liuwan2023

@@@@@It was a large square, perhaps twenty feet to a side, with a packed-earth floor and stained walls that had lost most of their plasterIt smelled of cheap whiskey and tobacco juice, with an underlay of scorched wood and fabricThe only furniture was an assortment of crude stools and benches, plus a scattering of dented metal cuspidorsThe mantelpiece over the wide fireplace and the frames around the doors and windows looked like some kind of mistakeThey were made of pine, beautifully carved with a delicate fretwork design and oiled to a glowing golden brownIn one corner there was a rough staircase with splintered wooden treads and a sagging, unsafe railingScarlett's and Pansy's clothes were draped over the length of itThe white petticoats billowed from time to time when a draft caught them, like ghosts lurking in deep shadows "Why didn't you stay in Charleston, Scarlett?" Supper was over and Pansy had been sent to sleep with the old black woman who cooked for RhettScarlett squared her shoulders"Your mother didn't want to disturb you in your paradise here She looked around the room disdainfully"But I believe you should know what's going on There's a Yankee soldier creeping into bedrooms at night-ladies' bedrooms-and handling themOne girl went clean out of her mind and had to be sent off She tried to read his face, but it was expressionlessHe was looking at her, silent, as if he was waiting for something"Well? Don't you care that your mother and I could be murdered in our beds, or something worse?" Rhett's mouth turned down in a derisive smile"Am I hearing correctly? Maidenly timidity from the woman who drove a wagon through the entire Yankee army because it was in her way? Come, now, ScarlettYou've been known to tell the truth Why did you come all this way in the rain? Were you hoping to catch me in the arms of a light o' love? Did Henry Hamilton recommend that as a way to get me to start paying your bills again?" "What on earth are you talking about, Rhett Butler? What has Uncle Henry got to do with anything?" "Such convincing ignorance! I compliment youBut you can't expect me to believe for an instant that your crafty old lawyer didn't notify you when I cut off the money I was sending to AtlantaI'm too fond of Henry Hamilton to credit such negligence "Stopped sending the money? You can't do that!" Scarlett's knees turned to jellyRhett couldn't mean