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It was the Confederate Memorial, symbol of the proud, heedless courage that had plunged the South with bright banners flying into destruction It stood for so many lives lost, the friends of her childhood, the gallants who had begged for waltzes and kisses in the days when she had no problems greater than which wide-skirted ballgown to wearIt stood for her first husband, Charles Hamilton, Melanie's brotherIt stood for the sons, brothers, husbands, fathers of all the rain-wet mourners on the small knoll where Melanie was being buried There were other graves, other markersFrank Kennedy, Scarlett's second husband And the small, terribly small, grave with the headstone that read EUGENIE VIcToRIA BUTLER, and under it BoNNIEHer last child, and the most lovedThe living, as well as the dead, were all round her, but she stood apartHalf of Atlanta was there, it seemedThe crowd had overflowed the chanel white ceramic watch church and now it spread in a wide, uneven dark circle around the bitter slash of color in the gray rain, the open grave dug from Georgia's red clay for the body of Melanie WilkesThe front row of mourners held those who'd been closest to herWhite and black, their faces all streaked with tears, except Scarlett'sThe old coachman Uncle Peter stood with Dilcey and Cookie in a protective black triangle around Beau, Melanie's bewildered little boyThe older generation of Atlanta were there, with the tragically few descendants that remained to themThe Meades, the Whitings, the Merriwethers, the Elsings, their daughters and sons-in-law, Hugh Elsing the only living son; Aunt Pittypat Hamilton and her brother, Uncle Henry Hamilton, their ages-old feud forgotten in mutual grief for their niece Younger, but looking as old as the others, India Wilkes sheltered herself within the group and watched her chanel j12 watches brother, Ashley, from griefand guilt-shadowed eyesHe stood alone, like ScarlettHe was bare-headed in the rain, unaware of the proffered shelter of umbrellas, unconscious of the cold wetness, unable to accept the finality of the minister's words or the narrow coffin being lowered into the muddy red graveTall and thin and colorless, his pale gilt hair now almost gray, his pale stricken face as empty as his staring, unseeing gray eyesHe stood erect, his stance a salute, the inheritance of his ears as a gray-uniformed officer He stood motionless, without sensation or comprehensionHe was the center and the symbol of Scarlett's ruined lifeFor love of him she'd ignored the happiness that had been hers for the taking She'd turned her back on her husband, not seeing his love for her, not admitting her love for him, because wanting Ashley was always in the wayAnd now Rhett was gone, his only presence omega watches for sale here a spray of warm golden autumn flowers among all the othersShe'd betrayed her only friend, scorned Melanie's stubborn loyalty and loveAnd now Melanie was goneAnd even Scarlett's love for Ashley was gone, for she'd realized too late that the habit of loving him had long since replaced love itselfShe did not love him, and she never would againBut now, when she didn't want him, Ashley was hers, her legacy from MelanieShe had promised Melly she'd take care of him and of their childAshley was the cause of her life's destructionAnd the only thing left to her from it Scarlett stood apart and aloneThere was only cold gray space between her and the people she knew in Atlanta, space that once Melanie had filled, keeping her from isolation and ostracismThere was only the cold wet wind beneath the umbrella in the place where Rhett should have been to shelter her with his strong broad shoulders chanel earrings logo and his loveShe held her chin high, into the wind, accepting its assault without feeling itAll her senses were concentrated on the words that were her strength and her hopeThis will be over soon, and then I can go home to Tara"Look at her," whispered a black-veiled lady to the companion sharing her umbrellaI heard that the whole time she was handling the funeral arrangements, she didn't even shed a tearAll business, that's Scarlett "You know what folks say," was the answering whisper"She has heart aplenty for Ashley WilkesDo you think they really did-" The people nearby hushed them, but they were thinking the same thing The awful hollow thud of earth on wood made Scarlett clench her fists She wanted to clap her hands over her ears, to scream, to shoutanything to shut out the terrible sound of the grave closing over elanieHer teeth closed painfully on her lipShe wouldn't scream, omega seamaster for sale she woul