"Aye, he's a grand, bold man, the mighty builder... 336
"Aye, he's a grand, bold man,
the mighty builder MacMahonArms like sledgehammers he has, fairly
popping the seams of his costly coat, doubtless chosen by Mrs
MacMahon
to match her parlor suite, else why would it be such a plushy object?
A Godly man, too, with proper reverence for the shine it gives his soul
to build God's own house here in Savannah, AmericaI blessed him
for
it, in my own humble way'It's my belief you're
such a religious that you're not taking a penny more than forty percent
profit from the parish Then didn't his eyes flash and his muscles
swell like a bull's and his plushy sleeves make pretty little popping
sounds along their silk-sewn seams? 'Sure it is, Master Builder,' says
I, 'that any other man would have made it fifty, seeing that the
Bishop's not an Irishman?"
"And then the good man showed hismerit'Gross!" he roared, till I
feared the windows would fly chanel purses and handbags out into the street'What manner of
name
is that for a Catholic?" Then he told me stories about the iniquities
of the Bishop that my collar forbids me to creditI shared his
sorrows and a glass or two with him, then I told him about the
suffering of my poor little cousinRighteous wrath he showed, the
good manIt was all I could do to stop him tearing down the steeple
with his own strong handsIt's my belief he won't call all the men out
on strike, but I cannot be altogether certainHe will, he tells me,
express to the Bishop his concern for Scarlett's easiness of mind in
terms the nervous little man cannot fail to understand, and as often as
may be necessary to convince him of the gravity of the problem
Maureen said, "And why are you smiling at the cabbages, I'd like to
know?" Scarlett turned the smile onto her friend"Because I'm happy
that it's spring and we're going to have a christian dior china picnic," she saidAnd
because she was going to have Tara, she was sureScarlett had never
seen Forsyth ParkHodgson Hall was just across the street from it,
but it had been dark when she went to the dedication ceremonyIt
caught her unaware, and it took her breath awayA pair of stone
sphimes flanked the entranceThe children looked longingly at the
beasts they were forbidden to climb, then ran at full speed along the
central pathThey had to run around ScarlettShe was stopped in
the
middle of the path, staring aheadThe fountain was two blocks from
the entrance, but it was so enormous that it looked very closeArcs
and jets of water lifted and fell like showering diamonds from every
direction
Scarlett was spellbound; she'd never seen anything so spectacular
"Come along now," said Jamie, "it gets better as you get closerThere was a bright sun that made rainbows in the dancing
waters; they shop prada handbags flashed, vanished, reappeared with every step Scarlett
tookThe whitewashed trunks of the trees that lined the path
glimmered in the dappled shade from their leaves, leading to the
sparkling dazzle of the fountainWhen she reached the iron fence that
circled the fountain's basin, she had to tilt her head back to near
dizziness to look at the nymph atop its third her, a statue bigger than
she was, the arm held high, grasping a staff that threw a plume of
water high, high toward the brilliant blue sky"I like the
serpent-men myself," Maureen commented"They always look to me
like
they're enjoying themselves Scarlett looked where Maureen was
pointingThe bronze mermen knelt in the huge basin on their
elegantly
coiled scaly tails with one hand on hip, the other holding a horn to
the lipsThe men spread rugs under the oak tree Maureen selected,
and
the women put down their basketsMary dolce
