@@@@@If you have a leaning towards being a lady, 432
@@@@@If you have a leaning towards
being a lady, I'll even show you how, never mind what I think about
it
After all, I know all the rules even if I can't abide them I'm going
out, and there's no more to be said about it Scarlett glowered
mulishly at MrsThe housekeeper stood in the open
doorway like an immovable mountain7 Scarlett
changed her tactics"Please do let me," she coaxed, with the
sweetest
smile in her arsenal"The fresh air will do me a world of good
It'll perk up my appetite, too, and you know how you've been after me
about not eating enough
Scarlett forgot that she was being beguiling"And high time, too!
Is her high-and-mightiness bothering to say what took her so long?"
Mrs"She started out on time, but her piles
bothered her so badly she had to stop overnight every ten miles on
the
way hereIt seems we won't have to worry about her lazing in a
rocking chair when she should be on her feet working Scarlett tried
not to laugh, but she couldn't help itAnd she couldn't really stay
mad at MrsFitzpatrick; they had grown too close for thatThe older
woman had moved into the housekeeper's apartment the day after Cat
was
bornShe was Scarlett's constant companion while she was illAnd
readily available afterwardsMany people came to visit Scarlett in
the long convalescent weeks after Cat was bornColum almost daily,
Kathleen almost every other day, her big O'Hara men cousins after
Mass
each Sunday, Molly more often than Scarlett liked
Fitzpatrick was always thereShe brought tea and cakes to the
visitors, whiskey and cakes to the men, and after the visitors left she
stayed with Scarlett to hear the news the visitors had brought and
finish off the refreshments
She brought news herself-about the happenings in the town of
Ballyhara
and in Trim-and gossip she'd heard in the shopsShe kept Scarlett
from being too lonel
