@@@@@When she smiled at Brian and said as much, 894
@@@@@When she
smiled
at Brian and said as much, he blushed as only a redhead can
The only other young man began to tease him unmercifully, but he
stopped when the pink-cheeked girl next to him put her hand on his
and
said, "Stop it, GeraldPa would be so pleased
to know that big handsome fellow was named after himHe called the
girl Polly, and they're so shiny with love they must be
fresh-married
And Patricia's being mighty bossy to the one Jamie called Billy, so
they must be husband and wife, tooBut Scarlett had little time to
listen for the names of the othersEveryone, it seemed, wanted to
talk to herAnd everything she said was cause for exclamation,
repetition, admirationShe found herself telling Daniel and Jamie all
about her store, Polly and Patricia about her dressmaker, Uncle James
about the Yankees setting Tara on fireShe talked mostly about her
lumber business and how she'd built it from one small mill into two
mills, lumberyards, and now a whole village of new houses on the
edge
of AtlantaEveryone was loudly approvingAt last Scarlett had found
people who didn't think that talking about money was tabooThey
were
like she was, willing to work hard and determined to make money
from
itShe had already made hers, and they told her she was wonderful
She couldn't imagine why she had ever wanted to leave this marvelous
party and go back to the deadly quiet at her grandfather's house
"Will you give us some music, then, Daniel, if you've finished eating
most of your sister's cake?" said Maureen when Jamie uncorked a
bottle
of whiskey, and suddenly everyone except Uncle James was up and
moving
around in what seemed to be a practiced routineDaniel began
playing
a rapid, squeaking tune on the fiddle and the others shouted criticism
while the women quickly cleared the table and the men moved the
furniture back against the walls, leaving Scarlett and her uncle
sitting as if on an islandJamie presented James with a glass of
whiskey and waited, half bent, for the old man's opinion"It'll do,"
was the judgment"Indeed I hope so, old man, for
we
have no other kind Scarlett tried to catch Jamie's eye, failed,
finally called out to get his attentionEveryone was pulling chairs into a circle around
the fire, and the smaller children were taking places on the floor at
the adults' feetObviously they were getting ready for the musicale,
and once it started, it would be terribly rude to get up and goJamie
stepped over a small boy to get to Scarlett"Here you are, then," he
sa
