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Sunday, October 31st, 2010
| Time |
Event |
| 6:08a |
@@@@@He looked off into the jungle, righteous,
@@@@@He looked off into the jungle, righteous, envious
After a while he calmed, and began to look over his mail againHe had had time the night before to read only the mail he had received from his wifeThey were all old letters; the newest was a month old, and he had kept telling himself with surprise that he was probably a father by nowThe date his wife had mentioned for the birth of his child had elapsed a few days ago but he was unable to believe itHe assumed that what she wrote about had happened on the same day that he read the letter; if she said that she was going to visit one of her girl friends on the next day, he would be thinking on the day after he read the letter that Mary was seeing her friend at this momentHis reason was always correcting him, but still she lived for him only at the exact time when he read her letters
Now he was going through the rest of his mailHe skimmed through a letter from his mother, and read aloud to Wilson some of the funnier passages in a letter he had got from Whitey LydonThen he opened a long thick envelope and extracted a newspaper from itIt was tabloid size and had only eight pages, which were badly printed"I used to work for this," he said to Wilson
"Ah never knew you were a reporter
"Naw, this is politicalThe gang over at the party headquarters puts this out before the primaries He looked at the dateIt was printed in June"This thing's old as hell," he saidHe felt a pang of envy as he looked at the names on the masthead; one of his friends who was not in the Army had been put in charge of the advertising departmentGallagher knew what that meantIn the last primary before he entered the Army he had gone from door to door in his ward, soliciting contributions for the paperThe man who brought in the most contributions was called advertising manager, and he usually received a job on the school board in his wardHe had missed out by only a few hundred dollars, but he had been told he would certainly win the next year
"Just my fuggin luck to get in the Army," he said resentfullyHe started reading the p | | 1:25p |
@@@@@"As I left church this morning," he said
@@@@@"As I left church this morning," he said quietly, "an old
friend, who is also a close cousin, drew me to one side and
volunteered
to serve as my second when I challenge Middleton Courtney to a duel
He never doubted that that must be my intentionRegardless of the
truth of the matter, your good name had to be defendedFor the sake
of the family Scarlett's small white teeth bit into her lower lip
"What did you say to him?"
"Exactly what I am about to say to you'A duel will not be
necessary
My wife is unaccustomed to society and acted in a way subject to
misinterpretation because she didn't know any better
I'll instruct her in what is expected of her" His arm moved as
rapidly as a striking snake, and his hand closed cruelly around her
wrist"Lesson one," he saidHe pulled her to him with a sudden
jerkScarlett was pinned against his chest with her arm twisted and
held high on her backRhett's face was close above her, his eyes
boring into hers"I do not mind if the entire world thinks I'm a
cuckold, my dear, devoted little wife, but I will not be forced to
fight Middleton Courtney Rhett's breath was warm and salty in her
nose and on her lips"Lesson two," he said"If I kill the jackass,
I will have to leave town or be hung by the military, and that would be
inconvenient for meAnd I certainly have no intention of making
myself an easy target for himHe might accidentally shoot straight
and wound me, which would be another kind of inconvenience
Scarlett
struck at him with her free hand, but he trapped it easily in his and
twisted it up next to the otherHis arms were a cage holding her
against himShe could feel the moisture in his shirt seeping through
her nightdress to her skin"Lesson three," said Rhett"It would be
the irony of the age for me-or even an imbecile like Courtney-to risk
death in order to save your dishonest little soul from dishonor |
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