The doctor needed her, she said.
Moreover, Phil was somewhere in the trenches and she wanted to be near by in case...
But Mrs. Whiting went and many other ladies of Scarlett’s circle.
Aunt Pitty, who had been the first to denounce Old Joe for his policy of retreat, was among the first to pack her trunks.
Her nerves, she said, were delicate and she could not endure noises.
She feared she might faint at an explosion and not be able to reach the cellar.
No, she was not afraid.
Her baby mouth tried to set in martial lines but failed.
She’d 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.
Frightened as she was of the shells, she’d rather stay in Atlanta than go to Macon, for she hated old Mrs. Burr cordially.
Years ago, Mrs. Burr had said she was “fast” after catching her kissing her son Willie at one of the Wilkes’ house parties.
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 in a frightened, heartbroken way.
When Aunt Pitty fled to get Dr. Meade, Melanie caught Scarlett’s hand in hers, pleading:
“Dear, don’t go to Tara and leave me!
I’ll be so lonely without you.
Oh, Scarlett, I’d just die if you weren’t with me when the baby came!
Yes—Yes, I know I’ve got Aunt Pitty and she is sweet.
But after all, she’s never had a baby, and sometimes she makes me so nervous I could scream.
Don’t desert me, darling.
You’ve been just like a sister to me, and besides,” she smiled wanly, “you promised Ashley you’d take care of me.
He told me he was going to ask you.”
Scarlett stared down at her in wonderment.
With her own dislike of this woman so strong she could barely conceal it, how could Melly love her so?
How could Melly be so stupid as not to guess the secret of her love of Ashley?
She had given herself away a hundred times during these months of torment, waiting for news of him.
But Melanie saw nothing, Melanie who could see nothing but good in anyone she loved... Yes, she had promised Ashley she would look out for Melanie.
Oh, Ashley!
Ashley! you must be dead, dead these many months! And now your promise reaches out and clutches me!
“Well,” she said shortly,
“I did promise him that and I don’t go back on my promises.
But I won’t go to Macon and stay with that old Burr cat.
I’d claw her eyes out in five minutes.
I’m going home to Tara and you can come with me.
Mother would love to have you.”
“Oh, I’d like that!
Your mother is so sweet.
But you know Auntie would just die if she wasn’t with me when the baby came, and I know she won’t go to Tara.
It’s too close to the fighting, and Auntie wants to be safe.”
Dr. Meade, who had arrived out of breath, expecting to find Melanie in premature labor at least, judging by Aunt Pitty’s alarmed summoning, was indignant and said as much.
And upon learning the cause of the upset, he settled the matter with words that left no room for argument.
“It’s out of the question for you to go to Macon, Miss Melly.
I won’t answer for you if you move.
The trains are crowded and uncertain and the passengers are liable to be put off in the woods at any time, if the trains are needed for the wounded or troops and supplies.
In your condition—”
“But if I went to Tara with Scarlett—”
“I tell you I won’t have you moved.
The train to Tara is the train to Macon and the same conditions prevail. Moreover, no one knows just where the Yankees are now, but they are all over everywhere.
Your train might even be captured.