[Gone with the Wind] Parallel Time and Space

Letter from Chapter 36

In the month after Scarlett and Rhett returned to Atlanta, the situation seemed to be even more tense. The Ku Klux Klan established by the people was a headache for the ruling government. During President Grant's administration, he took an all-out suppression attitude towards similar organizations.On the surface, the situation is calm, but in fact everyone is tense secretly, whether it is the officers of the North or the people of the former Atlanta South.

Every morning, Scarlett drives a carriage from home to the lumber factory and always passes through a forest. This forest is a gathering place for some blacks who cannot adapt to the freedom brought to them by the northerners. Every time she passes by here, Scarlett’s heart is more than usual. Be more nervous.The dense leaves blocked the originally weak sunlight, and the gloomy air made Scarlet hug Rhett's arm tightly.

"I have to bring up an unpleasant topic again." Rhett glanced at his wife's hands wrapped around his arms, and then turned his eyes to the path in front of him.

Scarlett freed up one hand and pulled the blanket up, covering her stomach tightly. "Well... I know what you're going to say, Rhett."

"I never ask you anything, Scarlett, and I don't use any rules to restrain you, but the situation now is not the same as it was at the beginning. The collision of forces from all sides will definitely endanger some people, and I don't I hope you are among them." When he said these words, he was serious and earnest, without any hint of playfulness or humor on his face. "Besides, you are now pregnant, which is very dangerous..."

Upon hearing this, Scarlett seemed to have grasped something, and interrupted Rhett before he finished speaking: "Ha! You see, you are only for the child, so I hate pregnancy. Pregnancy makes women I can’t do anything and I have to be taken care of by others. I heard that there are ways for women to not get pregnant..." Before she finished speaking, she subconsciously covered her mouth, and these words should not have come out of her mouth.

"You haven't done it yet, have you?"

"No, not yet." Scarlett anxiously denied.

Rhett let the carriage stop with a snort, he put the reining rope on his lap casually, grabbed Scarlett's with both hands, stared at Scarlett's green pupils with his two black eyes, and smiled unsmilingly, showing some With a scared look, Scarlet felt that his hands were trembling. "Don't let that thought stay in your mind for even more than a second. It's a terrible thought. You will pay with your life, Scarlett."

"Die? But Mamie Butt didn't tell me that!"

"She is a woman, I must kill her!" Rhett blushed. "She will not be allowed to visit in the future. As the male master of this family, I think I still have this privilege."

Then he regained his tenderness and said to her: "You know I never cared about children..."

Scarlett raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, well, I like children, especially our children, that must be my love. But if you don't want to have children, of course we can have no children. But now the problem is, you said It's extremely dangerous. And I just happen to be able to support them."

"How do you know this?" Scarlett asked.

He hangs his head. "I didn't know what to do when I was young. Back then, in New Orleans, I saw a woman die like this, very painfully. . . . She was a good person."

Then Rhett hugged Scarlett tightly, as if she was afraid that she would run away.But Scarlett's mind raced to the Charleston secret, and now the pregnancy was out of her mind.

Scarlett was so quiet the rest of the way home, she must have been frightened, Rhett thought.So he started talking to her, telling her some funny stories, but to little effect.

After returning home, Rhett took off the hat for Scarlett and handed it to Mama Hei, and she talked about Scarlett saying that she went to the lumber factory, and also scolded Rhett along the way.But fortunately, it wasn't long, and she had to prepare dinner.When Wade ran over, Rhett picked him up, talked to him, and played with him. Scarlett sat on the sofa beside him, and took out the ledger of the lumber factory to look through.But in fact, she can no longer restore the meaning behind those numbers, the voices of the father and son came.

"Tell me, Wade, what did you do today?" Rhett sat on the carpet directly, holding Wade on his lap.

"I went to Aunt Melanie's today, and I listened to stories with Beau," said the child.

"Listen to stories? What stories have you heard, are they better than the ones I told you? En?" Rhett likes children, he is good at dealing with children, and one more thing, because he also has a son, Scarlett Heart Think, that kid I don't know.

Wade laughed, admitting that Rhett was a better speaker. "Little Bo is clamoring to hear the story of General Li, but I don't want to hear it anymore, because I have heard you tell it many times. Actually, I don't want to hear the story anymore, I want to read a book...I want you to buy me some Book..." Wade was a little afraid to look at Rhett, he lowered his head.

"Keep your head up, Wade." Rhett said to him: "When you talk to people, you have to raise your head up and look directly into the other person's eyes. I'm not teaching you how to be self-cultivated, but as a man, you can't be arrogant. Weakened...even if you ask for someone else, even if that other person is your stepfather."

Wade raised his head, his eyes were bright, he was the kind of little gentleman with a kind heart that people could tell at a glance.

"Okay, make a list of the books you want to read, and I'll go out and buy them for you tomorrow." Rhett patted him on the shoulder.

Wade nodded, "Thank you, I'll go now."

"You have always been so patient, Rhett, just like you were to me back then." Scarlett said, looking at Wade's back.

"I don't think of you as my daughter, Scarlett. We have been friends since I carried you home." With a smile on his lips, Rhett got up from the carpet and sat beside Scarlett. "I do however have more patience with children than with adults, for nothing but their innocence. Their ideas are often novel and interesting, and in some cases philosophical and wise , We can’t just rely on our age advantage to think we’re superior to them. But many aura children become hideous when they grow up, and hypocrisy and dishonesty are their characteristics.”

"But you're an adult now, and you're scolding yourself too."

"Perhaps." Rhett did not deny it.

"So you really like children."

"Actually, it's not complete. There are still exceptions. Everything can't be said too absolutely."

"Well, my dear, I want to ask, is there something you are hiding from me. Or, you didn't tell me?" Scarlett picked the right moment, since they talked about the child, she We should use this opportunity to try it out.She pretended not to mention it, just like asking him how his clothes are today.

Rhett narrowed his eyes. He didn't understand what that meant...no, maybe...he did.He should have dismissed the topic as if nothing had happened, he should have lied, for his own benefit and Scarlett's benefit—but he hated lying.

In Scarlett's eyes, Rhett was contemplating for a while, as evidenced by his frowning brows and slightly narrowed eyes.At that time, Scarlett's heart was beating violently, once, twice, three times... everything around her became quiet, even her own breathing.Why?Why did you take so long to think about it, Rhett.Why don't you just tell me?

What made Scarlett get what she wanted was another secret that made her even more surprised and uneasy, and also made him hide it for a while, which was not a secret—everyone knew it, but she was deliberately concealed.

"I was still thinking that it wouldn't be too long before you mentioned it, but I didn't expect it to be so soon, Scarlett. Your sensitivity is beyond my expectation. You know, I hate lying, and I can't hide anything from you . Which means that as long as you bring it up, you will always get a real result - even if I am silent, it is sincere."

Rhett's voice is gentle, and Scarlett has always liked this voice. He often uses this tone to talk to himself on a leisurely morning, or in a peaceful afternoon, or in a quiet night, talking about love and humming a little tune. she fell asleep...

But now he said to her in this tone: "I joined the Ku Klux Klan."

Scarlett couldn't speak for a long time, she just felt that something blocked her throat, and her heart was heavy, as if a stone weighing several kilograms was pressing on her heart, as if Rhett had left her now. went.

Rhett looked at his wife with firm eyes, but Scarlett's was a little erratic. After a long time, she said: "You are crazy."

Rhett felt a chill in his heart.

"I just... Rhett... I really... can't understand. Why? You used to laugh at the Ku Klux Klan at me, you used to call them a bunch of brainless idiots, you used to not even bother to say hello to them ——Although you didn’t do it every time for various reasons. You said that group of people can’t think, and you said that people who can’t think are not called people. Also, you…” Scarlett looked After presenting a lot of evidence, she forced a smile to prove that Rhett should not have joined this organization.

But when smiling doesn't help, she starts to get angry, and she doesn't even realize it's just because she's sad. "What a dangerous party that was! Rhett Butler, you got involved in this kind of organization! Where's your shrewdness, your judging the situation? What if, what if you put your life in it? Ah! It's the same as when you left me to join the army. I didn't understand it at the time, and I can't understand it now either! You are planning to abandon me again!"

Rhett glanced away, moved his lips, but said nothing.He just sat there like a child in training.He had nothing to say, because he didn't know what to say, because it was really stupid.

Mama Hei and Wade came to the room following the sound, and her big eyes turned around, looking at Scarlett and Rhett. "What's going on here?"

"It's all right, Mammy. Are you ready for dinner? Let Prissy set the table." Scarlett replied, her cheeks still a little red.

During the next day, Rhett woke up early in the morning. He gave Scarlett a kiss, said that he had some things to deal with and promised that he would go home to have dinner with Scarlett at night, and then he left.

Scarlett called Prissy.

"Take this letter and this note, go to the street, find a homeless man who looks more honest and reliable, give him both the note and the letter, let him do things according to the instructions on the note, and deliver a letter for me Don't peek, don't be lazy, Prissy, these are his rewards." Scarlett handed a small bag to Prissy and told her.

"What is this, Miss Scarlett?"

"Don't ask too much, just go if you are told." Scarlett urged.

And when Belle Watling received a letter from Mrs. Butler, she was astonished.My God, this is the sun rising in the west.But, how should I put it, a trace of wonderful pleasure rose in her heart.

Look, what serious Mrs. Butler wrote her Bel Watling!