@@@@@Alex's wife, Sally, took her by the
@@@@@Alex's wife, Sally, took her by the hand
when she entered the shabby living room"I know just how you feel,
Scarlett," she whispered"We'd nearly forgot how to have fun
There's been more laughing in this house today than in the past ten
years put togetherWe'll make the rafters ring tonight Sally's
eyes were full of tears, tooThen the rafters began to ringThe
Tarletons had arrived"Thank heaven you're back in one piece, boy,"
Beatrice Tarleton greeted Tony
"You can have the pick of any one of my three girlsI've only got
one grandchild, and I'm not getting any younger"Oh, Ma!" moaned
Hetty and Camilla and Miranda Tarleton in chorus
Their mother's preoccupation with breeding horses and people was too
well-known in the County for them to pretend embarrassment
But Tony was blushing crimsonScarlett and Sally hootedBefore the
light ebbed, Beatrice Tarleton insisted on seeing the horses Tony had
brought with him from Texas, and the argument about the merits of
Eastern thoroughbreds versus Western mustangs raged until everyone
else
begged for a truce"And a drink," said Alex"I've even found some
real whiskey for the celebration instead of 'shine Scarlett
wished-not for the first time-that taking a drink was not a pleasure
from which ladies were automatically excludedShe would have
enjoyed
oneEven more, she would have enjoyed talking with the men instead
of
being exiled to the other side of the room for women's talk of babies
and household managementShe had never understood or accepted
the
traditional segregation of the sexesBut it was the way things were
done, always had been done, and she resigned herself to itAt least
she could amuse herself by watching the Tarleton girls pretend that
they weren't thinking along exactly the same lines as their mother: If
only Tony would look their way instead of being so wrapped up in
whatever the men were talking about! "Little Joe must be thrilled half
to death to have his uncle ú home," Hetty Tarleton was saying to
Sally
Hetty could afford to ignore the