The answer came to her when she was playing...
The answer came to her
when
she was playing Patience while she waited for dinnertimeShe peeked
ahead into the deck of cards to see if she was going to get the King
she needed for an empty placeNo, there were two Queens before the
next KingThe game was not going to come out rightShe'd be able to wear a wonderful costume with a long train
trimmed with white furAnd all the jewelry she wanted
She spilled the remaining cards on the table and ran upstairs to look
in her jewel caseWhy, oh why had Rhett been so stingy about buying
her jewelry? He bought her anything else she wanted, but the only
jewelry he approved was pearlsShe pulled out rope after rope, piled
them on the bureauThere! Her diamond earbobsShe'd d'5
definitely wear themAnd she could wear pearls in her hair as well as
around her throat and wristsWhat a pity that she couldn't risk
wearing her emerald and shopping online chanel bags diamond engagement ringToo many people
would
recognize it, and if they knew who she was, they might cut herShe
was counting on her costume and mask to protect her from Mrs
Merriwether and India Wilkes and the other womenShe intended to
have
a wonderful time, to dance every dance, to be part of things againBy
January fifth, the day before Carnival, all Atlanta was gala with
preparationThe mayor's office had ordered that all businesses be
closed on the sixth and that all buildings on the parade route be
decorated with red and white, the colors of Rex, the King of
Carnival
Scarlett thought it a terrible waste to close the store on a day when
the city would be jammed with people from the country, in for the
celebrationsBut she hung big rosettes of ribbon in the store window
and on the iron fence in front of her house, and just like everyone
else she goggled at the omega de ville watch ladies transformation of Whitehall and Marietta
streetsBanners and flags bedecked every lamp standard and building
front, making a virtual tunnel of bright, fluttering red and white for
the final leg of Rex's parade to histhroneI should have brought Wade
and Ella in from Tara for the parade, she thoughtBut they're
probably still puny from the chicken pox, her mind quickly addedAnd
I don't have ball tickets for Suellen and WillBesides, I sent great
piles of Christmas presents to themThe incessant rain on the day of
Carnival soothed any vestige of compunction about the children
They couldn't have stood out in the wet and cold to see the parade
anywayShe wrapped herself in a warm shawl and
stood
on the stone bench near the gate under a big umbrella, with a clear
view over the heads and umbrellas of the spectators on the sidewalk
outsideAs promised, the parade was more than a mile longIt rolex cosmograph daytona was a
brave and sorry spectacleThe rain had all but destroyed the
medieval-court-type costumesRed dye had run, ostrich plumes
dropped,
once-dashing velvet hats sagged over faces like dead lettuceThe
marching heralds and pages looked cold and wet, but determined; the
mounted knights struggled grim-faced with their bespattered horses to
keep moving through the sucking, slick mudScarlett joined in the
crowd's applause for the Earl Marshal
It was Uncle Henry Hamilton, who seemed to be the only one having a
good timeHe squelched along in bare feet, carrying his shoes in one
hand and his bedraggled hat in the other, waving first one hand then
the
other at the crowd and grinning from ear to earShe grinned herself
when the Ladies of the Court rolled slowly past in open carriagesThe
leaders of Atlanta society wore masks, but stoic misery showed clearly
on their cheap prada facesMaybelle Merriwether's Pocahontas was sporting
dejected feathers in her hair that dribbled water down her cheeks and
neckWhiting were easily recognized as sodden,
shivering Betsy Ross and Florence NightingaleMeade was a
sneezing representation of The Good Old Days in a billow of
hoop-skirted wet taffetaMerriwether was unaffected by the
rainQueen Victoria held a wide black umbrella over her dry regal
headHer velvet cape was unspottedWhen the ladies were past,
there
was a long hiatus, and the spectators began to leaveBut then there
was the distant sound of "Dixie Within a minute the crowd was
cheering itself hoarse, and it kept cheering until the band came before
them, when silence fellIt was a small band, only two drummers and
two men playing pennywhistles and one man playing a sweet, highpitched
cornetBut they were dressed in gray, with gold sashes and bright
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