| "You do not subscribe to that papist idiocy like your
aunts, I hope
"I'm a good Catholic, if that's what you mean
And I'm going to Mass with my cousins, the O'HarasWho-by the
way-have invited me to come stay with them any time I want, for as
long
as I like Scarlett stood and marched in triumph from the roomShe
was halfway up the stairs before she remembered that she shouldn't
have
eaten anything before MassShe didn't have to take
Communion if she didn't want toAnd she'd certainly showed
GrandfatherWhen she reached her room, she did a few steps of the
reel that she'd learned the night beforeShe didn't for a minute
believe that the old man would call her bluff about staying with her
cousinsMuch as she loved going to the O'Haras' for music and
dancing, there were far too many children there to make a visit
possibleBesides, they didn't have any servantsShe couldn't get
dressed without Pansy to lace her stays and fix her hairI wonder
what he's really up to, she thought againShe'd
probably find out soon enoughIt wasn't really importantBefore he
came out with it, Rhett would probably have come for her anyhow
hour and four minutes after Scarlett went up to her room, Pierre
Auguste Robillard, soldier of Napoleon, left his beautiful shrine of a
house to go to churchHe wore a heavy overcoat and a wool scarf,
and
his thin white cartier picasso tank watches hair was covered with a tall hat made of sable that had
once belonged to a Russian officer who died at BorodinoDespite the
bright sun and the promise of spring in the air, the old man's thin
body was coldStill, he walked stiffly erect, seldom using the
malacca cane he carriedHe nodded in a correct abbreviated bow to
the
people who greeted him on the streetHe was very well known in
SavannahAt the Independent Presbyterian Church on Chippewa
Square he
took his place in the fifth pew from the front, the place that had been
his ever since the gala dedication of the church nearly sixty years
earlierJames Monroe, then president of the United States, had been
at the dedication and had asked to be introduced to the man who had
been with Napoleon from Austerlitz to WaterlooPierre Robillard had
been gracious to the older man, even though a President was nothing
impressive to a man who had fought alongside an EmperorWhen the
service ended, he had a few words with several men who responded to
his
gesture and hurried to join him on the steps of the churchHe asked a
few questions, listened to a great many answersThen he went home,
his stern face almost smiling, to nap until dinner was served to him on
a trayThe weekly outing to church grew more tiring all the timeHe
slept lightly, as the very old do, and woke before Jerome wholesale tiffany brought
histrayWhile he waited for it, he thought about ScarlettHe had no
curiosity about her life or her nature
He hadn't given her a thought for many years, and when she appeared
in
his room with his daughters he was neither pleased nor displeased to
see
herShe caught his attention only when Jerome complained to him
about
herShe was causing disruption in the kitchen with her demands,
Jerome saidAnd she would cause Monsieur Robillard's death if she
continued to insist on adding butter and gravy and sweets to
his bills
She was the answer to the old man's prayerHe had nothing to look
forward to in his life except more months or years of the unchanging
routine of sleep and meals and the weekly excursion to churchIt did
not disturb him that his life was so featureless; he had his beloved
wife's likeness before his eyes and the certainty that, in due time, he
would be reunited with her after deathHe spent the days and nights
dreaming of her when he slept and turning memories of her in his
mind
when he was awakeIt was enough for himHe did miss
having
good food to eat, and in recent years it had been tasteless, cold when
it wasn't burnt, and of a deadly monotonyHe wanted Scarlett to
change thatHer suspicions of the old man's motives were unfounded
Pierre Robillard had recognized the bully in her at onceHe wanted it
to function in his pasha cartier watches blue face behalf now that he no longer had the strength to get
what he wanted for himselfThe servants knew that he was too old
and
tired to dominate themBut Scarlett was young and strongHe didn't
seek her companionship or her love
He wanted her to run his house the way he had once run it himselfwhich
meant in accordance with his standards and subject to his dominance
He
needed to find a way to accomplish that, and so he thought about her
"Tell my granddaughter to come here," he said when Jerome came In
"She ain't home yet," said the old butler with a smileHe anticipated
the old man's anger with delightJerome hated ScarlettScarlett was
at the big City Market with the O'HarasAfter the confrontation with
her grandfather she had dressed, dismissed Pansy, and escaped
through
the garden to hurry, unaccompanied, the two short blocks to Jamie's
house"I've come to have company going to Mass," she told Maureen,
but her real reason was to be someplace where people were nice to
one
anotherAfter Mass the men went in one direction, the women and
children in another"They'll have a haircut and a gossip in the
barber shop at the Pulaski House Hotel," Maureen told Scarlett"And
most likely a pint or two in the saloonIt's better than a newspaper
for hearing what's going onWe'll get our own news at the Market
while I buy some oysters for a nice pie chanel replica Savannah's City Market had
the same purpose and the same excitement as the Market in
Charleston
Until she was back in the familiar hubbub of bargaining and buying and
friends greeting friends, Scarlett hadn't realized how much she'd
missed it when the Season took precedence for women's time
She wished now that she'd taken Pansy with her after all; she could
have filled a basket with the exotic fruits that came in through
Savannah's busy seaport if only she'd had her maid to carry it
Mary Kate and Helen were doing that chore for the O 'Hara women
Scarlett let them carry some oranges for herAnd she insisted on
paying for the coffee and caramel rolls they all had at one of the
standsStill, she refused when Maureen invited her to come home for
dinner with themShe hadn't told her grandfather's cook that she
wouldn't be at the houseAnd she wanted to catch up on the sleep
she'd missedIt wouldn't do to look like death warmed over if Rhett
came in on the afternoon trainShe kissed Maureen goodbye at the
Robillard doorstep, called goodbye to the othersThey were almost a
block behind, slowed down by the unsteady steps of the little children
and Patricia's burdened by pregnancy paceHelen ran up with a
bulging
paper sack"Don't forget your oranges, Cousin Scarlett
"I'll take that, Miss ScarlettYou shouldn't be so quiet, Jerome, you gave me
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