@@@@@"Now why didn't I think of that?" said 98
@@@@@"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 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 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
