decicuress1996

@@@@@"By the time he won," MrsButler said, in neat conclusion, "he was so drunk that he thought it made sense to go take a look at hisprizeThey say he didn't even know where he was going until he got there, because he won most of the sailors' rum ration playing dice "What did he do when he sobered up?" Scarlett wanted to know"Oh, my dear, he never didHe died only ten days after the ship made landfallBut in the meantime he had wagered some other gambler at dice and won a girl-one of the indentured servants from the ship-and, since later she turned out to be carrying his child, there was a sort of postfacto wedding at his grave marker, and her son became one of my great-great-grandfathers "He was rather a gamester himself, wasn't he?" Rhett askedIt truly ran in the familyButler continued along the family treeScarlett glanced at Rhett oftenHow many surprises were there in this man she hardly knew? She'd never seen him so relaxed and happy and totally at homeI never made a home for him, she realizedHe never even liked the houseIt was mine, done the way I wanted, a present from him, not his at allScarlett wanted to break in on Miss Eleanor's stories, to tell Rhett that she was sorry for the past, that she'd make up for all her mistakes He was content, enjoying himself and his mother's ramblingsShe mustn't break this moodThe candles in their tall silver holders were reflected in the polish of the mahogany table and in the pupils of Rhett's gleaming black eyesThey bathed the table and the three of them in a warm, still light, making an island of soft brilliance in the shadows of the long roomThe world outside was closed off by the thick folds of curtains at the windows and by the intimacy of the small candlelit islandEleanor Butler's voice was gentle, Rhett's laughter a quiet, encouraging chuckleLove made an airy yet unbreakable web between mother and sonScarlett had a sudden consuming yearning to be enclosed in that webThen Rhett said, "Tell Scarlett about Cousin Townsend, Mama," and she was safe in the warmth of the candlelight, included in the happiness that ringed the tab