| "I mean no disrespect, MrsO'Hara, but you don't know
what you're sayingIt's a full-time occupation
Not only maintaining the stores and supplies, but also listening to
complaints and settling disputes between workers and farmers and the
people of the townWe'll put benches along that hallway for people to sit
on, and I'll see anyone with a problem on the first Sunday of every
month after Mass Scarlett's firm jaw told the housekeeper that there
was no point in arguingFitzpatrick-there will be no
spittoons, is that clear?" MrsFitzpatrick nodded, even though she
had never heard the word beforeIn Ireland, tobacco was smoked in
a
pipe, not chewed
"Good," said Scarlett"Now let's find this kitchen you're so worried
aboutIt must be in the other wing
"Do you feel up to walking all that way?" asked Mrs
"It has to be done," said ScarlettWalking was torture for her feet
and her back, but there was no question about doing itShe was
appalled by the condition of the houseHow would it ever be done rolex vintage women's watch in
six weeks? It has to be, that's allThe baby must be born in the Big
House
"Magnificent," was MrsFitzpatrick's pronouncement about the
kitchen
The room was cavernous and two stories high, with broken skylights in
the roofScarlett was sure she'd never been in a ballroom half as
largeA tremendous stone chimney nearly covered the wall at the far
end of the roomDoors on each side of it led to a stonesinked
scullery on the north side, an empty room on the south"The cook
can
sleep here, that's good and that"-MrsFitzpatrick pointed upward-"is
the most intelligent arrangement I've ever seen A balustraded
gallery ran the length of the kitchen wall at the second- story
level
"The rooms above the cook's and the scullery will be mineThe
kitchen maids and the cook will never know when I might be watching
themThat should keep them alertThe gallery must connect to the
second floor of the house itselfYou can come over, too, to see
what's going on in the kitchen belowThey'll keep working all the
time
"Why pasha cartier couldn't I just go in the kitchen and see?"
"Because they'd stop working to curtsey and wait for orders while the
food scorched
"You keep talking about 'they' and 'maids,' MrsWhat
happened to the cook? I thought we were going to get one womanFitzpatrick's hand gestured to the expanses of floor and wall and
windows"One woman couldn't manage all thisNo competent
woman
would tryI'd like to see the storerooms and laundry, probably in the
basementDo you want to come down?"
"Not really
I'll sit outside, away from the smellIt led out
into an overgrown walled gardenScarlett backed into the kitchenA
second door opened onto the colonnadeShe lowered herself to the
paved floor and leaned against a columnA heavy fatigue pressed on
herShe'd no idea the house would need so much workFrom the
outside it looked as if it was almost intactThe baby kicked and she
absentmindedly pushed the foot or whatever back down"Hey, little
baby," she murmured, "what do you think of this?
They're calling your mother omega de ville watch ladies 'The O'Hara I hope you're impressed Scarlett closed her eyes to take it all in
Fitzpatrick came out, brushing cobwebs from her clothes"It will do,"
she said succinctly"Now what we both need is a good meal
We'll go to Kennedy's bar
"The bar? Ladies don't go unescorted to barsYou can go there whenever you
pleaseYou can go anywhere at all, whenever you like Scarlett turned the thought over in her mindThis wasn't
Charleston or AtlantaWhy shouldn't she go to the bar? Hadn't she
nailed down half the floorboards herself? And didn't everyone say that
MrsKennedy, the barkeeper's wife, made a pastry for her meat pies
that would melt in your mouth? The weather turned rainy, not the
brief
showers or misty days that Scarlett had gotten used to, but real
torrents of rain that lasted sometimes for three to four hoursThe
farmers complained about the soil compacting if they walked on the
newly cleared fields to spread the cartloads of manure Scarlett had
boughtBut Scarlett, forcing herself to walk daily to balenciaga purses check the
progress at the Big House, blessed the mud on the ungravelled drive
because it cushioned her swollen feetShe gave up boots altogether
and kept a bucket of water inside her front door to rinse her feet when
she came inColum laughed when he saw it"The Irish in you is
strengthening every day, Scarlett darlingDid you learn that from
Kathleen?"
"From the cousins when they came in from the fieldsThey always
washed the earth off their feetI figured it was because Kathleen
would be mad if they tracked up her clean floorThey did it because Irishmen-and women too-have
done
it as long as anyone's great-grandfather can rememberDo you shout
'seachain' before you throw the water out?"
"Don't be silly, of course notI don't put a bowl of milk on the
doorstep every night eitherI don't believe I'm likely to drench any
fairies or give them supperThat's all childish superstitionBut one day a pooka's going to get you for your
insolence He looked nervously under her bed and pillowScarlett
had to black gucci bag lau |
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