Gone with the Wind / Унесённые ветром. Уровень 3

Elsing refused to leave. They were needed at the hospital, they said proudly, they weren’t afraid of the Yankees. But Mrs. Whiting went and many other ladies of Scarlett’s circle. Aunt Pitty was among the first to pack her trunks. Her nerves, she said, were delicate and she could not endure noises. She will go to Macon and stay with her cousin, old Mrs. Burr, and the girls should come with her.

Scarlett did not want to go to Macon. No, she told Aunt Pitty, I’ll go home to Tara and Melly can go to Macon with you.

At this Melanie began to cry:

«Dear, don’t go to Tara and leave me! I’ll be so lonely without you. Oh, Scarlett, I’ll just die if you aren’t with me! Yes… Yes, I know Aunt Pitty is sweet. But after all, she’s never had a baby, and sometimes she makes me nervous. Don’t desert me, darling. You’ve been just like a sister to me, and besides», she smiled wanly, «you promised Ashley to take care of me. He told me he was going to ask you».

Scarlett looked at her in wonderment.

How could Melly love her so? How could Melly be so stupid as not to guess the secret of her love of Ashley? Yes, she had promised Ashley to take care of Melanie. Oh, Ashley! Ashley! you must be dead, dead these many months!

«Well», she said shortly, «I did promise him that. But I won’t go to Macon and stay with that old cat… I’m going home to Tara and you can come with me».

«Oh, I’d like that! Your mother is so sweet!»

Dr. Meade arrived.

«It’s out of the question for you to go to Macon, Miss Melly.

The trains are crowded. In your condition…»

В«But I want to go to Tara with ScarlettВ».

«No. The train to Tara is the train to Macon and the same conditions prevail. Moreover, no one knows just where the Yankees are now, they are everywhere. It’s no trip for a woman in a delicate condition. Besides, there’s not a doctor in the County since old Dr. Fontaine joined the army».

«But there are midwives…»

В«NoВ», he answered brusquely.

«It is dangerous. You don’t want to have the baby on the train or in a buggy, do you? Stay right here where I can watch you, and you must stay in bed. After all, there’s not so much danger here. Now, Miss Pitty, you go right on to Macon and leave the young ladies here».

В«Alone?В» she cried, aghast.

В«They are matronsВ», said the doctor testily. В«And Mrs. Meade is just two houses away. Good Heavens, Miss Pitty! This is war time.