@@@@@She had felt it when she lived in Daniel's
@@@@@She had felt it when she lived in
Daniel's cottage and she felt it now for the farmers at BallyharaFor
herself as well, because she was, in her own way, one of themShe
hadn't the strength to drive the plow, but she could provide itAnd
the horses to pull itAnd the seed to plant in the furrows it made
The Estate Office was her home even more than her rooms in the Big
HouseThere was another cradle for Cat by her desk, identical to the
one in her bedroom, and she could rock it with her foot while she
worked on her record books and her accountsThe disputes that Mrs
Fitzpatrick had been so gloomy about turned out to be simple matters
to
settleEspecially if you were The O 'Hara, and your word was law
Scarlett had always had to bully people into doing what she wanted;
now
she had only to speak quietly, and there was no argumentShe
enjoyed
the first Sunday of the month very muchShe even began to realize
that other people occasionally had an opinion worth listening toThe
farmers really did know more about farming than she did, and she
could
learn from themThree hundred acres of Ballyhara
land
were set aside as her own farmThe farmers worked it and paid only
half the usual rent for the land they leased from her
Scarlett understood sharecropping; it was the way things were done in
the SouthBeing an estate landlord was still new to herShe was
determined to be the best landlord in all Ireland"The farmers learn
from me, too," she told Cat"They'd never even heard of fertilizing
with phosphates until I handed out those sacks of it
Might as well let Rhett get a few pennies of his money back if it'll
mean a better wheat crop for us She never used the word "father" in
Cat's hearingWho could tell how much a tiny baby took in and
remembered? Especially a baby who was so clearly superior in every
way
to every other baby in the worldAs the days lengthened, breezes and
rain became softer and warme