THE WAR went on, successfully for the most part, but people had stopped saying “One more victory and the war is over,” just as they had stopped saying the Yankees were cowards. It was obvious to all now that the Yankees were far from cowardly and that it would take more than one victory to conquer them. However, there were the Confederate victories in Tennessee scored by General Morgan and General Forrest and the triumph at the Second Battle of Bull Run hung up like visible Yankee scalps to gloat over. But there was a heavy price on these scalps. The hospitals and homes of Atlanta were overflowing with the sick and wounded, and more and more women were appearing in black. The monotonous rows of soldiers’ graves at Oakland Cemetery stretched longer every day. Confederate money had dropped alarmingly and the price of food and clothing had risen accordingly. The commissary was laying such heavy levies on foodstuffs that the tables of Atlanta were beginning to suffer. White flour was scarce and so expensive that corn bread was universal instead of biscuits, rolls and waffles. The butcher shops carried almost no beef and very little mutton, and that mutton cost so much only the rich could afford it. However there was still plenty of hog meat, as well as chickens and vegetables. The Yankee blockade about the Confederate ports had tightened, and luxuries such as tea, coffee, silks, whalebone stays, colognes, fashion magazines and books were scarce and dear. Even the cheapest cotton goods had skyrocketed in price and ladies were regretfully making their old dresses do another season. Looms that had gathered dust for years had been brought down from attics, and there were webs of homespun to be found in nearly every parlor. Everyone, soldiers, civilians, women, children and negroes, began to wear homespun. Gray, as the color of the Confederate uniform, practically disappeared and homespun of a butternut shade took its place. Already the hospitals were worrying about the scarcity of quinine, calomel, opium, chloroform and iodine. Linen and cotton bandages were too precious now to be thrown away when used, and every lady who nursed at the hospitals brought home baskets of bloody strips to be washed and ironed and returned for use on other sufferers. But to Scarlett, newly emerged from the chrysalis of widowhood, all the war meant was a time of gaiety and excitement. Even the small privations of clothing and food did not annoy her, so happy was she to be in the world again. When she thought of the dull times of the past year, with the days going by one very much like another, life seemed to have quickened to an incredible speed. Every day dawned as an exciting adventure, a day in which she would meet new men who would ask to call on her, tell her how pretty she was, and how it was a privilege to fight and, perhaps, to die for her. She could and did love Ashley with the last breath in her body, but that did not prevent her from inveigling other men into asking to marry her. The ever-present war in the background lent a pleasant informality to social relations, an informality which older people viewed with alarm. Mothers found strange men calling on their daughters, men who came without letters of introduction and whose antecedents were unknown. To their horror, mothers found their daughters holding hands with these men. Mrs. Merriwether, who had never kissed her husband until after the wedding ceremony, could scarcely believe her eyes when she caught Maybelle kissing the little Zouave, René Picard, and her consternation was even greater when Maybelle refused to be ashamed. Even the fact that René immediately asked for her hand did not improve matters. Mrs. Merriwether felt that the South was heading for a complete moral collapse and frequently said so. Other mothers concurred heartily with her and blamed it on the war. But men who expected to die within a week or a month could not wait a year before they begged to call a girl by her first name, with “Miss,” of course, preceding it. Nor would they go through the formal and protracted courtships which good manners had prescribed before the war. They were likely to propose in three or four months. And girls who knew very well that a lady always refused a gentleman the first three times he proposed rushed headlong to accept the first time. This informality made the war a lot of fun for Scarlett. Except for the messy business of nursing and the bore of bandage rolling, she did not care if the war lasted forever. In fact, she could endure the hospital with equanimity now because it was a perfect happy hunting ground. The helpless wounded succumbed to her charms without a struggle. Renew their bandages, wash their faces, pat up their pillows and fan them, and they fell in love. Oh, it was Heaven after the last dreary year! Scarlett was back again where she had been before she married Charles and it was as if she had never married him, never felt the shock of his death, never borne Wade. War and marriage and childbirth had passed over her without touching any deep chord within her and she was unchanged. She had a child but he was cared for so well by the others in the red brick house she could almost forget him. In her mind and heart, she was Scarlett O’Hara again, the belle of the County. Her thoughts and activities were the same as they had been in the old days, but the field of her activities had widened immensely. Careless of the disapproval of Aunt Pitty’s friends, she behaved as she had behaved before her marriage, went to parties, danced, went riding with soldiers, flirted, did everything she had done as a girl, except stop wearing mourning. This she knew would be a straw that would break the backs of Pittypat and Melanie. She was as charming a widow as she had been a girl, pleasant when she had her own way, obliging as long as it did not discommode her, vain of her looks and her popularity. She was happy now where a few weeks before she had been miserable, happy with her beaux and their reassurances of her charm, as happy as she could be with Ashley married to Melanie and in danger. But somehow it was easier to bear the thought of Ashley belonging to some one else when he was far away. With the hundreds of miles stretching between Atlanta and Virginia, he sometimes seemed as much hers as Melanie’s. So the autumn months of 1862 went swiftly by with nursing, dancing, driving and bandage rolling taking up all the time she did not spend on brief visits to Tara. These visits were disappointing, for she had little opportunity for the long quiet talks with her mother to which she looked forward while in Atlanta, no time to sit by Ellen while she sewed, smelling the faint fragrance of lemon verbena sachet as her skirts rustled, feeling her soft hands on her cheek in a gentle caress. Ellen was thin and preoccupied now and on her feet from morning until long after the plantation was asleep. The demands of the Confederate commissary were growing heavier by the month, and hers was the task of making Tara produce. Even Gerald was busy, for the first time in many years, for he could get no overseer to take Jonas Wilkerson’s place and he was riding his own acres. With Ellen too busy for more than a goodnight kiss and Gerald in the fields all day, Scarlett found Tara boring. Even her sisters were taken up with their own concerns. Suellen had now come to an “understanding” with Frank Kennedy and sang “When This Cruel War Is Over” with an arch meaning Scarlett found well-nigh unendurable, and Carreen was too wrapped up in dreams of Brent Tarleton to be interesting company. Though Scarlett always went home to Tara with a happy heart, she was never sorry when the inevitable letters came from Pitty and Melanie, begging her to return. Ellen always sighed at these times, saddened by the thought of her oldest daughter and her only grandchild leaving her. “But I mustn’t be selfish and keep you here when you are needed to nurse in Atlanta,” she said. “Only—only, my darling, it seems that I never get the time to talk to you and to feel that you are my own little girl again before you are gone from me.” “I’m always your little girl,” Scarlett would say and bury her head upon Ellen’s breast, her guilt rising up to accuse her. She did not tell her mother that it was the dancing and the beaux which drew her back to Atlanta and not the service of the Confederacy. There were many things she kept from her mother these days. But, most of all, she kept secret the fact that Rhett Butler called frequently at Aunt Pittypat’s house. During the months that followed the bazaar, Rhett called whenever he was in town, taking Scarlett riding in his carriage, escorting her to danceables and bazaars and waiting outside the hospital to drive her home. She lost her fear of his betraying her secret, but there always lurked in the back of her mind the disquieting memory that he had seen her at her worst and knew the truth about Ashley. It was this knowledge that checked her tongue when he annoyed her. And he annoyed her frequently. He was in his mid-thirties, older than any beau she had ever had, and she was as helpless as a child to control and handle him as she had handled beaux nearer her own age. He always looked as if nothing had ever surprised him and much had amused him and, when he had gotten her into a speechless temper, she felt that she amused him more than anything in the world. Frequently she flared into open wrath under his expert baiting, for she had Gerald’s Irish temper along with the deceptive sweetness of face she had inherited from Ellen. Heretofore she had never bothered to control her temper except in Ellen’s presence. Now it was painful to have to choke back words for fear of his amused grin. If only he would ever lose his temper too, then she would not feel at such a disadvantage. After tilts with him from which she seldom emerged the victor she vowed he was impossible, ill-bred and no gentleman and she would have nothing more to do with him. But sooner or later, he returned to Atlanta, called, presumably on Aunt Pitty, and presented Scarlett, with overdone gallantry, a box of bonbons he had brought her from Nassau. Or preempted a seat by her at a musicale or claimed her at a dance, and she was usually so amused by his bland impudence that she laughed and overlooked his past misdeeds until the next occurred. For all his exasperating qualities, she grew to look forward to his calls. There was something exciting about him that she could not analyze, something different from any man she had ever known. There was something breathtaking in the grace of his big body which made his very entrance into a room like an abrupt physical impact, something in the impertinence and bland mockery of his dark eyes that challenged her spirit to subdue him. “It’s almost like I was in love with him!” she thought, bewildered. “But I’m not and I just can’t understand it.” But the exciting feeling persisted. When he came to call, his complete masculinity made Aunt Pitty’s well-bred and ladylike house seem small, pale and a trifle fusty. Scarlett was not the only member of the household who reacted strangely and unwillingly to his presence, for her kept Aunt Pitty in a flutter and a ferment. While Pitty knew Ellen would disapprove of his calls on her daughter, and knew also that the edict of Charleston banning him from polite society was not one to be lightly disregarded, she could no more resist his elaborate compliments and hand kissing than a fly can resist a honey pot. Moreover, he usually brought her some little gift from Nassau which he assured her he had purchased especially for her and blockaded in at risk of his life—papers of pins and needles, buttons, spools of silk thread and hairpins. It was almost impossible to obtain these small luxuries now—ladies were wearing hand-whittled wooden hairpins and covering acrons with cloth for buttons—and Pitty lacked the moral stamina to refuse them. Besides, she had a childish love of surprise packages and could not resist opening his gifts. And, having once opened them, she did not feel that she could refuse them. Then, having accepted his gifts, she could not summon courage enough to tell him his reputation made it improper for him to call on three lone women who had no male protector. Aunt Pitty always felt that she needed a male protector when Rhett Butler was in the house. “I don’t know what it is about him,” she would sigh helplessly. “But—well, I think he’d be a nice, attractive man if I could just feel that—well, that deep down in his heart he respected women.” Since the return of her wedding ring, Melanie had felt that Rhett was a gentleman of rare refinement and delicacy and she was shocked at this remark. He was unfailingly courteous to her, but she was a little timid with him, largely because she was shy with any man she had not known from childhood. Secretly she was very sorry for him, a feeling which would have amused him had he been aware of it. She was certain that some romantic sorrow had blighted his life and made him hard and bitter, and she felt that what he needed was the love of a good woman. In all her sheltered life she had never seen evil and could scarcely credit its existence, and when gossip whispered things about Rhett and the girl in Charleston she was shocked and unbelieving. And, instead of turning her against him, it only made her more timidly gracious toward him because of her indignation at what she fancied was a gross injustice done him. Scarlett silently agreed with Aunt Pitty. She, too, felt that he had no respect for any woman, unless perhaps for Melanie. She still felt unclothed every time his eyes ran up and down her figure. It was not that he ever said anything. Then she could have scorched him with hot words. It was the bold way his eyes looked out of his swarthy face with a displeasing air of insolence, as if all women were his property to be enjoyed in his own good time. Only with Melanie was this look absent. There was never that cool look of appraisal, never mockery in his eyes, when he looked at Melanie; and there was an especial note in his voice when he spoke to her, courteous, respectful, anxious to be of service. “I don’t see why you’re so much nicer to her than to me,” said Scarlett petulantly, one afternoon when Melanie and Pitty had retired to take their naps and she was alone with him. For an hour she had watched Rhett hold the yarn Melanie was winding for knitting, had noted the blank inscrutable expression when Melanie talked at length and with pride of Ashley and his promotion. Scarlett knew Rhett had no exalted opinion of Ashley and cared nothing at all about the fact that he had been made a major. Yet he made polite replies and murmured the correct things about Ashley’s gallantry. And if I so much as mention Ashley’s name, she had thought irritably, he cocks his eyebrow up and smiles that nasty, knowing smile! “I’m much prettier than she is,” she continued, “and I don’t see why you’re nicer to her.” “Dare I hope that you are jealous?” “Oh, don’t presume!” “Another hope crushed. If I am ‘nicer’ to Mrs. Wilkes, it is because she deserves it. She is one of the very few kind, sincere and unselfish persons I have ever known. But perhaps you have failed to note these qualities. And moreover, for all her youth, she is one of the few great ladies I have ever been privileged to know.” “Do you mean to say you don’t think I’m a great lady, too?” “I think we agreed on the occasion of our first meeting that you were no lady at all.” “Oh, if you are going to be hateful and rude enough to bring that up again! How can you hold that bit of childish temper against me? That was so long ago and I’ve grown up since then and I’d forget all about it if you weren’t always harping and hinting about it.” “I don’t think it was childish temper and I don’t believe you’ve changed. You are just as capable now as then of throwing vases if you don’t get your own way. But you usually get your way now. And so there’s no necessity for broken bric-a-brac.” “Oh, you are—I wish I was a man! I’d call you out and—” “And get killed for your pains. I can drill a dime at fifty yards. Better stick to your own weapons—dimples, vases and the like.” “You are just a rascal.” “Do you expect me to fly into a rage at that? I am sorry to disappoint you. You can’t make me mad by calling me names that are true. Certainly I’m a rascal, and why not? It’s a free country and a man may be a rascal if he chooses. It’s only hypocrites like you, my dear lady, just as black at heart but trying to hide it, who become enraged when called by their right names.” She was helpless before his calm smile and his drawling remarks, for she had never before met anyone who was so completely impregnable. Her weapons of scorn, coldness and abuse blunted in her hands, for nothing she could say would shame him. It had been her experience that the liar was the hottest to defend his veracity, the coward his courage, the ill-bred his gentlemanliness, and the cad his honor. But not Rhett. He admitted everything and laughed and dared her to say more. He came and went during these months, arriving unheralded and leaving without saying good-by. Scarlett never discovered just what business brought him to Atlanta, for few other blockaders found it necessary to come so far away from the coast. They landed their cargoes at Wilmington or Charleston, where they were met by swarms of merchants and speculators from all over the South who assembled to buy blockaded goods at auction. It would have pleased her to think that he made these trips to see her, but even her abnormal vanity refused to believe this. If he had ever once made love to her, seemed jealous of the other men who crowded about her, even tried to hold her hand or begged for a picture or a handkerchief to cherish, she would have thought triumphantly he had been caught by her charms. But he remained annoyingly unloverlike and, worst of all, seemed to see through all her maneuverings to bring him to his knees. Whenever he came to town, there was a feminine fluttering. Not only did the romantic aura of the dashing blockader hang about him but there was also the titillating element of the wicked and the forbidden. He had such a bad reputation! And every time the matrons of Atlanta gathered together to gossip, his reputation grew worse, which only made him all the more glamorous to the young girls. As most of them were quite innocent, they had heard little more than that he was “quite loose with women”—and exactly how a man went about the business of being “l(fā)oose” they did not know. They also heard whispers that no girt was safe with him. With such a reputation, it was strange that he had never so much as kissed the hand of an unmarried girl since he first appeared in Atlanta. But that only served to make him more mysterious and more exciting. Outside of the army heroes, he was the most talked-about man in Atlanta. Everyone knew in detail how he had been expelled from West Point for drunkenness and “something about women.” That terrific scandal concerning the Charleston girl he had compromised and the brother he had killed was public property. Correspondence with Charleston friends elicited the further information that his father, a charming old gentleman with an iron will and a ramrod for a backbone, had cast him out without a penny when he was twenty and even stricken his name from the family Bible. After that he had wandered to California in the gold rush of 1849 and thence to South America and Cuba, and the reports of his activities in these parts were none too savory. Scrapes about women, several shootings, gun running to the revolutionists in Central America and, worst of all, professional gambling were included in his career, as Atlanta heard it. There was hardly a family in Georgia who could not own to their sorrow at least one male member or relative who gambled, losing money, houses, land and slaves. But that was different. A man could gamble himself to poverty and still be a gentleman, but a professional gambler could never be anything but an outcast. Had it not been for the upset conditions due to the war and his own services to the Confederate government, Rhett Butler would never have been received in Atlanta. But now, even the most strait laced felt that patriotism called upon them to be more broad minded. The more sentimental were inclined to view that the black sheep of the Butler family had repented of his evil ways and was making an attempt to atone for his sins. So the ladies felt in duty bound to stretch a point, especially in the case of so intrepid a blockader. Everyone knew now that the fate of the Confederacy rested as much upon the skill of the blockade boats in eluding the Yankee fleet as it did upon the soldiers at the front. Rumor had it that Captain Butler was one of the best pilots in the South and that he was reckless and utterly without nerves. Reared in Charleston, he knew every inlet, creek, shoal and rock of the Carolina coast near that port, and he was equally at home in the waters around Wilmington. He had never lost a boat or even been forced to dump a cargo. At the onset of the war, he had emerged from obscurity with enough money to buy a small swift boat and now, when blockaded goods realized two thousand per cent on each cargo, he owned four boats. He had good pilots and paid them well, and they slid out of Charleston and Wilmington on dark nights, bearing cotton for Nassau, England and Canada. The cotton mills of England were standing idle and the workers were starving, and any blockader who could outwit the Yankee fleet could command his own price in Liverpool. Rhett’s boats were singularly lucky both in taking out cotton for the Confederacy and bringing in the war materials for which the South was desperate. Yes, the ladies felt they could forgive and forget a great many things for such a brave man. He was a dashing figure and one that people turned to look at. He spent money freely, rode a wild black stallion, and wore clothes which were always the height of style and tailoring. The latter in itself was enough to attract attention to him, for the uniforms of the soldiers were dingy and worn now and the civilians, even when turned out in their best, showed skillful patching and darning. Scarlett thought she had never seen such elegant pants as he wore, fawn colored, shepherd’s plaid, and checked. As for his waistcoats, they were indescribably handsome, especially the white watered-silk one with tiny pink rosebuds embroidered on it. And he wore these garments with a still more elegant air as though unaware of their glory. There were few ladies who could resist his charms when he chose to exert them, and finally even Mrs. Merriwether unbent and invited him to Sunday dinner. Maybelle Merriwether was to marry her little Zouave when he got his next furlough, and she cried every time she thought of it, for she had set her heart on marrying in a white satin dress and there was no white satin in the Confederacy. Nor could she borrow a dress, for the satin wedding dresses of years past had all gone into the making of battle flags. Useless for the patriotic Mrs. Merriwether to upbraid her daughter and point out that homespun was the proper bridal attire for a Confederate bride. Maybelle wanted satin. She was willing, even proud to go without hairpins and buttons and nice shoes and candy and tea for the sake of the Cause, but she wanted a satin wedding dress. Rhett, hearing of this from Melanie, brought in from England yards and yards of gleaming white satin and a lace veil and presented them to her as a wedding gift. He did it in such a way that it was unthinkable to even mention paying him for them, and Maybelle was so delighted she almost kissed him. Mrs. Merriwether knew that so expensive a gift—and a gift of clothing at that—was highly improper, but she could think of no way of refusing when Rhett told her in the most florid language that nothing was too good to deck the bride of one of our brave heroes. So Mrs. Merriwether invited him to dinner, feeling that this concession more than paid for the gift. He not only brought Maybelle the satin but he was able to give excellent hints on the making of the wedding dress. Hoops in Paris were wider this season and skirts were shorter. They were no longer ruffled but were gathered up in scalloped festoons, showing braided petticoats beneath. He said, too, that he had seen no pantalets on the streets, so he imagined they were “out.” Afterwards, Mrs. Merriwether told Mrs. Elsing she feared that if she had given him any encouragement at all, he would have told her exactly what kind of drawers were being worn by Parisiennes. Had he been less obviously masculine, his ability to recall details of dresses, bonnets and coiffures would have been put down as the rankest effeminacy. The ladies always felt a little odd when they besieged him with questions about styles, but they did it nevertheless. They were as isolated from the world of fashion as shipwrecked mariners, for few books of fashion came through the blockade. For all they knew the ladies of France might be shaving their heads and wearing coonskin caps, so Rhett’s memory for furbelows was an excellent substitute for Godey’s Lady’s Book. He could and did notice details so dear to feminine hearts, and after each trip abroad he could be found in the center of a group of ladies, telling that bonnets were smaller this year and perched higher, covering most of the top of the head, that plumes and not flowers were being used to trim them, that the Empress of France had abandoned the chignon for evening wear and had her hair piled almost on the top of her head, showing all of her ears, and that evening frocks were shockingly low again. For some months, he was the most popular and romantic figure the town knew, despite his previous reputation, despite the faint rumors that he was engaged not only in blockading but in speculating on foodstuffs, too. People who did not like him said that after every trip he made to Atlanta, prices jumped five dollars. But even with this under-cover gossip seeping about, he could have retained his popularity had he considered it worth retaining. Instead, it seemed as though, after trying the company of the staid and patriotic citizens and winning their respect and grudging liking, something perverse in him made him go out of his way to affront them and show them that his conduct had been only a masquerade and one which no longer amused him. It was as though he bore an impersonal contempt for everyone and everything in the South, the Confederacy in particular, and toot no pains to conceal it. It was his remarks about the Confederacy that made Atlanta look at him first in bewilderment, then coolly and then with hot rage. Even before 1862 passed into 1863, men were bowing to him with studied frigidity and women beginning to draw their daughters to their sides when he appeared at a gathering. He seemed to take pleasure not only in affronting the sincere and red-hot loyalties of Atlanta but in presenting himself in the worst possible light. When well-meaning people complimented him on his bravery in running the blockade, he blandly replied that he was always frightened when in danger, as frightened as were the brave boys at the front. Everyone knew there had never been a cowardly Confederate soldier and they found this statement peculiarly irritating. He always referred to the soldiers as “our brave boys” and “our heroes in gray” and did it in such a way as to convey the utmost in insult. When daring young ladies, hoping for a flirtation, thanked him for being one of the heroes who fought for them, he bowed and declared that such was not the case, for he would do the same thing for Yankee women if the same amount of money were involved. Since Scarlett’s first meeting with him in Atlanta on the night of the bazaar, he had talked with her in this manner, but now mere was a thinly veiled note of mockery in his conversations with everyone. When praised for his services to the Confederacy, he unfailingly replied that blockading was a business with him. If he could make as much money out of government contracts, he would say, picking out with his eyes those who had government contracts, then he would certainly abandon the hazards of blockading and take to selling shoddy cloth, sanded sugar, spoiled flour and rotten leather to the Confederacy. Most of his remarks were unanswerable, which made them all the worse. There had already been minor scandals about those holding government contracts. Letters from men at the front complained constantly of shoes that wore out in a week, gunpowder that would not ignite, harness that snapped at any strain, meat that was rotten and flour that was full of weevils. Atlanta people tried to think that the men who sold such stuff to the government must be contract holders from Alabama or Virginia or Tennessee, and not Georgians. For did not the Georgia contract holders include men from the very best families? Were they not the first to contribute to the hospital funds and to the aid of soldiers’ orphans? Were they not the first to cheer at “Dixie” and the most rampant seekers, in oratory at least, for Yankee blood? The full tide of fury against those profiteering on government contracts had not yet risen, and Rhett’s words were taken merely as evidence of his own bad breeding. He not only affronted the town with insinuations of venality on the part of men in high places and slurs on the courage of the men in the field, but he took pleasure in tricking the dignified citizenry into embarrassing situations. He could no more resist pricking the conceits, the hypocrisies and the flamboyant patriotism of those about him than a small boy can resist putting a pin into a balloon. He neatly deflated the pompous and exposed the ignorant and the bigoted, and he did it in such subtle ways, drawing his victims out by his seemingly courteous interest, that they never were quite certain what had happened until they stood exposed as windy, high flown and slightly ridiculous. During the months when the town accepted him, Scarlett had been under no illusions about him. She knew that his elaborate gallantries and his florid speeches were all done with his tongue in his cheek. She knew that he was acting the part of the dashing and patriotic blockade runner simply because it amused him. Sometimes he seemed to her like the County boys with whom she had grown up, the wild Tarleton twins with their obsession for practical jokes: the devil-inspired Fontaines, teasing, mischievous; the Calverts who would sit up all night planning hoaxes. But there was a difference, for beneath Rhett’s seeming lightness there was something malicious, almost sinister in its suave brutality. Though she was thoroughly aware of his insincerity, she much preferred him in the role of the romantic blockader. For one thing, it made her own situation in associating with him so much easier than it had been at first. So, she was intensely annoyed when he dropped his masquerade and set out apparently upon a deliberate campaign to alienate Atlanta’s good will. It annoyed her because it seemed foolish and also because some of the harsh criticism directed at him fell on her. It was at Mrs. Elsing’s silver musicale for the benefit of the convalescents that Rhett signed his final warrant of ostracism. That afternoon the Elsing home was crowded with soldiers on leave and men from the hospitals, members of the Home Guard and the militia unit, and matrons, widows and young girls. Every chair in the house was occupied, and even the long winding stair was packed with guests. The large cut-glass bowl held at the door by the Elsings’ butler had been emptied twice of its burden of silver coins: That in itself was enough to make the affair a success, for now a dollar in silver was worth sixty dollars in Confederate paper money. Every girl with any pretense to accomplishments had sung or played the piano, and the tableaux vivants had been greeted with flattering applause. Scarlett was much pleased with herself, for not only had she and Melanie rendered a touching duet, “When the Dew Is on the Blossom,” followed as an encore by the more sprightly “Oh, Lawd, Ladies, Don’t Mind Stephen!” but she had also been chosen to represent the Spirit of the Confederacy in the last tableau. She had looked most fetching, wearing a modestly draped Greek robe of white cheesecloth girdled with red and blue and holding the Stars and Bars in one hand, while with the other she stretched out to the kneeling Captain Carey Ashburn, of Alabama, the gold-hilted saber which had belonged to Charles and his father. When her tableau was over, she could not help seeking Rhett’s eyes to see if he had appreciated the pretty picture she made. With a feeling of exasperation she saw that he was in an argument and probably had not even noticed her. Scarlett could see by the faces of the group surrounding him that they were infuriated by what he was saying. She made her way toward them and, in one of those odd silences which sometimes fall on a gathering, she heard Willie Guinan, of the militia outfit, say plainly: “Do I understand, sir, that you mean the Cause for which our heroes have died is not sacred?” “If you were run over by a railroad train your death wouldn’t sanctify the railroad company, would it?” asked Rhett, and his voice sounded as if he were humbly seeking information. “Sir,” said Willie, his voice shaking, “if we were not under this roof—” “I tremble to think what would happen,” said Rhett. “For, of course, your bravery is too well known.” Willie went scarlet and all conversation ceased. Everyone was embarrassed. Willie was strong and healthy and of military age and yet he wasn’t at the front. Of course, he was the only boy his mother had and, after all, somebody had to be in the militia to protect the state. But there were a few irreverent snickers from convalescent officers when Rhett spoke of bravery. “Oh, why doesn’t he keep his mouth shut!” thought Scarlett indignantly. “He’s simply spoiling the whole party!” Dr. Meade’s brows were thunderous. “Nothing may be sacred to you, young man,” he said, in the voice he always used when making speeches. “But there are many things sacred to the patriotic men and ladies of the South. And the freedom of our land from the usurper is one and States’ Rights is another and—” Rhett looked lazy and his voice had a silky, almost bored, note. “All wars are sacred,” he said. “To those who have to fight them. If the people who started wars didn’t make them sacred, who would be foolish enough to fight? But, no matter what rallying cries the orators give to the idiots who fight, no matter what noble purposes they assign to wars, there is never but one reason for a war. And that is money. All wars are in reality money squabbles. But so few people ever realize it. Their ears are too full of bugles and drums and the fine words from stay-at-home orators. Sometimes the rallying cry is ‘Save the Tomb of Christ from the Heathen!’ Sometimes it’s ‘Down with Popery!’ and sometimes ‘Liberty!’ and sometimes ‘Cotton, Slavery and States’ Rights!’ ” “What on earth has the Pope to do with it?” thought Scarlett. “Or Christ’s tomb, either?” But as she hurried toward the incensed group, she saw Rhett bow jauntily and start toward the doorway through the crowd. She started after him but Mrs. Elsing caught her skirt and held her. “Let him go,” she said in a clear voice that carried throughout the tensely quiet room. “Let him go. He is a traitor, a speculator! He is a viper that we have nursed to our bosoms!” Rhett, standing in the hall, his hat in his hand, heard as he was intended to hear and, turning, surveyed the room for a moment. He looked pointedly at Mrs. Elsing’s flat bosom, grinned suddenly and, bowing, made his exit. Mrs. Merriwether rode home in Aunt Pitty’s carriage, and scarcely had the four ladies seated themselves when she exploded. “There now, Pittypat Hamilton! I hope you are satisfied!” “With what?” cried Pitty, apprehensively. “With the conduct of that wretched Butler man you’ve been harboring.” Pittypat fluttered, too upset by the accusation to recall that Mrs. Merriwether had also been Rhett Butler’s hostess on several occasions. Scarlett and Melanie thought of this, but bred to politeness to their elders, refrained from remarking on the matter. Instead they studiously looked down at their mittened hands. “He insulted us all and the Confederacy too,” said Mrs. Merriwether, and her stout bust heaved violently beneath its glittering passementerie trimmings. “Saying that we were fighting for money! Saying that our leaders had lied to us! He should be put in jail. Yes, he should. I shall speak to Dr. Meade about it. If Mr. Merriwether were only alive, he’d tend to him! Now, Pitty Hamilton, you listen to me. You mustn’t ever let that scamp come into your house again!” “Oh,” mumbled Pitty, helplessly, looking as if she wished she were dead. She looked appealingly at the two girls who kept their eyes cast down and then hopefully toward Uncle Peter’s erect back. She knew he was listening attentively to every word and she hoped he would turn and take a hand in the conversation, as he frequently did. She hoped he would say: “Now, Miss Dolly, you let Miss Pitty be,” but Peter made no move. He disapproved heartily of Rhett Butler and poor Pitty knew it. She sighed and said: “Well, Dolly, if you think—” “I do think,” returned Mrs. Merriwether firmly. “I can’t imagine what possessed you to receive him in the first place. After this afternoon, there won’t be a decent home in town that he’ll be welcome in. Do get up some gumption and forbid him your house.” She turned a sharp eye on the girls. “I hope you two are marking my words,” she continued, “for it’s partly your fault, being so pleasant to him. Just tell him politely but firmly that his presence and his disloyal talk are distinctly unwelcome at your house.” By this time Scarlett was boiling, ready to rear like a horse at the touch of a strange rough hand on its bridle. But she was afraid to speak. She could not risk Mrs. Merriwether writing another letter to her mother. “You old buffalo!” she thought, her face crimson with suppressed fury. “How heavenly it would be to tell you just what I think of you and your bossy ways!” “I never thought to live long enough to hear such disloyal words spoken of our Cause,” went on Mrs. Merriwether, by this time in a ferment of righteous anger. “Any man who does not think our Cause is just and holy should be hanged! I don’t want to hear of you two girls ever even speaking to him again— For Heaven’s sake, Melly, what ails you?” Melanie was white and her eyes were enormous. “I will speak to him again,” she said in a low voice. “I will not be rude to him. I will not forbid him the house.” Mrs. Merriwether’s breath went out of her lungs as explosively as though she had been punched. Aunt Pitty’s fat mouth popped open and Uncle Peter turned to stare. “Now, why didn’t I have the gumption to say that?” thought Scarlett, jealousy mixing with admiration. “How did that little rabbit ever get up spunk enough to stand up to old lady Merriwether?” Melanie’s hands were shaking but she went on hurriedly, as though fearing her courage would fail her if she delayed. “I won’t be rude to him because of what he said, because— It was rude of him to say it out loud—most ill advised—but it’s—it’s what Ashley thinks. And I can’t forbid the house to a man who thinks what my husband thinks. It would be unjust.” Mrs. Merriwether’s breath had come back and she charged. “Melly Hamilton, I never heard such a lie in all my life! There was never a Wilkes who was a coward—” “I never said Ashley was a coward,” said Melanie, her eyes beginning to flash. “I said he thinks what Captain Butler thinks, only he expresses it in different words. And he doesn’t go around saying it at musicales, I hope. But he has written it to me.” Scarlett’s guilty conscience stirred as she tried to recall what Ashley might have written that would lead Melanie to make such a statement, but most of the letters she had read had gone out of her head as soon as she finished reading them. She believed Melanie had simply taken leave of her senses. “Ashley wrote me that we should not be fighting the Yankees. And that we have been betrayed into it by statesmen and orators mouthing catchwords and prejudices,” said Melly rapidly. “He said nothing in the world was worth what this war was going to do to us. He said here wasn’t anything at all to glory—it was just misery and dirt.” “Oh! That letter,” thought Scarlett. “Was that what he meant?” “I don’t believe it,” said Mrs. Merriwether firmly. “You misunderstood his meaning.” “I never misunderstand Ashley,” Melanie replied quietly, though her lips were trembling. “I understand him perfectly. He meant exactly what Captain Butler meant, only he didn’t say it in a rude way.” “You should be ashamed of yourself, comparing a fine man like Ashley Wilkes to a scoundrel like Captain Butler! I suppose you, too, think the Cause is nothing!” “I—I don’t know what I think,” Melanie began uncertainly, her fire deserting her and panic at her outspokenness taking hold of her. “I—I’d die for the Cause, like Ashley would. But—I mean—I mean, I’ll let the men folks do the thinking, because they are so much smarter.” “I never heard the like,” snorted Mrs. Merriwether. “Stop, Uncle Peter, you’re driving past my house!” Uncle Peter, preoccupied with the conversation behind him, had driven past the Merriwether carriage block and he backed up the horse. Mrs. Merriwether alighted, her bonnet ribbons shaking like sails in a storm. “You’ll be sorry,” she said. Uncle Peter whipped up the horse. “You young misses ought ter tek shame, gittin’ Miss Pitty in a state,” he scolded. “I’m not in a state,” replied Pitty, surprisingly, for less strain than this had frequently brought on fainting fits. “Melly, honey, I knew you were doing it just to take up for me and, really, I was glad to see somebody take Dolly down a peg. She’s so bossy. How did you have the courage? But do you think you should have said that about Ashley?” “But it’s true,” answered Melanie and she began to cry softly. “And I’m not ashamed that he thinks that way. He thinks the war is all wrong but he’s willing to fight and die anyway, and that takes lots more courage than fighting for something you think is right.” “Lawd, Miss Melly, doan cry hyah on Peachtree Street,” groaned Uncle Peter, hastening his horse’s pace. “Folks’ll talk sumpin’ scan’lous. Wait till us gits home.” Scarlett said nothing. She did not even squeeze the hand that Melanie had inserted into her palm for comfort. She had read Ashley’s letters for only one purpose—to assure herself that he still loved her. Now Melanie had given a new meaning to passages in the letters which Scarlett’s eyes had barely seen. It shocked her to realize that anyone as absolutely perfect as Ashley could have any thought in common with such a reprobate as Rhett Butler. She thought: “They both see the truth of this war, but Ashley is willing to die about it and Rhett isn’t. I think that shows Rhett’s good sense.” She paused a moment, horror struck that she could have such a thought about Ashley. “They both see the same unpleasant truth, but Rhett likes to look it in the face and enrage people by talking about it—and Ashley can hardly bear to face it” It was very bewildering. 第十二章 戰(zhàn)爭繼續(xù)進(jìn)行著，大部分是成功的，但是現(xiàn)在人們已不再說"再來一個(gè)勝仗就可以結(jié)束戰(zhàn)爭"這樣的話了，也不再說北方佬是膽小鬼了�，F(xiàn)在大家都明白，北方佬根本不是膽小鬼，而且決不是再打一個(gè)勝仗就能把他們打垮的。不過在摩根將軍和福雷斯將軍指揮下南部聯(lián)盟軍在田納西州打的勝仗，和第二次布爾溪戰(zhàn)役的勝利，是可以作為擊潰北軍的戰(zhàn)利品而加以吹噓的。雖然，這些勝利都付出了重大的代價(jià)。亞特蘭大各醫(yī)院和一些居民家里，傷病員大量擁入，同時(shí)有愈來愈多的女人穿上了喪服，奧克蘭公墓里那一排排的士兵墳?zāi)挂裁刻於荚谠黾印?南部聯(lián)盟政府的貨幣驚人地貶值，生活必需評價(jià)格隨之急劇上漲。物資供銷部門征收的食品稅已高到使亞特蘭大居民的飲食也開始蒙受損失了。白面極貴又很難買到，因此普遍以玉米面包代替餅干、面包卷和蛋糕。肉店里已幾乎不賣牛肉，就連羊肉也很少，而羊肉的價(jià)錢又貴得只有闊仆人家才買得起。好在還有充足的豬肉，雞和蔬菜也不少。 北方佬對南部聯(lián)盟各州港口已加緊了封鎖，因此茶葉、咖啡、絲綢、鯨須衣褡、香水、時(shí)裝雜志和書籍等奢侈品，就既稀少又很貴了。甚至的棉織品的價(jià)格也在飛漲，以至一般女人都在唉聲嘆氣地改舊翻新，用以對付著換季的衣著，多年以來塵封不動(dòng)的織布機(jī)現(xiàn)在從閣樓上取了下來，幾乎家家的客廳里都能見到家織的布匹。幾乎每個(gè)人，士兵、平民、婦女、小孩和黑人，都穿上了這種家織土布的衣裳，灰色，作為南部聯(lián)盟軍制服的顏色，如今在日常穿著中已經(jīng)絕跡，而由一種白胡桃色的家織布所替代了。 各個(gè)醫(yī)院已經(jīng)在為缺乏奎寧、甘汞、鴉片、哥羅仿、碘酒等等而發(fā)愁。紗布和棉布繃帶現(xiàn)在也很貴重，用后不能丟掉，所以凡是在醫(yī)院服務(wù)的女人都帶著一籃籃血污的布條回家，把它們洗凈熨平，然后帶回醫(yī)院給別的傷員使用。 但是，對于剛剛從寡婦蟄居中跑出來的思嘉來說，戰(zhàn)爭只不過是一個(gè)愉快和興奮的時(shí)候而已。甚至節(jié)衣縮食她也一點(diǎn)不以為苦，只要重新回到這廣闊的世界里便心滿意足了。 她回想過去一年的沉悶的日子，一天又一天毫無變化地過著，便覺得眼前的生活節(jié)奏已大大加快，達(dá)到了令人難以置信的速度。每天早晨開始的都是一個(gè)新的激動(dòng)人心的日子，她會(huì)遇到一些新的人，他們要求來拜訪她，說她多么漂亮，說他們多么希望享有特權(quán)為她戰(zhàn)斗甚至付出生命。她能夠而且的確在愛著艾希禮直到自己生命中的最后一息，可是這并不妨礙她去引誘別的男人來向她求婚。 當(dāng)前正在繼續(xù)的戰(zhàn)爭給了后方人們一個(gè)不拘常規(guī)的進(jìn)行社交活動(dòng)的機(jī)會(huì)，這使老人們大為吃驚。做母親的發(fā)現(xiàn)陌生男人來拜訪女兒，他們既沒有介紹信又家世來歷不明，更可怕的是她們的女兒竟與這些人手拉手坐在一起！就說梅里韋瑟太太吧，她是直到結(jié)婚以后才吻她的丈夫的，現(xiàn)在看見梅貝爾竟在吻那小個(gè)子義勇兵雷內(nèi)·皮卡德了，這叫她怎能相信自己的眼睛呢？特別是當(dāng)梅貝爾公然表示不覺得羞恥時(shí)，她就更加驚恐萬狀了。即使雷內(nèi)很快便向她求了婚，也沒有緩和這一緊張局面。梅里韋瑟太太覺得南方正在道德上迅速全面地崩潰，并且經(jīng)常提出這樣的警告。其他作母親的人也衷心贊同她的意見，并將問題歸咎于戰(zhàn)爭。 可是那些說不定在一周或一個(gè)月內(nèi)就會(huì)犧牲的男人，是不耐煩等待一年才去要求叫一位姑娘的小名的（當(dāng)然還得冠以"小姐"的稱號(hào)）。他們也不會(huì)履行戰(zhàn)前規(guī)定的那種冗長的正式求婚禮節(jié)。他們總是在三四個(gè)月之內(nèi)就提出訂婚的要求。 至于女孩子們，她們本來很清楚上等人家的姑娘一般要拒絕男方三次，而如今卻在頭一次就急忙答應(yīng)了。 這種不正常的狀況使思嘉覺得戰(zhàn)爭還是相當(dāng)有趣的。除了護(hù)理工作骯臟和卷繃帶太麻煩以外，她不怕戰(zhàn)爭永遠(yuǎn)拖延下去。事實(shí)上，她現(xiàn)在對醫(yī)院里的事情已能鎮(zhèn)靜地應(yīng)付了，因?yàn)槟抢镞�是一個(gè)很好很愉快的狩獵場呢。那些無依無靠的傷兵會(huì)乖乖地屈服于她的魅力之下。只要給他們換換繃帶，洗洗臉，拍打拍打他們的枕頭，給他們打打扇子，他們很快就愛上你了。啊，經(jīng)歷了過去一年的暗淡日子，這里就是天堂了！ 思嘉又回到了她跟查理爾斯結(jié)婚以前所處的地位，還仿佛根本沒有嫁給他，根本沒有感受過他死亡的打擊，根本沒有生過韋德似的。戰(zhàn)爭、結(jié)婚和生孩子一點(diǎn)沒有觸動(dòng)她內(nèi)心深處的那根弦就從她身邊過去了，她一點(diǎn)也沒有改變。她有一個(gè)孩子，她簡直可以把他忘了。那所紅磚房子里其他的人在仔細(xì)照料著他，她在思想和感情上又成了原來的思嘉，原來縣里的那個(gè)美女。她的思想和行為又恢復(fù)到往昔那個(gè)模樣，可是活動(dòng)的天地卻大大擴(kuò)展了。她不顧皮蒂姑媽和那些朋友們的非議，仍然像結(jié)婚以前那樣為人行事，如參加宴會(huì)啦，跳舞啦，同士兵一起騎馬外出啦，彼此調(diào)情啦，凡是她在姑娘時(shí)期做過的一切現(xiàn)在都做，只差沒有脫掉喪服了。她知道脫喪服這件事雖然微不足道，但皮蒂帕特和媚蘭是死活不會(huì)同意的。而且她當(dāng)寡婦也像做姑娘時(shí)一樣迷人，只要對她不加干涉她就照樣快樂，只要不使她為難她就樂于助人，而且對自己的姿容和到處招人愛慕也是十分得意的。 在這個(gè)幾周以前還令人痛苦的地方，如今她感到愉快起來了。 她高興又有了一些情人，高興聽他們說她仍然這么美麗，這是在艾希禮已經(jīng)跟媚蘭結(jié)婚而且正面臨危險(xiǎn)的情況下她所能享受到的愉快。不過在目前，即使想起艾希禮已經(jīng)屬于別人也是比較容易忍受的，因?yàn)樗吘惯h(yuǎn)在他方呢。亞特蘭大和弗吉尼亞相距數(shù)百英里之遙，他有時(shí)好像就是她的，猶如是媚蘭的一個(gè)樣。 １８６２年秋天就這樣在護(hù)理、跳舞、坐馬車和卷繃帶中飛快地過去了，連回塔拉小住幾回也沒有花多少日子。在塔拉的小住是令人失望的，因?yàn)楹苌儆袡C(jī)會(huì)像在亞特蘭大所希望的那樣跟母親清靜地長談，也沒有時(shí)間陪著她做針線活兒，聞聞她走動(dòng)時(shí)從馬鞭草香囊中散發(fā)出的隱隱香味，或者讓她的溫柔的手在自己臉頰上輕輕撫摩一番。 好像有滿腔的心事，母親瘦了，而且從清早開始，一直要到全農(nóng)場的人都入睡以后許久才得休息，南部聯(lián)盟物資供銷部的需求一月比一月高，她的任務(wù)便是設(shè)法讓塔拉農(nóng)場拼命生產(chǎn)。連杰拉爾德也不得閑，這是多年以來頭一次，因?yàn)樗也坏揭粋�(gè)監(jiān)工來代替喬納斯·威爾克森的工作，每天都得親自騎馬到田里去來回巡視。既然母親忙碌得每天只能道一聲晚安，父親又整天在大田里，思嘉便覺得塔拉這地方已無法待下去。甚至她的兩個(gè)妹妹也各有心事，不得清閑。蘇倫現(xiàn)在同弗蘭克·肯尼迪達(dá)到了某種"默契"，并以一種思嘉覺得幾乎難以忍受的寓意在唱起《到這場殘酷戰(zhàn)爭結(jié)束時(shí)》來了。還有卡琳，她太迷戀布倫特·塔爾頓了，也不能陪伴思嘉或給她帶來什么樂趣。 盡管思嘉每回都是懷著愉快的心情到塔拉老家去的，但她收到皮蒂和媚蘭不可避免地催她回來的信時(shí)，也并不覺得難過。倒是母親在這種時(shí)候，想到她的長女和惟一的外孫即將離開她，總要長吁短嘆，默默地傷心一番。 “但是我不能只顧自己把你留在這里，既然那邊需要你在亞特蘭大參加護(hù)理工作�！蹦赣H說。"只是----只是，親愛的，我總覺得還沒有來得及跟你好好談?wù)�，沒有好好地重新敘一敘母女之情，而你很快就走了�！薄拔矣肋h(yuǎn)是你的小女孩，”思嘉總是這樣說，一面把頭緊靠在母親胸口，內(nèi)心深感歉疚。她沒有告訴母親，她急于回到亞特蘭大去不是要為南部聯(lián)盟服務(wù)，而是因?yàn)樵谀抢锟梢蕴�，還有許多情人。近來她向母親隱瞞了許多事情，其中最重要的是瑞德·巴特勒經(jīng)常到皮蒂帕特姑媽家來這件事。 在義賣會(huì)之后幾個(gè)月里，瑞德每次進(jìn)城都要來拜訪皮蒂帕特姑媽家，然后帶著思嘉一起坐馬車外出，陪她去參加跳舞會(huì)和義賣會(huì)，并在醫(yī)院外面等著把她送回家去。她也不再擔(dān)心他會(huì)泄露她的秘密了，不過在意識(shí)深處仍潛藏著一個(gè)不安的記憶，即他目睹過她那件最丟人的事，知道她和艾希禮之間的真正關(guān)系。正是由于這個(gè)緣故，他每次跟她過不去時(shí)，她都不說什么�？墒撬麉s時(shí)常跟她過不去。 他已經(jīng)三十五六歲了，比她曾經(jīng)有過的任何情人都大，所以她在他跟前簡直是個(gè)毫無辦法的孩子，不能像對待那些年齡與她相近的情人那樣來對待和支配他。他總是顯得若無其事，仿佛世界上沒有什么令人驚奇之處反而十分好玩似的；因此她即使被氣得悶聲不響了，也覺得自己給他帶來了莫大的樂趣。她在他的巧妙引逗下往往會(huì)勃然大怒，因?yàn)樗嬗懈赣H的愛爾蘭人品性和從母親那里繼承來的略帶狡黠的面容。在這以前，她是從來不控制自己的感情的，除非在母親跟前，可如今為了避免他那得意的咧嘴冷笑，使不得不忍痛把已到嘴邊的話也憋了回去。她恨不得他也發(fā)起脾氣來，那時(shí)她就不會(huì)有處于這種不利地位的感覺了。 她幾乎每次跟他斗嘴都沒有占到便宜，事后總是狠狠地說這個(gè)人不行，不是上等人，沒有教養(yǎng)，她再也不同他交往了�？墒腔蜻t或早，他又回到了亞特蘭大，又假裝來拜訪皮蒂姑媽，以過分的殷勤送給思嘉一盒從納索帶來的糖果，或是在社交性的音樂會(huì)上搶先占一個(gè)思嘉身旁的座位，或者在舞會(huì)上緊盯著她，而她對他這種殷勤的厚臉皮態(tài)度照樣感到高興，總是笑呵呵的，寬恕了他過去的冒失，直到下一次再發(fā)生為止。 盡管他的有些品性叫人很惱火，她還是更加盼望他來拜訪了。他身上有一種她無法理解而令人興奮的東西，一種與她所認(rèn)識(shí)的每個(gè)人都不一樣的東西。他那魁偉俊美的身軀不乏驚人之處，因此只要他走進(jìn)屋來就讓你覺得突然受到肉體的沖擊，同時(shí)那雙黑眼睛流露著鹵莽無禮和暗暗嘲笑的神色，這給思嘉以精神上的挑戰(zhàn)，激起她下決心要把他降服。 “這幾乎像是我已經(jīng)愛上他了！"她心中暗想，有點(diǎn)莫名其妙。"不過，只是不明白究竟是怎么回事，我并沒有。"可是那種興奮的感覺依然存在，他每一次來看她們，他那全副的男性剛強(qiáng)之氣總要使得皮蒂姑媽的這個(gè)富有教養(yǎng)的上等人家顯得既狹小又暗淡，而且還有點(diǎn)迂腐味兒。思嘉并不是這個(gè)家庭中對他產(chǎn)生奇異而非情愿反應(yīng)的人，因?yàn)檫B皮蒂姑媽也被他逗得心慌意亂了。 皮蒂明明知道愛倫不會(huì)贊成巴特勒來看她的女兒，也知道查爾斯頓上流社會(huì)對他的排斥是一件不容忽視的事，可是她已抵制不住他那精心設(shè)計(jì)的恭維和殷勤，就像一只蒼蠅經(jīng)不起蜜糖缸的引誘那樣。加之，他往往送給她一兩件從納索帶來的小禮品，口稱這是他冒著生命危險(xiǎn)專門為她跑封鎖線買來的----這些禮物無非是別針、織針、鈕扣、絲線、發(fā)夾之類。不過，這種小小奢侈品現(xiàn)在也是很不容易得到手，以致婦女們只好戴手工做的木制卡，用布包橡子當(dāng)鈕扣，而皮蒂又缺乏道德上的毅力，只好接受巴特勒的饋贈(zèng)了。此外，她還有一種孩子般的嗜好，喜歡新穎的包裝，一看見這些禮品便忍不住要打開來看看，既然打開了又怎好再退還呢？于是，收下禮品之后，她就再也鼓不起勇氣來說什么由于名聲上的關(guān)系，他不適宜常來拜訪這三位沒有男性保護(hù)的單身婦女了。 的確這是不難想見的，只要瑞德·巴特勒在屋子里，皮蒂姑媽便覺得自己需要一位男性保護(hù)人。 “我不明白他究竟是怎么回事，"她時(shí)常無可奈何地嘆息。 “可是----說真的，我覺得他很可能是個(gè)令人感到親切的好人，如果只憑感覺來說的話 ----嗯，他在內(nèi)心深處是尊重婦女的。"媚蘭自從收到那只退回來的結(jié)婚戒指以后，便覺得瑞德·巴特勒是個(gè)難得那么文雅而精細(xì)的上等人，現(xiàn)在聽皮蒂這樣評論，還不免感到震驚呢。他一向?qū)λ苡卸Y貌，可是她在他面前總有點(diǎn)怯生生的，這主要是因?yàn)樗恳粋�(gè)不是從小就認(rèn)識(shí)的男人在一起時(shí)都會(huì)感到羞澀的緣故。她還暗暗地為他非常難過，這一點(diǎn)要是巴特勒知道了定會(huì)高興的。她深信一定有某種羅曼蒂克的傷心事把他的生活給毀了，才使他變得這樣強(qiáng)硬而苛刻，而他目前最需要的是一個(gè)好女人的愛。 她一向生活在深閨之中，從沒見過會(huì)過什么惡人惡事，也很難相信它們是存在的，因此當(dāng)她聽到人們悄悄議論瑞德的那個(gè)女孩子在查爾斯頓發(fā)生的事情時(shí)，便大為震驚和難以相信。 所以，她不僅沒有對他產(chǎn)生惡感，反而更加暗暗地同情他，覺得他蒙受了重大的冤屈，為之憤憤不平。 思嘉默默地同意皮蒂姑媽的看法，她也覺得巴特勒不尊重女人，只有對媚蘭或許是例外。每當(dāng)他的眼光從上到下打量著她的身軀時(shí)，她總覺得自己像沒穿衣服似的，這倒并不是他說了什么。她是可以狠狠地教訓(xùn)他幾句的，如果他說出來�？蓯旱氖撬请p眼睛從一張黝黑的臉上討厭和肆無忌憚地向你瞧著時(shí)那副模樣，仿佛所有的女人都不過是他自己高興時(shí)享用的財(cái)產(chǎn)罷了。這副模樣只有跟媚蘭在一起時(shí)才不會(huì)出現(xiàn)。他望著媚蘭時(shí)臉上從沒有過的那種冷冷的起神態(tài)，眼睛里從沒有嘲諷意味；她對媚蘭說話時(shí)，聲音也顯得特別客氣，尊敬，好像很愿意為她效勞似的。 “我不明白你為什么對媚蘭比對我好得多，"有天下午思嘉不耐煩地對他說，她單獨(dú)跟他在一起，當(dāng)時(shí)媚蘭和皮蒂睡午覺去了。 原來剛才有一個(gè)小時(shí)之久，她一直望著他手里拿著媚蘭正在綰卷準(zhǔn)備編織的那團(tuán)毛線，也一直在注意媚蘭詳細(xì)而自豪地談起艾希禮和他的晉升時(shí)那副又呆板又叫人看不透的表情。思嘉知道瑞德對艾希禮沒有什么太高的評價(jià)，而且毫不關(guān)心他最近當(dāng)上了少校的這件事�？墒撬麉s很有禮貌地在應(yīng)酬媚蘭，并喃喃地說了一些贊許艾希禮英勇的應(yīng)酬話。 思嘉煩惱地想：要是我，只要一提起艾希禮的名字，他就會(huì)豎起眉毛討厭地笑起來了！ “我比她漂亮得多，"她繼續(xù)說道：“就是不理解你為什么偏偏對她更好一些�！薄拔腋艺f你是在妒忌吧？”“啊，別胡猜！”“你又使我失望了，如果說我對威爾克斯太太好一些，那是因?yàn)樗档眠@樣。她是我生氣很少見過的一個(gè)溫厚、親切而不自私的人。不過你或許沒有注意到她的這些品性。而且，盡管她還年輕，她都是我有幸結(jié)識(shí)過的很少幾位偉大女性之一呢�！薄澳敲茨闶钦f你不認(rèn)為我也是一位偉大女性嘍？”“在我們頭一次遇見時(shí)，我想，我們就彼此同意你根本不是個(gè)上等女人了�！薄鞍�，看你再敢那么可恨，那么放肆地提起這件事來！你怎能憑那點(diǎn)小孩子偏偏就說我的壞話呢？而且那是許久以前的事了，如今我已經(jīng)長大，要是你不經(jīng)常提起來說個(gè)不休，我就壓根兒把它忘記了�！薄拔也⒉徽J(rèn)為那是小孩子脾氣，也不相信你已經(jīng)改了。只要你一不如意，即使今天，你還會(huì)像當(dāng)時(shí)那樣摔花瓶的。不過你現(xiàn)在大體上是稱心愜意的，所以用不著摔那些小古董了�！薄鞍�，你這----我真恨不得自己是個(gè)男人！那樣我就要把你叫出去，把你----”“把我宰了，以消你心頭之恨�？墒俏夷茉谖迨斨獯蛑幸粋�(gè)銀幣呢。還是抓住你自己的武器----酒窩呀，花瓶呀，等等，”“你簡直是個(gè)流氓！”“你是想用這種辱罵來激怒我嗎？我只能叫你失望。很遺憾，單憑一些符合實(shí)際的謾罵是不能讓我生氣的。我的確是個(gè)流氓，又怎能不是呢？在這個(gè)自由國家，只要自己高興，人人都可以當(dāng)流氓嘛。像你這樣的人，親愛的女士，明明心地是黑的卻偏要掩蓋它，而且一聽到別人這樣罵，你就大發(fā)雷霆，那才是偽君子呢。"在他冷靜的微笑和慢條斯理的批評面前，她實(shí)在毫無辦法，因?yàn)樗郧皬臎]碰到過這樣難以對付的人，她的武器諸如蔑視、冷漠、謾罵，等等，現(xiàn)在都不好使用了，因?yàn)闊o論她怎么說都不能讓他感到羞恥，根據(jù)她的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，妻子最堅(jiān)決要維護(hù)的是他的誠實(shí)，懦夫最堅(jiān)決要維護(hù)的是他的勇敢，粗人是他的文雅，妻子是他的榮譽(yù)�？蛇@條規(guī)律對于瑞德并不適用。他承認(rèn)你所說的一切，并且笑嘻嘻地鼓勵(lì)你再說下去。 在這幾個(gè)月里，他經(jīng)常來來去去，來時(shí)不預(yù)先通報(bào)，去時(shí)也不說再見。思嘉從來沒發(fā)現(xiàn)他究竟到亞特蘭大來干什么，因?yàn)閯e的跑封鎖線的商人很少從海濱這么遠(yuǎn)跑來的。他們在威爾明頓或查爾斯頓卸了貨物，同一群群從南方各地聚集到這里來購買封鎖商品的商人接頭，她要是想到，他居然這樣不辭辛苦來看她，便應(yīng)當(dāng)覺得高興，不過她即使虛榮得有點(diǎn)反常，也還不怎么相信這一點(diǎn)。如果他曾表示過愛她，妒忌那些成天圍著她轉(zhuǎn)的男人，甚至拉著她的手，向她討一張照片或一條手絹來珍藏在身邊，她就會(huì)得意地認(rèn)為他已經(jīng)被她的魅力迷住了，可是，他卻仍然叫你心煩，不像個(gè)戀愛的樣子，而最糟糕的是他似乎已經(jīng)識(shí)破她引誘他上鉤的手腕了。 每次進(jìn)城來他都會(huì)在女性當(dāng)中引起一陣騷動(dòng)，這不僅僅由于他周圍有股冒險(xiǎn)的跑封鎖線商人的羅曼蒂克平息，還因?yàn)檫@中間夾雜著一種危險(xiǎn)和遭禁的刺激性成分。他的名聲太壞了！因此亞特蘭大的太太們每聚會(huì)閑談一次，他的壞名聲就增長一分，可這只能使他對年輕姑娘們具有更大的魅力。因?yàn)檫@些姑娘都很天真，她們只聽說他"對女人很放蕩"，至于一個(gè)男人究竟是怎么個(gè)"放蕩"法，她們就不清楚了。她們還聽見別人悄悄地說，女孩子跟他接近是危險(xiǎn)的�？墒�，盡管名聲這樣壞，他卻自從第一次在亞特蘭大露面以來，連一個(gè)未婚姑娘的手也沒有吻過，這不很奇怪嗎？當(dāng)然，這一點(diǎn)也只不過使他顯得更神秘和更富于刺激性罷了。 除了軍隊(duì)的英雄，他是在亞特蘭大被談?wù)撟疃嗟娜宋�。人人都清楚，他是由于酗酒�?“跟女人的某種瓜葛"而被西點(diǎn)軍校開除的。那件關(guān)于他連累了一位查爾斯頓姑娘并殺了她兄弟的可怕丑聞，已經(jīng)是家喻戶曉的了。人們還從查爾斯頓朋友的信中進(jìn)一步了解到，他的父親是位意志剛強(qiáng)、性格耿直和令人敬愛的老紳士，他把二十歲的瑞德分文不給地趕出了家門，甚至從家用《圣經(jīng)》中畫掉了他的名字。從那以后，瑞德加入１８４９年采金的人潮到過加利福尼亞，后來到了南美洲和古巴。他在那些地方的經(jīng)歷據(jù)說都不怎么光彩，比如，為女人鬧糾紛啦，決斗啦，給中美洲的革命黨人私運(yùn)軍火啦，等等，像亞特蘭大人所聽說的，其中最壞的是干上了賭博這個(gè)行當(dāng)。 在佐治亞，幾乎每個(gè)家庭都有男性成員或親戚在參加賭博，輸錢、甚至輸?shù)舴孔�、土地和奴隸，使得全家痛苦不堪。 不過，這與瑞德的情況不同，一個(gè)人可以賭得自己破產(chǎn)，但仍不失上等人身份，可是一旦成了職業(yè)賭徒就是被社會(huì)遺棄的了。 假如不是戰(zhàn)爭帶來了*和他本人為南部聯(lián)盟政府做事的緣故，瑞德·巴特勒是決不會(huì)為亞特蘭大所接受的�？墒乾F(xiàn)在，甚至那些最講究體面的太太們也覺得為了愛國心，有必要寬大為懷了。有些更重情感的人則傾向于認(rèn)為巴特勒家這個(gè)不肖之子已經(jīng)在悔改并企圖彌補(bǔ)自己的罪過了。所以太太們感到理該通融一些，特別對這樣勇敢的一位跑封鎖線的商人，現(xiàn)在人人都知道，南部聯(lián)盟的命運(yùn)就像寄托在前線軍人身上那樣，也寄托在那些跑封鎖線商船逃避北方佬艦隊(duì)的技巧上了。 有謠傳說，巴特勒船長是南方最出色的水手之一，又說他行動(dòng)起來是不顧一切和泰然自若的。他生長在查爾斯頓，熟悉海港附近卡羅來納海岸的每一個(gè)小港小灣、沙洲和岸礁，同時(shí)對威爾明頓周圍的水域也了如指掌。他從沒損失過一只小船或被迫拋棄一批貨物。當(dāng)戰(zhàn)爭爆發(fā)時(shí)，他從默默無聞中突然冒了出來，用手頭的錢買了一條小小的快艇，而現(xiàn)在，封鎖線貨物的利潤已增加到二十倍，他也擁有四條船了。他用高薪雇用了很好的駕駛員，他們在黑夜載著棉花偷偷離開查爾斯頓和威爾明頓，向納索、英國和加拿大駛?cè)�。英國的棉紡廠正在那里停工待料，工人在挨餓，所以每個(gè)穿過了北方佬艦隊(duì)的封鎖線商人都可以隨心所欲地要高價(jià)呢。 瑞德的幾條船在為南部聯(lián)盟政府運(yùn)出棉花和運(yùn)進(jìn)南方所迫切需要的戰(zhàn)爭物資兩方面都是特別幸運(yùn)的。因此，那些太太們對于這樣一位勇敢人物便很寬恕，并且把他的許多事情都不放在心上了。 他身材魁偉，在他面前走過的人都不覺回頭看看。他隨意花錢，騎一匹野性的黑公馬，衣著也是很講究入時(shí)的。這最后一點(diǎn)足以引人注目了，因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在軍人的制服已經(jīng)又臟又破。老百姓即使穿上的衣裳也看得出是精心修補(bǔ)過的。思嘉覺得還從沒見過像他身上穿的這么雅致的淡米色方格花呢的褲子呢。至于他的那些背心，則都是十分漂亮的貨色，尤其那件白紋綢上面繡有小小粉紅薔薇花蕾的，更是精美無比，這樣的衣著配上瀟灑的風(fēng)度，倒顯得非常相稱而不徒見華麗只要他著意顯示自己的魅力，那是很少有女人能夠抵擋得住的，結(jié)果連梅里韋瑟太太也不得不為之動(dòng)容，并邀請他星期天到家里來吃午飯了。 梅貝爾·梅里韋瑟準(zhǔn)備在那位小個(gè)兒義勇兵下次休假時(shí)同他結(jié)婚，她一想起這件事就哭鼻子，因?yàn)樗露Q心要穿一件白緞子衣服結(jié)婚，可是在南部聯(lián)盟境內(nèi)找不到白緞子。連借也沒處借，為的是多年以來所有的緞子結(jié)婚禮服都拿去改作軍品了。愛國心很強(qiáng)的梅里韋瑟太太想批評自己的女兒，并想指出對于一位擁護(hù)南部聯(lián)盟的新娘來說，穿家織布的結(jié)婚禮服也很體面嘛，可就是沒有用。梅貝爾非要穿緞子不行。為了主義，她寧愿、甚至自豪地不戴發(fā)夾，沒有糖果和茶，或者沒有鈕扣和好的鞋子，但就是要穿一并緞子的結(jié)婚禮服。 從媚蘭那里聽到了這件事，瑞德便從英國帶回來許多碼閃亮的白緞子和一條精美的網(wǎng)狀面紗，作為結(jié)婚禮品送給她。 他采取的手法很巧妙，以致你很難想象怎樣才能向他提起付錢的事，而且梅貝爾高興得幾乎要吻他了。梅里韋瑟太太知道，送這么昂貴的禮品----而且是一件衣服料子----是極為不正常的，可是當(dāng)瑞德以十分漂亮的措辭說，對于我們一位出色英雄的新娘來說，用無論多么美麗的衣飾來打扮她都不過分，這樣她就無法拒絕了。于是梅里韋瑟太太便邀請他到家里來吃午飯，覺得這個(gè)面子比付錢還他的禮品還要有意思些。 他不僅給梅貝爾送來了緞子，而且能對這件禮服的式樣提出寶貴的建議。在巴黎，這個(gè)季節(jié)的裙圈比較寬大，裙裾卻短一些。它們已不用皺邊，而是做成扇形的花邊折疊在一起，把底下鑲有帶的襯裙露出來。他還說他在街上已看不到穿寬松長褲的人，因此設(shè)想那已經(jīng)" 過時(shí)"了。后來，梅里韋瑟太太告訴埃爾辛太太，要是她稍一放手讓他再說下去，他準(zhǔn)會(huì)把巴黎女人時(shí)下穿的什么樣的內(nèi)褲都如實(shí)地說出來了。 假如他不是那樣很有大丈夫妻慨，他的這種善于描述衣服、帽子和頭飾的本領(lǐng)會(huì)被當(dāng)做最精明的女性特點(diǎn)讓人記住的。太太們每回向他提出關(guān)于流行服裝款式和發(fā)型的問題時(shí)，連她們自己也覺得有點(diǎn)古怪，不過她們?nèi)匀贿@樣做。他們與時(shí)髦世界完全隔絕了，就像那些遇難后流落在荒島上的水手，因?yàn)楹茈y看到通過封鎖線進(jìn)來的時(shí)裝雜志呢。她們不見得知道，法國的太太們可能在剃頭發(fā)和戴浣熊皮帽子了，于是他的關(guān)于那些俗麗衣服的記憶便成了《格迭斯婦女手冊》的代用品。他能留意婦女最敏感的那些細(xì)節(jié)，而且每次出國旅行之后都會(huì)為一群婦女所包圍，告訴她們今年帽子時(shí)興小了，戴得高了，幾乎遮蓋著部分頭頂，不過已不用花朵而用羽毛做裝飾；告訴她們法國皇后晚上已不梳發(fā)髻，而是把頭發(fā)幾乎全堆在頭頂上，將耳朵全露出來，同時(shí)晚禮服的領(lǐng)口又驚人地低下了。 這幾個(gè)月他成了本城最出名和最富浪漫色彩的人物，縱然他的名聲不好，縱然外面謠傳說他不僅跑封鎖線而且做糧食投機(jī)生意。那些不喜歡他的人說，他每到亞特蘭大來跑一趟，食評價(jià)格就要上漲五美元。不過，即使有這種閑言碎語在背后流傳，如果他認(rèn)為值得的話，他還是可以保持自己的聲望的。可是不，在他設(shè)法同那樣沉著的愛國公民相處并贏得他們的尊重和不無怨言的喜愛以后，他身上那種怪癖的東西又發(fā)作起來，使得他拋棄了原來的態(tài)度而公然與他們作對，并讓他們知道他原來只不過戴上了假面具，可現(xiàn)在不高興再戴下去了。 看來他好像對南方特別是南部聯(lián)盟地區(qū)每個(gè)人每件事都懷有一種并非出于個(gè)人好惡的輕蔑，而且并不想隱瞞這一點(diǎn)。 正是他那些對于南部聯(lián)盟的評論，引起了亞特蘭大人先是對他瞠目而視，接著是冷淡，最后就大為光火了。等不到進(jìn)入１８６３年，每當(dāng)他在集會(huì)上出現(xiàn)，男人們便以敬而遠(yuǎn)之的態(tài)度去應(yīng)付他，婦女們則立即把她們的女兒叫到自己身邊來了。 他好像不僅很樂意跟亞特蘭大人的誠懇而熾熱的忠誠作對，而且高興讓自己以盡可能糟糕的形象出現(xiàn)。當(dāng)人們善意地稱贊他闖封鎖線的勇敢行為時(shí)，他卻漠然地回答說他每次遇到危險(xiǎn)都像前線的士兵那樣給嚇壞了。可是人人都知道南部聯(lián)盟軍隊(duì)中是沒有膽小鬼的，因此覺得這種說法尤其可惡。 他經(jīng)常把士兵稱作"我們勇敢的小伙子"或"我們那些穿灰軍服的英雄"，可說話時(shí)用的那種口氣卻流露出的侮辱。 有時(shí)，那些很想跟他調(diào)調(diào)情的年輕姑娘們向他表示感謝，說他是為她們而戰(zhàn)的一位英雄，他便躬身回答說事情并非如此，只要能賺到同樣多的錢他也愿意為北方佬婦女辦事。 自從義賣會(huì)那天晚上思嘉頭一次和他在亞特蘭大相會(huì)之后，他一直是用這種態(tài)度跟她說話的，不過現(xiàn)在他與每個(gè)人交談時(shí)也隱隱約約帶有嘲諷的意味了。凡是人家稱贊他為南部聯(lián)盟效勞時(shí)，他總忘不了回答說跑封鎖線是他的一樁買賣。 他會(huì)用眼睛盯著那些與政府簽有合同的人平靜地說，要是能從政府合同中賺到同樣多的錢，那么他肯定要放棄跑封鎖線的危險(xiǎn)，轉(zhuǎn)而向南部聯(lián)盟出售劣等的再生布、摻沙的白糖、發(fā)霉的面粉和腐爛的皮革了。 他的評論大多是無法爭辯的，這就更叫人惱火了。本來就已經(jīng)傳出了一些關(guān)于政府合同的小小丑聞。來自前方的信件常常抱怨說，鞋穿不到一星期就壞了，彈藥點(diǎn)不起火，韁繩一拉緊就斷，肉是腐臭的，面粉里滿是蟲子，等等。亞特蘭大人開始設(shè)想，那些向政府出售這種物資的人一定是亞拉巴馬或弗吉尼亞或田納西的合同商，而不可能是佐治亞人。因?yàn)樽糁蝸喌暮贤倘酥胁皇前ㄓ凶钌系燃彝サ娜藛�？他們不是首先向醫(yī)院捐獻(xiàn)資金和幫撫陣亡士兵的孤兒了嗎？他們不是最先起來響應(yīng)、至少在口頭上歡呼向北方佬開戰(zhàn)，并且鼓勵(lì)小伙子們?nèi)ク偪竦貜P殺嗎？當(dāng)時(shí)反對憑政府合同牟利的怒潮還沒有興起，所以瑞德的話也僅僅被當(dāng)作他自己缺德的明證罷了。 他與亞特蘭大人作對時(shí)，不僅暗示那些身居高位的人貪污受賄，在前方的人也膽小厭戰(zhàn)，而且幸災(zāi)樂禍地施展手段，叫一般體面的市民也處于十分尷尬的境地。他禁不住要狠狠刺一下周圍那些人的自負(fù)、偽善和神氣十足的愛國心，就像一個(gè)孩子忍不住手癢要刺破一個(gè)氣球似的。他巧妙地叫那些洋洋得意的人泄氣，叫那些愚昧無知和滿懷偏見的人出丑，而采用的手法又十分高明，仿佛十分客氣而有趣的把這些人請了出來，叫他們一時(shí)還莫名其妙，直到給吹得高高而有點(diǎn)可笑的迎風(fēng)出現(xiàn)在大庭廣眾之中，才知道是怎么回事了。 在亞特蘭大城接待瑞德的那幾個(gè)月中，思嘉對他沒有存任何幻想。她知道，他那些假意的殷勤和花言巧語都是嘴皮子上的東西。她知道，他之所以扮演一個(gè)大膽而愛國的闖封鎖線的角色，僅僅因?yàn)樗约河X得有趣而已。有時(shí)她覺得他就像縣里那些跟她一起長大的小伙子那樣，比如，塔爾頓家那對專門想開玩笑的孿生兄弟，方丹家那幾個(gè)喜歡捉弄人的頑皮孩子，以及整晚坐在那里設(shè)計(jì)惡作劇的卡爾弗特兄弟。不過他跟他們有一點(diǎn)不同，那就是在瑞德看似輕松愉快的神態(tài)背后潛藏著某種惡意，它幾乎陰險(xiǎn)到了有點(diǎn)殘忍的地步。 她盡管十分清楚他不是誠心的，但仍然非常喜歡他扮演的那個(gè)浪漫的封鎖線冒險(xiǎn)家。因?yàn)檫@首先使得她在同他交往時(shí)處于比過去更加便當(dāng)?shù)牡匚弧Ｋ�，�?dāng)他一旦取下那個(gè)假面具、公然擺出架勢來跟亞特蘭大人的善意作對時(shí)，她便大為惱火了。她感到惱火，是因?yàn)檫@種做法顯得十分愚蠢，而且有些對他的嚴(yán)厲批評落到了她的身上。 那是在埃爾辛太太為康復(fù)傷兵舉行的一次銀元音樂會(huì)上，瑞德完成了自己與亞特蘭大絕交的過程。那天下午埃爾辛家擠滿了休假的士兵和來自醫(yī)院的人，鄉(xiāng)團(tuán)和民兵隊(duì)的隊(duì)員，以及已婚婦女、寡婦和年輕姑娘。屋子里所有的椅子都坐滿了。連長長的螺旋形樓梯上也站滿了客人。埃爾辛家的膳食總管站在門口端著一只刻花玻璃缸接受客人捐贈(zèng)，他已把里面的銀幣倒出過兩次，這足以說明音樂會(huì)是成功的，因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在每個(gè)銀元值６０元南部聯(lián)盟紙幣呢。 每個(gè)自命有一藝之長的姑娘，都唱的唱了，彈的彈了，特別是扮演活人畫的受到了熱烈的歡迎。思嘉十分滿意，因?yàn)樗粌H跟媚蘭合唱了一曲感人的《花上露濃》，又在要求再唱時(shí)來了個(gè)更加輕快的《女士們啊，請別管斯蒂芬！罰宜約夯貢惶粞〕隼叢謐詈笠懷』釗嘶鋨繆萘*"南部聯(lián)盟的精神"。 她表演得非常動(dòng)人，穿一件縫得很樸素的白色稀松棉布的希臘式長袍，腰上束一條紅藍(lán)兩色的帶子，一只手里擎著星條旗，另一只手拿著查爾斯和他父親用過的那把金柄軍刀授予跪在面前位置的亞拉巴馬人凱里·阿什伯恩隊(duì)長。 演完活人畫以后，她不由得要尋找瑞德的眼睛，看看他是否欣賞她所扮的這幅精美的圖畫。她煩惱地看見他正跟別人辯論，很可能壓根兒沒有注意她。思嘉從他周圍那些人的臉色可以看出，他們被他所說的什么話大大激怒了。 她向他們走去，這時(shí)，像往往發(fā)生的那樣，人群偶爾安靜了一些，她聽見民兵裝束的威利·吉南清楚地說：“先生，那么我想，你的意思是我們的英雄們?yōu)橹疇奚哪莻�(gè)正義并不是神圣的羅？”“假如你給火車軋死了，你的死不見得會(huì)使鐵路公司神圣起來，是嗎？”瑞德這樣反問，那聲音聽起來好像他在虛心討教似的。 “先生，"威利說，聲音有點(diǎn)顫抖，"如果我們此刻不是在這所房子里----”“我真不敢想象那會(huì)發(fā)生什么，"瑞德說。"當(dāng)然嘍，你的勇敢是十分有名的。"威利氣得滿臉通紅，談話到此中止。人人都覺得很尷尬。 威利是健康而強(qiáng)壯的，而且正當(dāng)參軍年齡，可是沒有到前線去。的確，他是他母親的獨(dú)生子，而且畢竟還得有人參加民兵來保衛(wèi)這個(gè)州嘛。不過，當(dāng)瑞德說到勇敢時(shí)，在場那幾位康復(fù)的軍官中便有人在鄙夷地竊笑了。 “唔，他干嗎不閉其他那張嘴呢！”思嘉生氣地想。"他簡直是在糟踏整個(gè)集會(huì)呀！"米德大夫的眉頭皺得要發(fā)火了。 “年輕人，對你來說，世界上沒有什么神圣的，"他以經(jīng)常演講時(shí)用的那種聲調(diào)說。"不過，有許多事物對于南方愛國的先生太太們是神圣的呢。比如，我們的土地不受篡權(quán)者統(tǒng)治的自由，便是一種，還有一種是州權(quán)，以及----"瑞德好像懶得答理似的，聲音中也帶有一點(diǎn)膩味乃至厭煩的感覺。 “一切戰(zhàn)爭都是神圣的，"他說。"對于那些硬要打仗的人來說就是這樣。如果發(fā)動(dòng)戰(zhàn)爭的人不把戰(zhàn)爭奉為神圣，那誰還那么愚蠢要去打仗呢？但是，無論演說家們對那些打仗的白癡喊出什么樣的口號(hào)，無論他們給戰(zhàn)爭訂出什么樣的崇高的目的，戰(zhàn)爭從來就只有一個(gè)原因。那就是錢。一切戰(zhàn)爭實(shí)際上都是關(guān)于錢的爭吵�？墒呛苌儆腥嗣靼走@一點(diǎn)。人們的耳朵被軍號(hào)聲和戰(zhàn)聲以及呆在這的演說家們的漂亮言辭塞得太滿了。有時(shí)喊的口號(hào)是'把基督的墳?zāi)箯漠惤掏绞种袏Z回來！'，有時(shí)是'*教皇制度！'，有的是'棉花，奴隸制和州權(quán)！ '，有時(shí)是'自由'�！薄斑@和教皇制度有什么相干呢？"思嘉心里想。"還有基督的墳?zāi)�，又怎么啦�?可是當(dāng)她急忙向那憤怒的一群走去時(shí)，她看見瑞德正穿過人群得意洋洋地走向門口。她跟在他后面，但埃爾辛太太一把抓住她的裙子，攔阻她。 “讓他走吧，"她用清清楚楚的聲音說，這使得屋子里突然沉默下來的人群都聽見了。" 讓他走。他簡直是個(gè)賣國賊、投機(jī)家！他是我們懷里養(yǎng)育過的一條毒蛇！”瑞德手里拿著帽子，站在門廳里，正如埃爾辛太太所希望的那樣聽見了她的話，然后轉(zhuǎn)過身來，向屋里的人打量了一會(huì)。他銳利地逼視著埃爾辛太太平板的胸脯，突然咧嘴一笑，鞠了個(gè)躬，走出去了。 梅里韋瑟太太搭皮蒂姑媽的馬車回家，四位女士幾乎還沒坐下，她便發(fā)作了。 “皮蒂帕特·漢密爾頓！你瞧，我想你該感到滿意了吧！”“滿意什么？”皮蒂驚恐地喊道。 “對那個(gè)你一直在庇護(hù)的卑鄙男人巴特勒的德行呀！"皮蒂帕特一聽就急了，氣得竟想不起梅里韋瑟太太也招待過巴特勒這回事。倒是思嘉和媚蘭想了起來，可是按照尊敬長輩的規(guī)矩，她們只得忍著不去計(jì)較，都低下頭來瞧著自己的手�！彼恢晃耆枇宋覀兇蠹遥�侮辱了整個(gè)南部聯(lián)盟呢，"梅里韋瑟太太說。她那結(jié)實(shí)的前胸在發(fā)光的鑲邊衣飾下猛烈地起伏著。"說什么我們是在為金錢而戰(zhàn)！說什么我們的領(lǐng)袖們欺騙了我們！是的，應(yīng)該把他關(guān)進(jìn)監(jiān)獄！就是應(yīng)該！我要跟米德大夫談?wù)勥@件事。要是梅里韋瑟先生還活著的話，他準(zhǔn)備去收拾他的！現(xiàn)在，皮蒂·漢密爾頓，你聽我說。你可決不能讓這個(gè)流氓再到你們家來了！” “嗯。"皮蒂?zèng)]奈何地咕囔著，仿佛她覺得無地自容，還不如死了的好。她祈求似的望著那兩位低頭不語的姑娘，然后又滿懷希望地看看彼得大叔那挺直的脊背。她知道他正在仔細(xì)聽著梅里韋瑟太太說的每一句話，巴不得他回過頭來插上幾句，像他經(jīng)常做的那樣。她希望他說：“多麗小姐，您就放過皮蒂小姐算了！"可是彼得一聲不響。他從心底里不喜歡巴特勒，這是可憐的皮蒂也知道的。于是，她嘆了口氣，說：“多麗，好吧，如果你認(rèn)為----” “我就這樣認(rèn)為，"梅里韋瑟太太堅(jiān)決回答說�！笔紫龋也荒芟胂竽阒械氖裁葱熬谷ソ哟渌麃砹�。從今天下午起，城里沒有哪個(gè)體面人家會(huì)歡迎他進(jìn)家門了。你得鼓起勇氣禁止他到你家來。"她向兩位姑娘狠狠地瞪了一眼。"我希望你們倆也留心聽我的話，"她繼續(xù)說。" 因?yàn)槟銈冊谶@個(gè)錯(cuò)誤中也有份兒，竟對他顯得那樣高興！就是要客氣而又毫不含糊地告訴他，他本人和他的那些混帳話在你們家里是絕對不受歡迎的。"像匹烈馬受到一個(gè)陌生而粗笨的騎手?jǐn)[弄似的，這時(shí)思嘉火了，眼看要暴跳起來了�？墒撬桓议_口。她不能冒這個(gè)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)讓梅里韋瑟太太再給母親寫封信去。 “你這頭老水牛！"她想，壓在心頭的怒火把臉憋得通紅。 “要是我能說說我對你和你那套橫行霸道的做法是多么惡心的話，那才是天大的快事呢！”“我沒想到這輩子還能聽到這種公然反叛我們主義的話，"梅里韋瑟太太繼續(xù)說，但這次用的是一種激于義憤的口氣"凡是認(rèn)為我們的主義不公正不神圣的人，都應(yīng)該絞死！ 從今以后，我再不愿聽你們兩個(gè)女孩子跟他說一句話了。----怎么，媚蘭，我的天，你這是怎么了？"媚蘭臉色灰白，兩只眼睛瞪得圓圓的。 “我還要跟他說話，"她低聲說。"我決不對他粗暴無禮。 我決不禁止他到家里來�！� 梅里韋瑟太太平得仿佛給當(dāng)胸刺了一錐子，噗的一聲連肺都炸了。皮蒂姑媽那張肥厚的嘴巴嚇得合不攏來，連彼得大叔都回過頭瞪著眼發(fā)呆了。 “怎的，我為什么就沒勇氣說這話呢？"思嘉心里很不是滋味，又是妒忌又是佩服。"怎么這小兔子居然鼓足勇氣站起來了，跟人家老太太抬杠了？"媚蘭激動(dòng)得兩手發(fā)抖，但她趕緊繼續(xù)說下去，好像生怕稍一遲緩勇氣就會(huì)消失似的。 “我決不因他說了那些話而對他無禮，因?yàn)?---他那么當(dāng)眾嚷嚷，是有點(diǎn)粗魯?shù)?---太欠考慮了----不過那也是----也是艾希禮的想法。我不能把一個(gè)跟艾希禮有同樣看法的人拒之門外，那是不公道的。"梅里韋瑟太太已緩過起來，又要進(jìn)攻了。 “我還從沒聽人說過這樣的彌天大謊呢！媚蘭·漢密爾頓，威爾克斯家可決沒有這樣的膽小鬼----”“我沒說艾希禮是膽小鬼呀！"媚蘭說，她那兩只眼睛在開始閃爍。"我是說他也有巴特勒船長那樣的想法，只是說得不一樣罷了。而且我想，他也不會(huì)跑到一個(gè)音樂會(huì)上去說，不過他在信里是對我說過的。"思嘉聽了覺得有點(diǎn)良心不安。她回想艾希禮在信中究竟寫了些什么使得媚蘭發(fā)表這樣的看法呢？可是她讀過的那些信都隨看隨忘，一點(diǎn)印象也沒有留下。她只認(rèn)定媚蘭這樣做簡直是糊涂極了。 “艾希禮在信中說我們不該跟北方佬打仗。說我們被那些政治家和演說家的煽動(dòng)人心的口號(hào)和平見所蒙騙了，"媚蘭急急地說下去。"他說世界上沒有任何東西值得我們在這場戰(zhàn)爭中付出如此大的代價(jià)。他說這里根本沒有什么光榮可言----有的只是苦難和骯臟而已�！� “�。∈悄欠庑�，"思嘉心想。"他是這樣的意思嗎？”“我不相信這些，"梅里韋瑟太太固執(zhí)地說。"是你誤解了他的意思�！薄拔矣肋h(yuǎn)不會(huì)誤解艾希禮，"媚蘭冷靜地回答，盡管她的嘴唇在顫抖。"我完全了解他。他的意思恰恰就是巴特勒船長說的那個(gè)意思，只不過他沒有說得那樣粗魯罷了�！薄澳銘�(yīng)當(dāng)為自己感到羞恥，居然把一個(gè)像艾希禮這樣高尚的人去跟一個(gè)像巴特勒那樣的流氓相比！我想，你大概也認(rèn)為我們的主義一錢不值吧！”“我----我不明白自己是怎么想的，"媚蘭猶疑不定地說，這時(shí)火氣漸漸消了，而對于自己的直言不諱已開始感到驚慌。 “就像艾希禮那樣，我----愿意為主義而死。不過----我的意思是----我的意思是，要讓男人們?nèi)ハ脒@些事，因?yàn)樗麄儺吘咕鞯枚��！薄拔疫�從沒聽說過這樣的話呢。"梅里韋瑟太太用鼻子哼了一聲，輕蔑地說。"彼得大叔，停車，你都過了我們家門口了。"彼得大叔一直在專心聽著背后的談話，因此忘記在梅里韋瑟家門前停車了。于是只得勒著馬退回來。梅里韋瑟太太下了車，她的帽帶像風(fēng)暴中的船帆飄得高高的。 “你們是要后悔的。"她說。 彼得大叔抽一鞭子，馬又向前跑了。 “讓皮蒂小姐氣成了這樣，你們兩位年輕小姐應(yīng)當(dāng)感到羞恥。"他責(zé)備說。 “我并不覺得難受呀，"皮蒂驚訝地回答，因?yàn)楸冗@更輕的緊張情緒還常常使她發(fā)暈?zāi)亍?媚蘭，親愛的，我知道你這一著及時(shí)幫助了我，因?yàn)檎f真的，我很高興有人來把多麗壓一下，她多么霸道呀！你怎么會(huì)有這股勇氣的？可是你覺得你應(yīng)當(dāng)說關(guān)于艾希禮的那些話嗎？”“可那是真的，"媚蘭回答，同時(shí)開始輕輕地哭泣起來。 “而且我也并不覺得他那樣想有什么可恥。他認(rèn)為戰(zhàn)爭完全錯(cuò)了，可是他仍然愿意去打，去犧牲，這就比你認(rèn)為正當(dāng)而去打時(shí)需要更大的勇氣�！薄拔业奶�，媚蘭小姐，你別在這桃樹街哭了，"彼得大叔咕囔著，一面趕著馬加快速度。"人家會(huì)說閑話的�；氐郊依镌倏薨�。"思嘉一聲不響，這時(shí)媚蘭將一只手塞進(jìn)了她的手里，好像在尋求安慰似的，可是她連捏都沒捏它一下。她偷看艾希禮的信時(shí)只有一個(gè)目的----要讓自己相信他仍然愛她。現(xiàn)在媚蘭對信中的一些段落作了新的解釋，可這是思嘉閱讀時(shí)壓根兒沒有看出來的。這使她大吃一驚地發(fā)現(xiàn)，原來一個(gè)像艾希禮這樣絕對完美的人，也居然會(huì)跟一個(gè)像瑞德·巴特勒那樣的無賴漢抱有共同的看法呢。她想：“他們兩個(gè)都看清了這場戰(zhàn)爭的實(shí)質(zhì)，但艾希禮愿意去為它犧牲，而瑞德不愿意。我覺得這表示瑞德的見識(shí)是高明的。"想到這里她停了一會(huì)，發(fā)覺自己居然對艾希禮有這樣的看法而害怕起來。"他們兩個(gè)看見了同一件不愉快的事實(shí)，但是瑞德·巴特勒喜歡正面逼視它，并且公然談?wù)撍鼇砑づ藗?---而艾希禮呢，卻幾乎不敢正視。"這真是叫人迷惑不解��！
