Southern Rose [Gone with the Wind]

The letter was not long, saying that he had returned to the south and was staying in a hotel in Savannah. He heard that there was a New Year's ball at Robillard's house tomorrow night. If he was lucky enough to attend the ball, he would be very happy and honored.

Josephine sent Rhett a text the next morning, inviting him to a dance that evening.

Rhett returned a bottle of perfume and put it in a cardboard box with a layer of roses underneath, and a delicate ribbon bow was tied on the outside of the cardboard box.

Josephine left the perfume and brought the ribbon to Manny. Manny was overjoyed, and after a few minutes, happily put the ribbon bow on her braid.

Manny is a special existence in Robillard's house. She is not black, but also a service worker. She has her own separate room, just in the attic. She has a salary, freedom, and rest days. The hostess Give her a day off, she can use it as she pleases, one day a week or 4 consecutive days together.But she was young, didn't know anyone in Savannah, and didn't go out very often.

She knew a little, could barely read and write uncomplicated letters, had a lot of brothers and sisters at home in Paris, and promised to give her father every month's salary in order to come to America with her mistress.The hostess gave her a salary increase, which she could keep for herself, and the hostess also asked her to learn to read with Sheldon.

Unlike the young white girls in Savannah, she didn't find it humiliating to learn to read from blacks, and the hostess even asked Sheldon to teach the young master how to read.

Most of her work is to take care of the young master, dress him and put on shoes, serve him four meals a day, play with him, write vocabulary words with him, and read story books to him.The hostess picked out some children's story books, some of which are really good to read.

The Robillard family mostly uses French, the wife is French, and the master speaks French very well, but with a little American accent; the hostess speaks French and English, and half of the black slaves in the family speak French and the other half speak English.

Mrs. Jenkins spoke only English, and Mammy only spoke French, and they both had a dislike for each other.But Mrs. Jenkins thought she was white and didn't have the same knowledge as the black mammy.The Black Sister is an old hen who protects the house and does not allow anyone to invade her territory.

There is no comparison between Savannah and Paris. Savannah is pitifully small. Its area is almost equivalent to a community in Paris, and its population is much smaller, only tens of thousands.The number of upper-class families is very limited, there are only about 100, and everyone knows each other, and most of the balls are the same group of people.

The little white maid who followed the hostess all over Paris felt that Savannah was really shabby and small, with few shops.

But the hostess said: "If you think about it this way, Savannah still has a bright future. If you get married in the future, you can open a store and sell some French goods, fabrics, ribbons, and perfume."

Manny asked in surprise, "Can I?"

"Of course, I will give you a start-up capital. You won't be a maid all your life, will you?"

Manny laughed, "Miss, you are right. I don't want to go back in the future. I may want to live in the United States forever. I also don't want to get married. Marriage is boring. You are right, you said that my parents have been giving birth all the time. Children, but they can't support so many children, but if they get married, women have to keep having children. It's so tiring, so tiring, my mother is so exhausted. I don't want to be my mother, I thought about it Be better, be happier."

"You're still a kid, so you should be happy." Josephine placed a block on the "building" made of blocks, and then Victor placed another block.

"What about me?" Victor asked.

"You're a child too," Josephine kissed his hair, "and you should be happy too. Are you happy now?"

"Hmm." Victor nodded his head.

"Do you prefer Paris or Savannah?"

"Savannah."

"Why? I thought you would like Paris."

"Just love Savannah. I love my grandparents and my uncle."

What the little guy said was so painful.

"Then we can take our grandparents to live in Paris in the future, what do you think?"

The little guy thought about it for a while, then nodded, "I think it's okay."

"Still living in the original home, do you agree?"

"uh-huh."

She brushed his soft blond hair, "You should look a lot like Dad."

"But I haven't seen my father. Do I have a father?"

"Silly child, of course there is a father. Every child has a father, but the father..." She smiled, "The father is gone."

"Then—does Dad love me too?"

"Of course I love you, our house in Paris was left to you by my father."

"Where did dad go?"

After hesitating for a moment, Josephine told Manny, "Manny, go to the kitchen to see what snacks are available today."

Manny left the game room.

"Lydia, go make two cups of hot cocoa and take Damian with you." Then another maid and the little black slave were sent away.

"Mom?" Victor realized something was wrong.

"Come here." She sat down on the floor and stretched out her arms.

Victor snuggled into his mother's arms, vaguely aware that what he said next was very important.

"Do you know what it means when a person dies?"

"I probably know, that is, he can no longer walk or eat. Frederick said that his grandpa Pierre died and went to see God, in heaven. Mom, is dad also in heaven?"

"I think so."

Victor's eyes were red, "Dad is a good man, right? That's why he will go to heaven, right?"

"I think so."

"What about you? Will you leave me and go to heaven too?" He asked worriedly.

"It will take many years. After many years, my mother will go to heaven when she is old. But now, I am your mother, and I will take care of you to grow up and become a big child."

"How many years is that?"

"Many, many years."

Although Victor didn't understand "many, many years", he nodded in relief.He hugged his mother's neck with his slender arms, pressed his soft face against her mother's face, kissed her face, and whispered in her ear: "Mom, I will always love you."

"I love you too, my baby."

Raising children is a labor-intensive and expensive thing. When she returned to the United States, she could no longer go out to play every night until the early morning before returning home. Savannah was too young to have any entertainment for the whole night.Moreover, the circle of high-class people is too small. It is nothing if she restores her maiden name and decides to find another husband, but if she sings every night, she will definitely be regarded as a "disorderly" woman, even if she is the Robillard family. His daughter will also be criticized behind her back.

Her time suddenly increased, and her daily schedule became normal. Victor learned to spell with Sheldon or Percy in the morning, played games in the afternoon, and sometimes went to the men’s club with John, but he was too young after all. I can't go there all the time, there are old men there and there is no fun, so I stay at home more often and play in the game room for half a day.

As soon as she came home, Emile kept instilling in her the idea of ​​"depending on her son in the future", and euphemistically said that she and Victor were not close enough, not like a mother and child, Victor was a bit too precocious, And he should have been a naive kid.

Josephine was kind and generous, and greatly increased the time she spent with her son.

Josephine danced all night.First, he danced three dances with Leonardo, and then danced two dances each with Louis Mayville and Francis Beauval.

At this time, waltzes are popular. A waltz lasts 8 to 10 minutes, and the three dances add up to half an hour. Of course, it is not necessary to finish the whole dance, and you can stop and rest at any time.

Rhett Butler never came forward to ask her to dance.

He was sizing up his opponent: Louis Mayville was a clumsy young man, too tall, too thin, and because he was the second son, he was not raised according to the standard of primogeniture, the middle of three children, so it may have been a child. I am used to being ignored, so I am not very confident; but if I want to get along with a woman like Josephine who knows her beauty very well, I am not confident enough.

Francis Beauval was mediocre in every way, not tall, and ordinary-looking, with no advantages or disadvantages. In short, he was a relatively boring person. He thought Josephine Wouldn't choose a boring man.

Leonardo Darcy, a dangerous opponent.Tall, but not too tall like Mayville; handsome, the kind of handsome face a woman would like, and the kind of handsome face a mother would like.It was obvious that Josephine liked Darcy better, and she smiled at Darcy the longest, and it was not a perfunctory smile.

No, it's a big problem.

Darcy is from Charleston, 2 years younger than him. They have known each other since they were young, and it can be said that they have known each other for a long time.He was only 15 years old when he went to West Point Military Academy. When he was expelled from West Point and went home, Leonardo Darcy had already gone to Harvard for college.

As for himself, his reputation in Charleston was over, there was no second family in Savannah who would invite him to a ball, and if he did not invite Josephine, no lady would dance with him, and he would Don't bring shame on yourself.

Until two hours after the dance, Rhett Butler pinched the end of the dance music and approached Josephine, "Hi, Miss Robillard, may I have the honor to invite you to the next dance?"

Leonardo looked at him in surprise, "Hello, Rhett."

"Do you know each other?" Josephine asked curiously.But it’s not surprising when you think about it, Charleston is that big, and the so-called “upper class” families all know each other like Savannah, and even if they don’t know each other, they will know the situation of each other’s family.

"Yes, I have known Rhett since I was very young." Leonardo took two wine glasses from the tray in the black slave's hand and handed Josephine a glass. "However, he has often traveled to the north in recent years, and I don't see him often."

Rhett grinned, his white and neat teeth were very eye-catching, "I didn't know you were in Savannah, why, have you been kicked out of the house too?"

The author has something to say:

*Forget about rebirth, it’s hard not to feel disgusted with slavery if you time travel, which is one of the reasons why it’s so hard for Piaotong people to write.Why did I choose another unpopular book to beat the ground!