome do your duty, The O'Hara,
before the rest of the people in this house die of hungerNo one can
eat before the harm brack is broken Scarlett put on her wool
wrapper
and obeyedShe had a swallow of tea to moisten her mouth, then bit
three times into the edge of the rich fruited cake as MrsShe had to hold it in both hands because it was so big
Then she repeated the prayer against hunger during the year that Mrs
Fitz taught her and heaved with both arms, sending the cake flying
and
crashing against the wallBits flew all over the roomBut the throwing part was fun
"I'm glad you liked it," said the miu miu leather black coffer bag housekeeper