I'm going to have her humiliated like Wade for things that aren't

her fault but yours and mine?"

"Oh, children's parties!"

"Out of children's parties grow young girls' debut parties. Do you

think I'm going to let my daughter grow up outside of everything

decent in Atlanta? I'm not going to send her North to school and

to visit because she won't be accepted here or in Charleston or

Savannah or New Orleans. And I'm not going to see her forced to

marry a Yankee or a foreigner because no decent Southern family

will have her--because her mother was a fool and her father a

blackguard."

Wade, who had come back to the door, was an interested but puzzled

listener.

"Bonnie can marry Beau, Uncle Rhett."

The anger went from Rhett's face as he turned to the little boy,

and he considered his words with apparent seriousness as he always

did when dealing with the children.

"That's true, Wade. Bonnie can marry Beau Wilkes, but who will you

marry?"

"Oh, I shan't marry anyone," said Wade confidently, luxuriating in

a man-to-man talk with the one person, except Aunt Melly, who never

reproved and always encouraged him. "I'm going to go to Harvard

and be a lawyer, like my father, and then I'm going to be a brave

soldier just like him."

"I wish Melly would keep her mouth shut," cried Scarlett. "Wade,

you are not going to Harvard. It's a Yankee school and I won't

have you going to a Yankee school. You are going to the University

of Georgia and after you graduate you are going to manage the store

for me. And as for your father being a brave soldier--"

"Hush," said Rhett curtly, not missing the shining light in Wade's

eyes when he spoke of the father he had never known. "You grow up

and be a brave man like your father, Wade. Try to be just like

him, for he was a hero and don't let anyone tell you differently.

He married your mother, didn't he? Well, that's proof enough of

heroism. And I'll see that you go to Harvard and become a lawyer.

Now, run along and tell Pork to take you to town."

"I'll thank you to let me manage my children," cried Scarlett as

Wade obediently trotted from the room.

"You're a damned poor manager. You've wrecked whatever chances

Ella and Wade had, but I won't permit you to do Bonnie that way.

Bonnie's going to be a little princess and everyone in the world is

going to want her. There's not going to be any place she can't go.

Good God, do you think I'm going to let her grow up and associate

with the riffraff that fills this house?"

"They are good enough for you--"

"And a damned sight too good for you, my pet. But not for Bonnie.

Do you think I'd let her marry any of this runagate gang you spend

your time with? Irishmen on the make, Yankees, white trash,

Carpetbag parvenus-- My Bonnie with her Butler blood and her

Robillard strain--"

"The O'Haras--"

"The O'Haras might have been kings of Ireland once but your father

was nothing but a smart Mick on the make. And you are no better--

But then, I'm at fault too. I've gone through life like a bat out

of hell, never caring what I did, because nothing ever mattered to

me. But Bonnie matters. God, what a fool I've been! Bonnie

wouldn't be received in Charleston, no matter what my mother or

your Aunt Eulalie or Aunt Pauline did--and it's obvious that she

won't be received here unless we do something quickly--"

"Oh, Rhett, you take it so seriously you're funny. With our money--"

"Damn our money! All our money can't buy what I want for her. I'd

rather Bonnie was invited to eat dry bread in the Picards'

miserable house or Mrs. Elsing's rickety barn than to be the belle

of a Republican inaugural ball. Scarlett, you've been a fool. You

should have insured a place for your children in the social scheme

years ago--but you didn't. You didn't even bother to keep what

position you had. And it's too much to hope that you'll mend your

ways at this late date. You're too anxious to make money and too

fond of bullying people."

"I consider this whole affair a tempest in a teapot," said Scarlett

coldly, rattling her papers to indicate that as far as she was

concerned the discussion was finished.

"We have only Mrs. Wilkes to help us and you do your best to

alienate and insult her. Oh, spare me your remarks about her

poverty and her tacky clothes. She's the soul and the center of

everything in Atlanta that's sterling. Thank God for her. She'll

help me do something about it."

"And what are you going to do?"

"Do? I'm going to cultivate every female dragon of the Old Guard