hexathermoage38

@@@@@"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