Southern Rose [Gone with the Wind]

The Robillard family, including Aunt Pauline and Aunt Eulalie, rushed to Tara with Karin to attend Gerald O'Hara's funeral.Ellen O'Hara died in the war, and my brothers and sisters couldn't get the news in time, which is very regrettable; now that Ellen's husband has also passed away, why don't my brothers and sisters feel deeply saddened?

A lot of people came to the funeral, as many neighbors as they could come, and people from Atlanta, and the Kennedys also came.

Scarlett didn't shed a single tear at the funeral, but Melanie cried heartbroken, with true feelings.

Karin fainted from crying, and even Su Lun pretended to shed a few tears.

As soon as Gerald's coffin was placed in the grave, Scarlett had a big fight with Su Lun before it was sealed.Su Lun accused Scarlett of being ruthless and not feeling sorry for her father's death at all; Scarlett laughed at Su Lun's tears like the tears of a crocodile in a swamp, false and ridiculous.

Pauline and Eulalie were stunned, John was at a loss, Emile felt ashamed but didn't know what to do, Josephine made a decisive decision, asked Melanie to take Scarlet away, and took Su Lun away by herself.

Su Lun is like a bitter woman. She first complained that Scarlett was favored by her parents, and then complained that her father had been demented for several years. She got married poorly, and Scarlett didn’t even make her a new dress; Crying and complaining that Frank is just a "rich man" on the books, the reason is that he is too old and kind, many people owe their debts, and Frank never goes to collect debts, so that the life of the Kennedy family is not very good, not as good as Tara !

Su Lun cried and said that her ability to describe was not very good. It took Josephine a long time to figure out what she was complaining about.After all, she is still jealous of Scarlett, and she will not stare at Frank like Scarlett to ask for accounts, go to the lumber factory to supervise the workers, let alone show up to discuss business with men, the financial affairs of the Kennedy family The problem didn't get any better.Su Lun was a mediocre young lady before marriage, and she was still a mediocre wife after marriage. She didn't make much progress, she just went from one home to another.

Josephine was also impatient to comfort her, but severely reprimanded her for not arguing with Scarlett at her father's funeral.Su Lun was very wronged, saying that even you were partial to Scarlett.

Josephine asked Mother Hei to take Su Lun downstairs to wash up, and then went to talk to Frank.

Frank was a typical southern man, a man with no sparkle, nothing but "kindness," and thanks to his old nigger—now sort of a butler—he was able to keep most of his land.He rented the land to others for farming, but because of the bad harvest, he didn’t receive any rent. He said embarrassingly that they were all friends and relatives, and everyone was having a hard time. How could he have the nerve to collect debts?

Josephine was speechless.

Reid laughed at Frank after he left, saying that Frank is a good man, but the price of being a "good man" is that he has a tight life, which is not very good.

"Su Lun wanted to borrow money from me, and it was 1 U.S. dollars." Josephine frowned, and said helplessly, "I am willing to give Scarlett 5000 U.S. dollars because I know she will use the money Tara's production, but what does Su Lun need so much money for? Making new dresses?"

"Maybe for jewelry."

"Shut up!" Josephine said bluntly: "You are doing business with Frank, are you also bullying him to talk?"

Rhett did not deny, "He is not in a hurry to ask for money, so I can wait a few days to give it."

"So even if Su Lun wanted to give Tara money, that's not possible, right?"

"She wouldn't give it even if she had money. You, too, my dear Josephine, you don't do charity. No, you do, but you do it to be admired, and even if you really Given $1 to Mrs. Kennedy, I don’t think she would compliment you, but think you should give her money.”

Hi!Su Lun might really think so!

"You might as well teach Frank that if Sue Lun can live a little better off, she won't always think about my money or Tara's money. Indeed, she didn't get much dowry when she married. Aunt Ellen But he brought twenty black slaves." The twenty black slaves are also worth tens of thousands of dollars, which can be said to be a considerable dowry.But when Su Lun got married, Scarlett was so stingy that she didn't give him a single coin. It was all because Frank bought the wedding dress for the bride and prepared the wedding ceremony.

Rhett shook his head, but then nodded, "Okay, I will remind Mr. Kennedy. They don't have any children yet. If they have children, they can't live like this." Su Lun's life is good, just He won't think about Josephine's money, and he won't always make trouble for Scarlett. If he spends a little time helping Frank, it's not a loss-making business.

"Frank is a good guy, but the problem is that he's too soft-hearted and always trying to please others."

"He has no other benefits, and he can only use this to make others praise him."

Josephine snorted, "He is so naive! If you give someone ten dollars, they will praise you for your generosity; but if you want to give someone a hundred dollars, they will say why don't you give him a thousand dollars, you are a worthless person." Good rich man!"

Rhett suppressed a smile, "Yes, you are quite right."

Gerald O'Hara is buried next to the grave of his wife Ellen, which was built during the war in a modest way.This time John came to renovate his younger sister's grave and bought a granite tombstone.Recalling Ellen's time at her mother's house, she was very sad.

Ellen's life was a life of dedication. She failed to marry the man she liked, so she gave all her love to her children; Dutiful, friendly to everyone, Melanie is more like Ellen's daughter, she is carved out of the same mold.

Melanie comforted Scarlet well. During the dinner, Scarlet actually held back and stopped arguing with Su Lun; Su Lun looked reluctant, but didn't talk much, and buried her head in eating.

As for Ashley Wilkes, he was even more silent, completely invisible from the beginning of the funeral, and almost no one noticed him.

After dinner, Karin proposed to her uncle that she would stay at Tara. Scarlett was alone now, so poor that she couldn't leave Scarlett behind.John hesitated because of Will Benting.

Will Benting was an out-of-towner, a poor white man, small and unattractive, and Will had been wounded in the Civil War, lost a calf, had dysentery, and nearly died.He drifted to Tara and gradually recovered under the care of Melanie and Karin. He did not return to his hometown after that, but stayed in Tara as a worker and supervisor, taking care of everything.

Melanie and Ashley originally said to stay until after Christmas, but Gerald accidentally fell to his death, and Ashley once again proposed to return to Twelve Oaks. Melanie felt sorry for the death of Scarlett's parents, but also felt that You can't live in Tara all your life.She discussed with Josephine that it was time for Karin to come back, so that after the couple left, Scarlett would not have any bad rumors because of Mr. Benting.

Melanie is already kind-hearted, but when it comes to this matter, she still doesn't count black mothers and Sheldon as "people". Only Will Benting, a white person, deserves to be compared with Scarlett.In fact, even if Karin doesn't come home, and Melanie and Ashley's family leave, there are still more than a dozen black people in Tara, so how can they be considered "lonely men and widows"?

The Robillards stayed at Tara for two weeks.

John has arranged the future life of the two nieces. Karin is still young and has just turned 18; Scarlett is 3 years older and only 21 years old. They are still very young. There is a single young man in the family It's really not very convenient to live here.

For Will Benting, a two-story wooden house was specially built next to the Tara mansion. Although the sparrow is small, it has all internal organs, with a bedroom upstairs and a living room downstairs.He also planned to find a suitable woman nearby to marry him, so that no one would gossip about him.

Scarlett is still young, and it is unlikely that she will remain a widow, but there are indeed no suitable marriage partners nearby. Everyone is poor, and Scarlett looks down on poor people.

After the death of her fiancé Brent Tarleton, Karin was heartbroken and once wanted to become a nun. After going to Savannah, Karin was finally happy.

John was troubled for two poor nieces.

According to his thinking, girls always want to get married, let alone two lovely and beautiful girls from upper-class families, it is unimaginable that they cannot get married.He dragged his wife around to visit Tara's neighbors. There were a few young men who were not bad. They all grew up with Sister Scarlett and knew each other well. But almost every family had a difficult life, which made John for shock.

Rhett left after attending Gerald's funeral, so Scarlett has never been clear about Rhett and Josephine.It's not easy for others to mention Rhett as a "notorious" guy to her, and she rarely goes out to visit others, so it is even less likely to hear people talking about Rhett.

Rhett stopped briefly at Tara and did not speak to Scarlett alone.And Scarlett is still resenting what Rhett said to her in the Atlanta prison, and she is not very happy to see him.Her current need for money is not high, but it is mainly due to the stubbornness and stubbornness of the Irish in her bones. She would rather make money with her own hands, and she does it very well.

She was keenly aware of the people's demand for wood during the reconstruction period, so she bought a wood factory in Atlanta at a very low price very decisively, and had to go to the city every three days to manage the business of the wood factory.The old Negro, Uncle Peter, was now her private driver, driving her to and from the lumberyard and Tara.

The uncle's family lived in Tara, and offered to spend money to repair the mansion. Scarlett was very happy and quickly agreed.Many rooms of Tara were destroyed by the Northern Army. She has no money to repair them, so she just makes do.Both Emile and Josephine couldn't stand living in run-down rooms, so John sent someone to come and see that Tara could be renovated for only a few thousand dollars.

"Don't repair the outside too well, it's better to keep it as it is now." Josephine said.

Emile asked in confusion: "Why? Since it cost money, of course it must be repaired to the same level as before."

"Then the government will think that Tara is rich, and maybe raise taxes again."

John swore: "These damned Yankees!"

Emile sighed, "That's the only way to go."

Tara's current tax is 300 US dollars a year, which is calculated according to the area of ​​the land. In 1866, it was quite a large amount of money. The main reason is that Scarlett always felt that she had no money, and she would rather use the money to buy land , Buy a timber factory.

Scarlett, who focuses on business, has a bad reputation, because people think that only men can do business, and women are not happy to talk about business with men in public.Scarlett used to pick cotton at Tara, which was not considered a "scandal", but received praise, regret, and admiration. Now, she can be regarded as losing all her "good reputation" in the past few years!

Emile also thinks that Scarlett should stay in Tara honestly. It is not easy to manage Tara well, and it is unbelievable to go out to discuss business with men!

Josephine took the attitude of "no public support, no public opposition".

This era is very unfriendly for women to go out to work. Wives of upper-class families do not need to work. Their "job" is to be a good wife. Ladies must prepare for becoming a good wife and mother in the future. They All the skills learned should prepare you for these two "jobs".

Josephine doesn't need to work, but she doesn't blame Scarlett for being "unfeminine".

Tara's June looks beautiful.Cotton seedlings are planted in the field, and it is not yet the flowering season. The black people are still the main force in the field, fertilizing, weeding, weeding, pest control, watering, and pruning. Because there are no vicious supervisors, the working atmosphere is still quite peaceful .

Victor and Damian ran around in the field, taking Scarlett's son Wade and Melanie's son Beau. The two white children especially liked to play with Victor. He is admired by everyone and longs to be favored by his elder brother.

Victor is now 10 years old. He is a handsome young man who knows a lot and has a delicate mind, maybe too delicate.He noticed that Wade had a very nice pony, and Aunt Scarlett shouldn't have the money to buy a horse for children to ride and play.The quality of life in Tara Manor was clear to him when he first arrived. It was definitely not as good as the quality of life in his grandfather's house in Savannah. The food was not good, and this was only possible with the money his mother paid the cook for food every day.

Little Wade said happily that since Aunt Josephine came, he ate much better!Can also be full.Hearing these words, Victor almost wanted to cry: Why hasn’t this child had enough to eat?

Little Wade also said that the pony was given to him by Captain Butler, and he also gave him many toys!He thought Captain Butler might be his papa, but Aunt Melanie said Mr. Butler was Mama's "friend." What did that mean?

Damian said cleverly, stupid Wade, Captain Butler's surname is Butler, and your surname is Hamilton, how could Captain Butler be your "papa"?That's impossible!

Victor himself figured it out: it turned out that Captain Butler often visited Tara Manor.He couldn't figure it out, and his little head was full of big questions.

And before he could ask his mother or grandparents this big question, someone came galloping on horseback that evening and reported to Mr. John Robillard that Mrs. Hamilton and Mrs. Trent encountered a black man on the road. Attacked by ghosts, the carriage of the two wives overturned on the side of the road, Uncle Peter was injured and bled all over the place; Sheldon died in the woods by the roadside; There is no dead body.

Madame Emile gave a cry and fell unconscious.

Melanie and Agatha were busy taking care of Emile, John rode out with Charles and Ashley to find Josephine and Scarlett, and Will Benting stayed home to take care of the women and children.

Will took out his rifle, cleaned it, loaded it, and set it on the wooden table in the living room.

"Have you ever learned how to shoot a gun?" Will asked.

Victor nodded.

"Dare you shoot?"

Victor nodded again.

Fearing that he would be left behind, Damian hurriedly said, "I also learned how to shoot a gun, and Captain Butler also taught me."

Will looked at the two and a half older children seriously, "Very good. This gun is for you, this one is for you. If someone wants to break in, follow my instructions and shoot! Understand?"

Both Victor and Damian nodded half-understanding.

Victor didn't really understand what happened that night. He only remembered his grandmother lying on the sofa in the living room, pale with tension; Mrs. Wilkes was also pale; Aunt Agatha was terrified, and grandmother Then I asked my aunt to go upstairs to rest.My aunt brought my little cousin, Little John, who was a crybaby.Mom brought little Tom, too, who was also a crybaby.

The night came quickly, but neither my grandfather nor my mother came back.Victor wanted to wait for them to come back, but then, he fell asleep.

There was a large white fog in the dream, and he was running around in the dream, exhausted from running!He called for his mother, crying and looking for her.But where is the mother?

He saw an old woman with gray hair, but she was neither a grandmother nor a mother.Mother should always look like this, never grow old.

What does "getting old" mean?He doesn't understand.

He also dreamed that Captain Butler was wearing an airy officer's uniform, with a woman on his arm, but that woman was neither his mother nor Aunt Scarlett, but a strange woman, but this strange woman had no face, which was strange.He was very angry, how could Captain Butler betray his mother?

Then he dreamed of himself again, holding the hand of a little boy, maybe two or three years old, a blond boy; Blaming his younger brother for holding him back, he would never want to get rid of this little trouble.

He woke up crying and found himself sleeping in the room, Tara didn't have enough room, he and little Tom both slept in the mother's room, and an extra single bed was made for him.

Mother's bed was still empty.

He felt the pain of the orphan for the first time, and he was heartbroken and wept bitterly.