sluis44elia

@@@@@I'll eat them on the way "But Scarlett-" "But me no buts, Miss EleanorJust hand me the biscuits What am I doing? Scarlett thought, near panic I should never have dashed off this way, Rhett's going to be furious with me And I must look awfulIt's bad enough just to show up where I don't belong; at least I could look prettyI had it all planned so differentShe had thought about it a thousand times, what it would be like when next she saw RhettSometimes she imagined that he'd come home to the house late; she'd be in her nightdress, the one with the drawstring neck-tied loose and she'd be brushing her hair before bedtimeRhett had always loved her hair, he said it was a live thing; sometimes in the early days-he'd brush it for her, to see the blue cracklings of electricityOften she pictured herself at the tea table, dropping a piece of sugar into a cup with the silver tongs elegantly held in her fingersShe'd be chatting cozily with Sally Brewton, and he'd see how much at home she was, how welcomed by Charleston's most interesting peopleHe'd catch up her hand and kiss it, and the tongs would drop, but it wouldn't matter Or she was with Miss Eleanor after supper, the two of them in their chairs before the fire, so comfortable together, so close, but with a place waiting for himOnly once had she envisioned going to the plantation, because she didn't know what the place was like, except that Sherman's men had burned itHer daydream began all ?rightshe and Miss Eleanor arrived with hampers of cakes and champagne in a lovely green-painted boat, resting against piles of silk cushions, holding bright flowered parasols "Picnic," they called out, and Rhett laughed and ran to them, his arms openBut then it fizzled out, in blanknessRhett hated picnics, for one thingHe said you might as well live in a cave if you were going to eat sitting on the ground like an animal instead of in a chair at a table like a civilized human beingCertainly she had never thought of the possibility that she'd show up like this, squashed amid boxes and barrels of God knows what on a scabby boat that smelled to high heaven Now that she was away from the city, she was more worried about Rhett's anger than about the prowling YankeeSuppose he just tells the boatmen to turn right around and take me back? The boatmen dipped their oars into the green-brown water only to steer; the tide's invisible, powerful, slow current carried themScarlett looked impatiently at the banks of the wide riv