| 10:15a |
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He was accustomed to having his elders tell
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He was accustomed to having his elders tell him what to do, and he
liked
the way MrButler called him "Tom
Before the afternoon was over and Tom was delivered back to his
mother,
the boy was looking at Rhett with such hero-worship in his young eyes
that Rhett knew he'd be saddled with Tom Cooper for years to come
He
was also confident that Tom would never forget the friends they'd
gone
to seeAmong Charleston's many historic "firsts" was the first
recorded whorehouse "for gentlemen only It had moved its location
many times in the nearly two centuries of its existence, uppose the
train's early, Rhett?" Eleanor Butler looked at the clock for the tenth
time in two minutes"I hate to think of Rosemary being at the station
with nobody there when it's getting darkHer maid's only
half-trained, you knowAnd half-witted, too, to my way of thinking
I don't know why Rosemary puts up with her
"That train has never in its history been less than forty minutes late,
Mama, and even if it were on time, that's a half hour from now
"I asked you most particularly to allow plenty of time to get thereI
should have gone myself, like I planned when I didn't know you'd be
home
"Try not to fret, Mama
Rhett explained again what he had already told his mother"I hired a
hackney to pick me up in ten minutesThen it's a five-minute ride to
the stationI'll be fifteen minutes early, the train will be an hour
late or more, and Rosemary will arrive home on my arm just in time
for
supper
"May I ride with you, Rhett? I'd love a breath of air Scarlett
pictured the hour enclosed in the small cab of the hackneyShe'd ask
Rhett all about his sister, he'd like thatHe was crazy about
Rosemary
And if he talked enough, then maybe Scarlett would know what to
expect
She was terrified that Rosemary wouldn't like her, that she'd be
another RossHer brother-in-law's florid letter of apology had done
nothing to make her stop loathing |