Chapter 72
It was some months later, when Scarlett was busy juggling between managing the Peach tree house, making monthly trips to Tara and accompany Wade daily to the law school when a strange event happened. There was a small courthouse not very far from the law school. Scarlett didn't notice this place the first few times she accompanied Wade. She waited usually in the coach or sometimes took a walk to the marketplace but always returned to the coach when the sun was too hot. Then she came upon the courthouse. She saw that there was a bench outside the porch and people could sit there and usually there would be a judge sitting inside the courthouse and somebody would walk in with a complaint. Sometimes there would be a jury and sometimes just a constable and some people. Scarlett liked the place especially when she witnessed a few exciting cases. A theft, a tarnishing of property- It was all very thrilling to see. And she could observe very well from the window without seeming too obvious.
Then one day, she saw a young woman arriving with her old mother. The woman looked like a nervous wreck. Scarlett saw the house property document in the mother's trembling hands. In fact, those hands shook so much that the mother preferred to keep them folded tightly on her lap as she sat beside Scarlett on the bench. The woman alone went inside the empty courthouse. The judge hadn't arrived yet. When Scarlett saw the old woman wiping beads of sweat on her forehead, she knew that they had probably come here to solve some entanglements with that property.
"Its a hot day" began Scarlett to the troubled woman. "One a day like this, I'd always wait in the coach-"
"And why are you here, Miss?" asked the old woman.
"My son is studying to be a lawyer and I come with him- just until he gets used to things-" replied Scarlett.
"You sound like you are from Macon County-"
"No.. Clayton County- I was born there on a plantation called Tara-"
"I see- Well, we are from Macon- My daughter got married to a feller and its been a month and he's already asking her to sell the family property- Its in my name and I wont sign it. And he's making trouble for her- She says she wants to divorce him but I can't allow that either-"
"Is that property a plantation?" asked Scarlett, eagerly.
"Yes it is. But not a big one. It used to be. Now its just a small tobacco farm with a farmhouse in it. I..I live there alone now with one servant- We used to have many-"
"We had a huge plantation too and a hundred servants to manage the cotton that grew on it. So, I know how weary this must make you- Maybe you could wait in my own coach-"
"No. That's all right. Thank you, dear. I can manage it. I've seen a war, haven't I? I've lost two sons for the Glorious Cause and I'm not about to faint now- Come what may, the Lord will provide-"
Scarlett nodded but feeling disturbed she walked to the back of the courthouse where two men were whispering together. As she walked by she overheard part of the conversation.
"Are you sure this wife of yours will fold? She looks put together to me-"said one man to the other.
"They always look like that. The ones that jitter the most always look put-together on the outside. I married her, didn't I? I ought to know-"
"How are you going to convince her to get that stubborn mother of hers to hand over that property document? The land's worthless, might as well make a profit-"
"Convince her? All I got to do is say a bunch of tender stuff and kiss her- That's what that woman likes-" laughed the man.
"What? A woman like that- She looks so prim and proper-"
"That's what she talks like too- But I know depravity when I see it. Just one long kiss on those love-starved lips will do the trick-"
"But you're married- hasn't she tasted your lips before? Aren't you thinking too highly of yourself-"
"I've been keeping her on leash like a pet- I know when to kiss her- I'll kiss her whenever I want to- When I want something done! We've been at it only on the dajy of our honeymoon- complete abstinence after that- She's so starved, just an embrace will make her tremble in submission to me-"
"Don't be so cocky- Just get the job done!"
The man nodded and walked quickly to the courthouse.
Scarlett walked back to the bench in a daze. The old woman had moved to the shade of nearby tree. She saw the husband walk inside the room and close the door. She heard the sound of the woman slapping her husband. Then suddenly he swooped her in his arms and kissed her. Scarlett watched in a daze when suddenly in fierce anger she walked to the outside door and shot the blot through the hole. She walked back to her coach as confusion and anger overtook her. Her entire body was trembling in fury but she suddenly looked back and saw how she had so quickly shot that bolt in the hole. Why, she had never been so spontaneous before.
Perhaps she shouldn't have done it.
Had she done something wrong?
The face of her mother appeared before her.
She felt so frightened and ashamed.
"Love-starved- a pet on a leash-"
Sweat poured down her face as she realized she had heard those words before- Why, those were Rhett's words- Could it be possible that he could have been so controlling? Scarlett looked forlorn and afraid-
Suddenly she heard a dreadful banging of the courthouse door. A constable from the outside ran to open the door. The husband strode out and fired at the old woman in angry altercation and the woman fainted from the strain- Scarlett quickly ran outside and joined the small crowd that was gathering between the husband and the mother-in-law. The husband was on his knees now, crying and repentant. The wife was holding her Mother's head up and speaking sharply to the husband. The judge arrived now and looking at the three people, he walked inside.
Scarlett felt so afraid.
"He thought that poor old woman had bolted the door-" said one onlooker to the other. "Look at the nerve of that man- his wife better put him in his place- what are marriages coming to these days- no discipline- no respect for peace and harmony- That woman better wise up to this- the sooner the better-"
When Scarlett overheard this, she started to laugh. Then she felt a headache and walked back to her coach.