Into the making of battle flags. Useless for the patriotic Mrs.

Merriwether to upbraid her daughter and point out that homespun

was the proper bridal attire for a Confederate bride. Maybelle

wanted satin. She was willing, even proud to go without hairpins

and buttons and nice shoes and candy and tea for the sake of the

Cause, but she wanted a satin wedding dress.

Rhett, hearing of this from Melanie, brought in from England yards

and yards of gleaming white satin and a lace veil and presented

them to her as a wedding gift. He did it in such a way that it

was unthinkable to even mention paying him for them, and Maybelle

was so delighted she almost kissed him. Mrs. Merriwether knew

that so expensive a gift--and a gift of clothing at that--was

highly improper, but she could think of no way of refusing when

Rhett told her in the most florid language that nothing was too

good to deck the bride of one of our brave heroes. So Mrs.

Merriwether invited him to dinner, feeling that this concession

more than paid for the gift.

He not only brought Maybelle the satin but he was able to give

excellent hints on the making of the wedding dress. Hoops in

Paris were wider this season and skirts were shorter. They were

no longer ruffled but were gathered up in scalloped festoons,

showing braided petticoats beneath. He said, too, that he had

seen no pantalets on the streets, so he imagined they were "out."

Afterwards, Mrs. Merriwether told Mrs. Elsing she feared that if

she had given him any encouragement at all, he would have told her

exactly what kind of drawers were being worn by Parisiennes.

Had he been less obviously masculine, his ability to recall

details of dresses, bonnets and coiffures would have been put down

as the rankest effeminacy. The ladies always felt a little odd

when they besieged him with questions about styles, but they did

It nevertheless. They were as isolated from the world of fashion

as shipwrecked mariners, for few books of fashion came through the

blockade. For all they knew the ladies of France might be shaving

their heads and wearing coonskin caps, so Rhett's memory for

furbelows was an excellent substitute for Godey's Lady's Book. He

could and did notice details so dear to feminine hearts, and after

each trip abroad he could be found in the center of a group of

ladies, telling that bonnets were smaller this year and perched

higher, covering most of the top of the head, that plumes and not

flowers were being used to trim them, that the Empress of France

had abandoned the chignon for evening wear and had her hair piled

almost on the top of her head, showing all of her ears, and that

evening frocks were shockingly low again.

For some months, he was the most popular and romantic figure the

town knew, despite his previous reputation, despite the faint

rumors that he was engaged not only in blockading but in

speculating on foodstuffs, too. People who did not like him said

that after every trip he made to Atlanta, prices jumped five

dollars. But even with this under-cover gossip seeping about, he

could have retained his popularity had he considered it worth

retaining. Instead, it seemed as though, after trying the company

of the staid and patriotic citizens and winning their respect and

grudging liking, something perverse in him made him go out of his

way to affront them and show them that his conduct had been only a

masquerade and one which no longer amused him.