@@@@@ It was very large, bigger than Minnie
@@@@@
It was very large, bigger than Minnie Wentworth's ballroomBut the
floor was covered with an old Persian rug with a background of faded
red, and the draperies at the tall windows were a warm soft rose
color
A bright fire crackled in the wide fireplace; sunlight poured through
the sparkling window panes onto the brightly polished silver tea
service, onto the gold and blue and rose velvet upholstery on broad,
comfortable settees and winged chairsAnd an enormous yellow
tabby
cat was sleeping on the hearthScarlett shook her head slightly in
wonderIt was difficult to believe that this cheerful, welcoming room
had any connection with the stiff-backed woman in the black dress she
had met outside its doorShe sat next to Rosemary on a settee"Tell
me about Miss Ashley," she said, avid with curiosity"Miss Julia's
wonderful"She runs Ashley Barony herseli;
she
says she's never had an overseer that didn't need overseeing
And she has practically as many rice fields as there were before the
WarShe could mine phosphate like Rhett, but she won't have
anything
to do with itPlantations are for planting, she says, not
for"-Rosemary's voice dropped to a shocked, pleased whisper-" 'raping
the land to get what's underneath She keeps it all the way it was
There's sugar cane and a press to make her own molasses, and a
blacksmith to shoe the mules and make wheels for the carts, and a
cooper to make barrels for the rice and molasses, and a carpenter for
fixing things, a tanner to make harnessShe takes her rice into town
for milling and she buys flour and coffee and tea, but everything else
comes from the placeShe's got cows and sheep and fowl and pigs
and a
dairy room and spring house and smoke house and storerooms full of
canned vegetables and shelled corn and preserved fruit from the
summer
cropsShe makes her own wine, tooRhett claims she's even got a
still out in the pine woods she gets her turpentine from
"Does she still have slaves?"
Scarlett's words were sharply sarcasticThe days of the great
plantations were over and there was no bringing them back"Oh,
Scarlett, you sound just like Rhett sometimesI'd like to shake both
of youMiss Julia pays wages just like everybody elseBut she makes
the plantation earn enough to pay th