keyon0910

@@@@@She kept silent while Jerome removed the soup plates and the silver place plates and set down dinner plates and fish knives and forksIt seemed to take foreverBut the planked shad, when it came, was worth the waitScarlett looked at her grandfatherHe wouldn't dare pretend that he didn't like thisHe ate two small bitesThe sound of knives and forks was terribly loud when they touched the platesPauline first, then Eulalie, gave up with most of their fish still on their platesScarlett looked defiantly at her grandfather over each forkful that she carried to her mouthBut even she was beginning to lose her appetiteThe old man's displeasure was souringThe next dish revived her appetiteThe potted doves looked as tender as dumplings, and their gravy was a rich brown river over pureed potatoes and turnips molded into light-as-air nests for the meat of the tiny birdsPierre Robillard dipped the tines of his fork into the gravy, then touched them to his tongueScarlett thought she would explodeOnly the desperate entreaty in her aunts' eyes kept her silentHow could anyone be as hateful as her grandfather? It was just plain impossible that he didn't like the foodIt wasn't too hard for him to eat, even if he did have bad teethOr none at all, for that matterShe knew he liked tasty food, tooAfter she'd buttered and gravied the pap he was usually served, his plate had gone back to the kitchen as clean as if a dog had licked itNo, there must be some other reason he wasn't eatingAnd she could see it in his eyesThey gleamed when he looked at her aunts' pitiful disappointmentHe'd rather make them suffer than enjoy eating hisdinne