“darling, i don’t want any explanation from you and i won’t listen to one,” said melaniefirmly as she gently laid a small hand across scarlett’s tortured lips and stilled her words. “youinsult yourself and ashley and me by even thinking there could be need of explanations betweenus. why, we three have been—have been like soldiers fighting the world together for so manyyears that i’m ashamed of you for thinking idle gossip could come between us. do you think i’dbelieve that you and my ashley— why, the idea! don’t you realize i know you better than anyonein the world knows you? do you think i’ve forgotten all the wonderful, unselfish things you’vedone for ashley and beau and me—everything from saving my life to keeping us from starving!
do you think i could remember you walking in a furrow behind that yankee’s horse almostbarefooted and with your hands blistered—just so the baby and i could have something to eat—and then believe such dreadful things about you? i don’t want to hear a word out of you, scarletto’hara. not a word.”
“but—” scarlett fumbled and stopped.
rhett had left town the hour before with bonnie and prissy, and desolation was added toscarlett’s shame and anger. the additional burden of her guilt with ashley and melanie’s defensewas more than she could bear. had melanie believed india and archie, cut her at the reception oreven greeted her frigidly, then she could have held her head high and fought back with everyweapon in her armory. but now, with the memory of melanie standing between her and social ruin,standing like a thin, shining blade, with trust and a fighting light in her eyes, there seemed nothinghonest to do but confess. yes, blurt out everything from that far-off beginning on the sunny porchat tara.
she was driven by a conscience which, though long suppressed, could still rise up, an activecatholic conscience. “confess your sins and do penance for them in sorrow and contrition,” ellenhad told her a hundred times and, in this crisis, ellen’s religious training came back and grippedher. she would confess—yes, everything, every look and word, those few caresses—and then godwould ease her pain and give her peace. and, for her penance, there would be the dreadful sight ofmelanie’s face changing from fond love and trust to incredulous horror and repulsion. oh, that wastoo hard a penance, she thought in anguish, to have to live out her life remembering melanie’sface, knowing that melanie knew all the pettiness, the meanness, the two-faced disloyalty and thehypocrisy that were in her.
once, the thought of flinging the truth tauntingly in melanie’s face and seeing the collapse ofher fool’s paradise had been an intoxicating one, a gesture worth everything she might lose thereby. but now, all that had changed overnight and there was nothing she desired less. why thisshould be she did not know. there was too great a tumult of conflicting ideas in her mind for her tosort them out. she only knew that as she had once desired to keep her mother thinking her modest,kind, pure of heart, so she now passionately desired to keep melanie’s high opinion. she onlyknew that she did not care what the world thought of her or what ashley or rhett thought of her,but melanie must not think her other than she had always thought her.
she dreaded to tell melanie the truth but one of her rare honest instincts arose, an instinct thatwould not let her masquerade in false colors before the woman who had fought her battles for her.
so she had hurried to melanie that morning, as soon as rhett and bonnie had left the house.
but at her first tumbled-out words: “melly, i must explain about the other day—” melanie hadimperiously stopped her. scarlett looking shamefaced into the dark eyes that were flashing withlove and anger, knew with a sinking heart that the peace and calm following confession couldnever be hers. melanie had forever cut off that line of action by her first words. with one of thefew adult emotions scarlett had ever had, she realized that to unburden her own tortured heartwould be the purest selfishness. she would be ridding herself of her burden and laying it on theheart of an innocent and trusting person. she owed melanie a debt for her championship and thatdebt could only be paid with silence. what cruel payment it would be to wreck melanie’s life withthe unwelcome knowledge that her husband was unfaithful to her, and her beloved friend a party toit!
“i can’t tell her,” she thought miserably. “never, not even if my conscience kills me.” sheremembered irrelevantly rhett’s drunken remark: “she can’t conceive of dishonor in anyone sheloves ... let that be your cross.”
yes, it would be her cross, until she died, to keep this torment silent within her, to wear the hairshirt of shame, to feel it chafing her at every tender look and gesture melanie would makethroughout the years, to subdue forever the impulse to cry: “don’t be so kind! don’t fight for me!
i’m not worth it!”
“if you only weren’t such a fool, such a sweet, trusting, simple-minded fool, it wouldn’t be sohard,” she thought desperately. “i’ve toted lots of weary loads but this is going to be the heaviestand most galling load i’ve ever toted.”
melanie sat facing her, in a low chair, her feet firmly planted on an ottoman so high that herknees stuck up like a child’s, a posture she would never now assumed had not rage possessed herto the point of forgetting proprieties. she held a line of tatting in her hands and she was driving theshining needle back and forth as furiously as though handling a rapier in a duel.
had scarlett been possessed of such an anger, she would have been stamping both feet androaring like gerald in his finest days, calling on god to witness the accursed duplicity andknavishness of mankind and uttering blood-curdling threats of retaliation. but only by the flashingneedle and the delicate brows drawn down toward her nose did melanie indicate that she wasinwardly seething. her voice was cool and her words were more close clipped than usual. but theforceful words she uttered were foreign to melanie who seldom voiced an opinion at all and neveran unkind word. scarlett realized suddenly that the wilkeses and the hamiltons were capable offuries equal to and surpassing those of the o’haras.
“i’ve gotten mighty tired of hearing people criticize you, darling,” melanie said, “and this is thelast straw and i’m going to do something about it. all this has happened because people are jealousof you, because you are so smart and successful. you’ve succeeded where lots of men, even, havefailed. now, don’t be vexed with me, dear, for saying that. i don’t mean you’ve ever beenunwomanly or un-sexed yourself, as lots of folks have said. because you haven’t. people just don’tunderstand you and people can’t bear for women to be smart. but your smartness and your successdon’t give people the right to say that you and ashley— stars above!”
the soft vehemence of this last ejaculation would have been, upon a man’s lips, profanity of nouncertain meaning. scarlett stared at her, alarmed by so unprecedented an outburst.
“and for them to come to me with the filthy lies they’d concocted—archie, india, mrs. elsing!
how did they dare? of course, mrs. elsing didn’t come here. no, indeed, she didn’t have thecourage. but she’s always hated you, darling, because you were more popular than fanny. and shewas so incensed at your demoting hugh from the management of the mill. but you were quite rightin demoting him. he’s just a piddling, do-less, good-for-nothing!” swiftly melanie dismissed theplaymate of her childhood and the beau of her teen years. “i blame myself about archie. ishouldn’t have given the old scoundrel shelter. everyone told me so but i wouldn’t listen. hedidn’t like you, dear, because of the convicts, but who is he to criticize you? a murderer, and themurderer of a woman, too! and after all i’ve done for him, he comes to me and tells me— ishouldn’t have been a bit sorry if ashley had shot him. well, i packed him off with a large flea inhis ear, i can tell you! and he’s left town.
“and as for india, the vile thing! darling, i couldn’t help noticing from the first time i saw youtwo together that she was jealous of you and hated you, because you were so much prettier and hadso many beaux. and she hated you especially about stuart tarleton. and she’s brooded aboutstuart so much that—well, i hate to say it about ashley’s sister but i think her mind has brokenwith thinking so much! there’s no other explanation for her action. ... i told her never to put foot inthis house again and that if i heard her breathe so vile an insinuation i would—i would call her aliar in public!”
melanie stopped speaking and abruptly the anger left her face and sorrow swamped it. melaniehad all that passionate clan loyalty peculiar to georgians and the thought of a family quarrel toreher heart. she faltered for a moment. but scarlett was dearest, scarlett came first in her heart, andshe went on loyally:
“she’s always been jealous because i loved you best, dear. she’ll never come in this house againand i’ll never put foot under any roof that receives her. ashley agrees with me, but it’s just aboutbroken his heart that his own sister should tell such a—”
at the mention of ashley’s name, scarlett’s overwrought nerves gave way and she burst intotears. would she never stop stabbing him to the heart? her only thought had been to make himhappy and safe but at every turn she seemed to hurt him. she had wrecked his life, broken his prideand self-respect, shattered that inner peace, that calm based on integrity. and now she hadalienated him from the sister he loved so dearly. to save her own reputation and his wife’shappiness, india had to be sacrificed, forced into the light of a lying, half-crazed, jealous old maid—india who was absolutely justified in every suspicion she had ever harbored and every accusing word she had uttered. whenever ashley looked into india’s eyes, he would see the truth shiningthere, truth and reproach and the cold contempt of which the wilkeses were masters.
knowing how ashley valued honor above his life, scarlett knew he must be writhing. he, likescarlett, was forced to shelter behind melanie’s skirts. while scarlett realized the necessity for thisand knew that the blame for his false position lay mostly at her own door, still—still— womanlikeshe would have respected ashley more, had he shot archie and admitted everything to melanieand the world. she knew she was being unfair but she was too miserable to care for such finepoints. some of rhett’s taunting words of contempt came back to her and she wondered if indeedashley had played the manly part in this mess. and, for the first time, some of the bright glowwhich had enveloped him since the first day she fell in love with him began to fade imperceptibly.
the tarnish of shame and guilt that enveloped her spread to him as well. resolutely she tried tofight off this thought but it only made her cry harder.
“don’t! don’t!” cried melanie, dropping her tatting and flinging herself onto the sofa anddrawing scarlett’s head down onto her shoulder. “i shouldn’t have talked about it all and distressedyou so. i know how dreadfully you must feel and we’ll never mention it again. no, not to eachother or to anybody. it’ll be as though it never happened. but,” she added with quiet venom, “i’mgoing to show india and mrs. elsing what’s what. they needn’t think they can spread lies aboutmy husband and my sister-in-law. i’m going to fix it so neither of them can hold up their heads inatlanta. and anybody who believes them or receives them is my enemy.”
scarlett, looking sorrowfully down the long vista of years to come, knew that she was the causeof a feud that would split the town and the family for generations.
melanie was as good as her word. she never again mentioned the subject to scarlett or toashley. nor, for that matter, would she discuss it with anyone. she maintained an air of coolindifference that could speedily change to icy formality if anyone even dared hint about the matter.
during the weeks that followed her surprise party, while rhett was mysteriously absent and thetown in a frenzied state of gossip, excitement and partisanship, she gave no quarter to scarlett’sdetractors, whether they were her old friends or her blood kin. she did not speak, she acted.
she stuck by scarlett’s side like a cocklebur. she made scarlett go to the store and the lumberyard, as usual, every morning and she went with her. she insisted that scarlett go driving in theafternoons, little though scarlett wished to expose herself to the eager carious gaze of her fellowtownspeople. and melanie sat in the carriage beside her. melanie took her calling with her onformal afternoons, gently forcing her into parlors in which scarlett had not sat for more than twoyears. and melanie, with a fierce “love-me-love-my-dog” look on her face, made converse withastounded hostesses.
she made scarlett arrive early on these afternoons and remain until the last callers had gone,thereby depriving the ladies of the opportunity for enjoyable group discussion and speculation, amatter which caused some mild indignation. these calls were an especial torment to scarlett butshe dared not refuse to go with melanie. she hated to sit amid crowds of women who were secretlywondering if she had been actually taken in adultery. she hated the knowledge that these womenwould not have spoken to her, had it not been that they loved melanie and did not want to lose her friendship. but scarlett knew that, having once received her, they could not cut her thereafter.
it was characteristic of the regard in which scarlett was held that few people based their defenseor their criticism of her on her personal integrity. “i wouldn’t put much beyond her,” was theuniversal attitude. scarlett had made too many enemies to have many champions now. her wordsand her actions rankled in too many hearts for many people to care whether this scandal hurt her ornot. but everyone cared violently about hurting melanie or india and the storm revolved aroundthem, rather than scarlett, centering upon the one question—“did india lie?”
those who espoused melanie’s side pointed triumphantly to the fact that melanie was constantlywith scarlett these days. would a woman of melanie’s high principles champion the cause of aguilty woman, especially a woman guilty with her own husband? no, indeed! india was just acracked old maid who hated scarlett and lied about her and induced archie and mrs. elsing to believeher lies.
but, questioned india’s adherents, if scarlett isn’t guilty, where is captain butler? why isn’t hehere at his wife’s side, lending her the strength of his countenance? that was an unanswerablequestion and, as the weeks went by and the rumor spread that scarlett was pregnant, the pro-indiagroup nodded with satisfaction. it couldn’t be captain butler’s baby, they said. for too long thefact of their estrangement had been public property. for too long the town had been scandalized bythe separate bedrooms.
so the gossip ran, tearing the town apart, tearing apart, too, the close-knit clan of hamiltons,wilkeses, burrs, whitemans and winfields. everyone in the family connection was forced to takesides. there was no neutral ground. melanie with cool dignity and india with acid bitterness saw tothat. but no matter which side the relatives took, they all were resentful that scarlett should havebeen the cause of the family breach. none of them thought her worth it. and no matter which sidethey took, the relatives heartily deplored the fact that india had taken it upon herself to wash thefamily dirty linen so publicly and involve ashley in so degrading a scandal. but now that she hadspoken, many rushed to her defense and took her side against scarlett, even as others, loving melanie,stood by her and scarlett.
half of atlanta was kin to or claimed kin with melanie and india. the ramifications of cousins,double cousins, cousins-in-law and kissing cousins were so intricate and involved that no one but aborn georgian could ever unravel them. they had always been a clannish tribe, presenting anunbroken phalanx of overlapping shields to the world in time of stress, no matter what their privateopinions of the conduct of individual kinsmen might be. with the exception of the guerrillawarfare carried on by aunt pitty against uncle henry, which had been a matter for hilariouslaughter within the family for years, there had never been an open breach in the pleasant relations.
they were gentle, quiet spoken, reserved people and not given to even the amiable bickering thatcharacterized most atlanta families.
but now they were split in twain and the town was privileged to witness cousins of the fifth andsixth degree taking sides in the most shattering scandal atlanta had ever seen. this worked greathardship and strained the tact and forbearance of the unrelated half of the town, for the india-melanie feud made a rupture in practically every social organization. the thalians, the sewingcircle for the widows and orphans of the confederacy, the association for the beautification of the graves of our glorious dead, the saturday night musical circle, the ladies evening cotillionsociety, the young men’s library were all involved. so were four churches with their ladies’ aidand missionary societies. great care had to be taken to avoid putting members of warring factionson the same committees.
on their regular afternoons at home, atlanta matrons were in anguish from four to six o’clockfor fear melanie and scarlett would call at the same time india and her loyal kin were in theirparlors.
of all the family, poor aunt pitty suffered the most. pitty, who desired nothing except to livecomfortably amid the love of her relatives, would have been very pleased, in this matter, to runwith the hares and hunt with the hounds. but neither the hares nor the hounds would permit this.
india lived with aunt pitty and, if pitty sided with melanie, as she wished to do, india wouldleave. and if india left her, what would poor pitty do then? she could not live alone. she wouldhave to get a stranger to live with her or she would have to close up her house and go and live withscarlett aunt pitty felt vaguely that captain butler would not care for this. or she would have togo and live with melanie and sleep in the little cubbyhole that was beau’s nursery.
pitty was not overly fond of india, for india intimidated her with her dry, stiff-necked ways andher passionate convictions. but she made it possible for pitty to keep her own comfortableestablishment and pitty was always swayed more by considerations of personal comfort than bymoral issues. and so india remained.
but her presence in the house made aunt pitty a storm center, for both scarlett and melanie tookthat to mean that she sided with india. scarlett curtly refused to contribute more money to pitty’sestablishment as long as india was under the same roof. ashley sent india money every week andevery week india proudly and silently returned it, much to the old lady’s alarm and regret.
finances at the red-brick house would have been in a deplorable state, but for uncle henry’sintervention, and it humiliated pitty to take money from him.
pitty loved melanie better than anyone in the world, except herself, and now melly acted like acool, polite stranger. though she practically lived in pitty’s back yard, she never once camethrough the hedge and she used to run in and out a dozen times a day. pitty called on her and weptand protested her love and devotion, but melanie always refused to discuss matters and neverreturned the calls.
pitty knew very well what she owed scarlett—almost her very existence. certainly in thoseblack days after the war when pitty was faced with the alternative of brother henry or starvation,scarlett had kept her home for her, fed her, clothed her and enabled her to hold up her head inatlanta society. and since scarlett had married and moved into her own home, she had beengenerosity itself. and that frightening fascinating captain butler—frequently after he called withscarlett, pitty found brand-new purses stuffed with bills on her console table or lace handkerchiefsknotted about gold pieces which had been slyly slipped into her sewing box. rhett always vowedhe knew nothing about them and accused her, in a very unrefined way, of having a secret admirer,usually the bewhiskered grandpa merriwether.
yes, pitty owed love to melanie, security to scarlett, and what did she owe india? nothing, except that india’s presence kept her from having to break up her pleasant life and make decisionsfor herself. it was all most distressing and too, too vulgar and pitty, who had never made a decisionfor herself in her whole life, simply let matters go on as they were and as a result spent much timein uncomforted tears.
in the end, some people believed whole-heartedly in scarlett’s innocence, not because of herown personal virtue but because melanie believed in it. some had mental reservations but theywere courteous to scarlett and called on her because they loved melanie and wished to keep herlove. india’s adherents bowed coldly and some few cut her openly. these last were embarrassing,infuriating, but scarlett realized that, except for melanie’s championship and her quick action, theface of the whole town would have been set against her and she would have been an outcast.
“亲爱的，我不需要你作任何解释，也不想听你的，"媚兰坚决地说，同时将一只小手轻轻地捂住思嘉那两片扭动的嘴唇，叫她不要说了。"你要是认为在你我之间还需要什么解释，那便是对你自己以及艾希礼和我的侮辱了。不是吗，我们三人一起在这世界上共同奋斗了这么多年，如果以为什么闲言碎语便能使我们之间发生隔阂，想起来都不好意思呢。难道你以为我会相信你和我的艾希礼----嗨，这怎么想得出来呀！难道你还不清楚在这世界上我比谁都更加了解你？你以为我竟把你替艾希礼和小博以及我所做的种种了不起的无私的事情----从救我的性命到使我们一家免于饥饿，通通忘记了吗？你以为我不记得你几乎光着脚、握着两只满是血泡的手，跟在北方佬的那骑马后面犁地----就为了让婴儿和我能吃上饭----的情景，现在竟会相信那些关于你的卑鄙谣言了？
我不需要听你的任何解释，思嘉·奥哈拉，一句也不听！"“可是----"思嘉想要说什么又打住了。
就在一个小时之前，瑞德带着邦妮和百里茜离开了这个城市，这样一来思嘉便不仅仅又羞又恼，而且感到寂寞了。再加上她在跟艾希礼关系中的内疚以及媚兰给她的庇护，这个负担她实在承受不起了。要是媚兰听信了英迪亚和阿尔奇的话，在宴会上损了她，或者只冷淡地招呼了她，那她可以昂起头来，使用种种可能的武器给予回击。可现在，一想起媚兰曾经挺身而出，像一把薄薄的发亮的刀子，眼睛里焕发着信任和战斗的神采，毅然保护她不受社会舆论的攻击，她就感到自己只能老老实实地认罪了。是的，应当把在塔拉农场那阳光明媚的走廊上开始的期以来所经过的一切不如掩饰地大胆说出来。
她是受着良心的驱使，这种现实的天主教徒良心虽然被压制了很久，但还是能够起来的。"承认你的罪过，用悲伤和悔悟来表示忏悔。"这句话爱伦对她说过几十上百次了。现在遇到了危机，爱伦的宗教训诲又回来把她抓住了。她愿意承认----是的，承认一切，一言一行，一颦一笑，以及那很少几次的爱抚—-然后上帝就会减轻她的痛苦，给予宁静。而且，由于她的忏悔，媚兰脸上会出现十分可怕的神色，从钟爱和信任变为怀疑的恐惧和厌恶。唔，这个惩罚可太严峻了，她非常痛苦地想到，因为她得终生记住媚兰的脸色，并且知道媚兰已了解她身上所有的卑下、鄙陋、两面派、不忠实和虚伪的品质啊！
要把事情的真相痛痛快快地都摆在媚兰面前，同时眼见她那个愚人的天堂彻底崩溃，这种想法曾一度使她陶醉不已，觉得是一个值得付出任何代价的高招。可是现在，一夜之间她就转而认为那是最没有意思的了。至于为什么会这样，她自己也不明白。她心里各种相互矛盾的念头实在太多太混乱了，她实在理不出头绪来。她只知道，正像她曾经希望过她母亲始终以为她是谦逊、和气，心地纯洁的，她如今也殷切地渴望保持媚兰对她的崇高评价。她心里唯一清楚的是，她不在乎这世界对她怎么看，或者艾希礼和瑞德对她怎么看，可是决不能让媚兰改变她对她的一贯看法，决不能让她有任何别的看法。
她没勇气将真实的情况告诉媚兰，可是她的一种少有的诚实本能却出来作怪。这种本能不让她在一个曾经为她战斗过的女人面前用虚假的色彩来伪装自己。所以那天早晨她等瑞德和邦妮一离开家便急忙赶到媚兰那里去了。
可是，她刚刚迫不及待地说出"媚兰，我一定要解释一下那天的事----"时，媚兰就厉声阻止了她。于是思嘉羞愧地注视着那双焕发出慈爱之情的眼睛，便心里一沉，明白自己永远得不到忏悔后的平静和安宁了。媚兰的头一句话就永远截断了她采取行动的途径。如今她以自己生气很少有过的一种成熟感情认识到，只有最彻底的自私自利才能解除她自己内心痛苦的负担。好要是认罪，便只能在解除自己负担的同时把这个负担强加给一个清白无辜和信任别人的人的心灵上。她因媚兰的仗义庇护已欠了她一大笔债，如今这笔债只能用沉默来偿还了。如果勉强让媚兰知道她的丈夫对她不忠，她的心爱的朋友是其中的一个同伙，从而让她终生痛苦，那将是多么残忍的一种偿还啊！
“我不能告诉她，"她难受地想。"决不能，哪怕我的良心把我折磨死了。"她忽然不相干地想了瑞德酒醉后的一段论：“她不能想像她所爱的任何一个人身上有什么不高尚之处………让它成为你良心上的一个十字架吧。……"是的，它会成为她终生的十字架，让这种痛苦深埋在她心中，让她穿着那件羞辱的粗毛布衬衣，让她以后每看见媚兰做一个亲切的眼色和手势都深感不安，让她永远压抑着内心的冲动，不敢喊出：“不要对我这样好吧，不要为我尽力了啊，我是不值得你这么做的！"“只要你不是这样一个傻瓜，这样一个可爱的、信任人的、头脑简单的傻瓜，事情也不至于那么困难，"她绝望地这样想。
“我已经背上了许多累死人的负担，但看来这才是最沉重最令人苦恼的一个了。“媚兰面对着她坐在一张矮椅子里，便两只脚却稳稳当当地搁在一只相当高的脚凳上，因此她的膝头像个孩子般矗立在那里，但这种姿势，她要不是愤怒到了不顾体面的程度，她是做不出来的。她手里拿着一条梭织花边，正在用那根发亮的织针来回穿梭着，同时她仍在愤愤不起，仿佛手里拿的就是一把决斗用的短剑。
要是思嘉也这样满怀愤怒，她早已像年轻时的杰拉尔德那样跺着双脚拚命咆哮起来，呼吁上帝来看看人类可恶奸诈行为，并令人毛骨悚然地大喊着一定要报复。可是媚兰却只用那根银光闪闪的织针和拼命低垂的双眉来表示她心里是多么激动。她的声音是冷静的，说话也比入学更加简捷。不过她说出来的话很有力量，这对平常很少发表意见和从不讲重话的媚兰来说，显然是不相称的。思嘉忽然发现，原来威尔克斯家和汉密尔顿家的人也像奥哈拉家的人那样是会发怒的，有时甚至更厉害呢。
“亲爱的，我听人家对你的批评都听腻了，"媚兰说，"而这一次是他们捞到了最后一根稻草，我倒是要过问过问。这完全是因为他们妒嫉你，因为你那么精明能干才发生的事。在许许多多男人都失败了情况下，你却做出了成绩。我说这话。
你可不必介意。我不是说你做过什么有违妇道或者妇女不该做的事，像许多人所说的那样。因为你并没有做。人们就是不了解你，就是容忍不了一个能干的女人。可是你的精明能干，你的成功，并没有给他们以那样的权力，任凭他们来说你和艾希礼----真是天知道啊！“这最后一句失声慨叹的话颇为激烈，那要是由一个男人说出来，显然会带来亵渎的意味。思嘉注视着他，被她这种从没有过的发作吓住了。
“他们这些人----阿尔奇、英迪亚、埃尔辛太太----竟然拿他们捏造的那些谎话来对我说呢！他们怎么敢呀？当然，埃尔辛太太没有到这里来。不，说真的，她没有那个胆量。可是她也一贯恨你，亲爱的，因为你比范妮更有名气了。而且，她对于你不让休再经营那个木厂也很生气呢。不过你把他撤了是完全对的。他简直是个游手好闲、什么事也不会干、一点用处也没有的家伙！"媚兰把她这个童年时代的玩伴儿、少女时代的情郎迅速摒弃了。"关于阿尔奇，这要怪我自己，我不该庇护这个老恶棍。人人都那样劝过我，可是我没有听。他不喜欢你，亲爱的，是因为那些罪犯的原故，可他算老几，竟敢来批评你了？一个杀人犯，还是杀死过一名妇女的杀人犯！
尽管我那样照顾了他，他还是跑来告诉我----要是艾希礼把他毙了，我一点也不会怜悯的。现在我可以告诉你，我把他大大奚落了一番之后，就打发他走了！他已经离开这个城市了。"“至于英迪亚那个坏蛋！亲爱的，自从我第一次看见你们俩在一起，我便发现她在妒嫉你，恨你，因为你比她漂亮得多，又有那么多追求你的人。尤其是在斯图尔特·塔尔顿的问题上特别恨你。她对斯图尔特想得那么厉害----是呀，我很不愿意说艾希礼妹妹的这件事，可是我认为她早已想得伤心透了！所以对于她这次的行为，不可能作任何别的解释。……我已经告诉她从以后不要再跨进这个家的门槛，并且表示只要我听到她再说那么一句哪怕只带暗示的废话，我就要----我就要当众骂她撒谎！"媚兰没有继续说下去，但脸上愤怒突然消失，接着来的是满面愁容。媚兰有佐治亚人所特有的那种热烈忠于家族的观念，一想到这可能引起家庭矛盾就痛苦极了。她犹豫了一会儿，不过思嘉是最亲爱的，她心里首先考虑的是思嘉，于是她继续诚实地说下去：“亲爱的，她一贯妒嫉你，还因为我是最爱你的。以后她再也不会到这屋里来了，我也决不到任何一个接待她的人家去。艾希礼赞同我的想法，不过他还是很伤心的，怎么他的妹妹竟然也说出这样一个----"一提到艾希礼的名字，思嘉那过于紧张的神经便控制不住，她立刻哭起来。难道她就只能永远让他伤心下去了？她惟一的想法是要使他快乐、平安，可不知为什么却好像每一次都要去伤害他似的。她破坏了他的生活，损害了他的骄傲和自尊，打破了他内心的平静，那种建立在为人正直的基础上安宁。而如今她离间了他和他心爱的妹妹之间的关系。为了保全她思嘉自己的名誉和艾希礼的幸福，英迪亚只能被牺牲，被迫承担撒谎的罪名，成为一个有点疯疯癫癫的妒嫉心很重的老处女----英迪亚，她向来所抱的每一种猜疑和所说的每一句指控的话，都被证实了是绝对公正的。每当艾希礼注视着英迪亚的眼睛时，他都会看到那里闪耀着真实的光辉，真实、谴责和冷漠的轻视，这些正是威尔克斯家的人所擅长的！
思嘉知道艾希礼把名誉看得比生命还重，他现在一定觉得非常痛苦。他也和思嘉一样，被迫接受了媚兰的庇护。思嘉一方面懂得这样做的必要性，而且明白他之所以落到这个地步主要应当归咎于她，不过作为女人她想如果艾希礼把阿尔奇毙了，并且向媚兰和公众承认了一切，她还是会更加敬佩他的。她知道自己在这一点不上怎么公平，但是她实在太苦恼，已顾不上了这些小节了。她想起瑞德说过的一些轻视和揶揄的话，便思忖是不是艾希礼在这一纠葛中真的扮演了不够丈夫妻的角色，这样一来，自从她爱上艾希礼以后即一直在仰望着的他那个完美辉煌的形象便开始不知不觉地有点逊色了。同时，那片笼罩在她身上的耻辱和罪过的阴影也在渐渐向他护展。地下决心要打退这种想法，可结果反而使她哭得更加伤心了。
“别这样！别这样！"媚兰大声喊道，一面放下手里的梭织花边，急忙坐到沙发上，把思嘉的头移过来靠在她的肩上。
“我原来不应该谈起这件事让你难过的。我知道你一定会感非常伤心，今后决不再提了。不，我们彼此之间不要再提，也不要对任何人提起。让它就这样了结，像根本没有发生过一样。不过，"她暗含怨恨地补充说，"我要让英迪亚和埃尔辛太太明白，她们休想再散布关于我丈夫和嫂子的谣言。我要把这一点钉死了，叫她们俩谁也无法在亚特兰大抬起头来。而且，谁要是相信她们或接待她们，她就是我的敌人。"思嘉满怀忧虑地瞻望着今后漫长的岁月，知道在这个城市和这个家里将进行一场绵延几代的分裂性斗争，而这场斗争的起因就是她自己。
媚兰说到做到。她再也没有向思嘉或艾希礼提起这件事，也决不跟任何人谈论。她保持一种冷漠无关的态度，这种态度在万一有人敢于暗示那个问题便会变成冷冰冰的约束力量。在她她举行那个出其不意的宴会之后好几个星期里，瑞德神秘地不见了，整个城市处于一种疯狂的状态，她从不饶恕那些诽谤思嘉的人，无论是她的老朋友还是亲属。她口头不说，而以实际行动来表示。
她像一株苍耳1那样坚决站在思嘉一边。她让思嘉照样每天早晨到店里和木料场去，而且由她陪着去。她坚持要思嘉每天下午赶车出门，虽然思嘉本人不愿意去城市居民好奇的眼光下露面。赶车外出时她还坐在思嘉身旁，她还带她下午出去进行正式的拜访，亲切地鼓励她进入那些已两年多没有去的人家。而且，媚兰以一种强烈的"爱屋及乌"的表情跟那些大为惊讶的女主人谈话，意思是她们必须同时尊重她的朋友思嘉。
她叫思嘉在这种拜访中早些到，并且要留到最后才走，这就使得那些女人没有机会去三五成群地议论和猜测，避免引起一些不怎么愉快的事。这些拜访对思嘉来说是非常折磨人的，但她不敢拒绝跟媚兰一起去。她最怕置身于那些暗暗怀疑她是否真的被捉奸了的人当中。她最怕发现，这些女人要不是爱媚兰和不愿得罪她的话，她们是不会搭理她的。不过思嘉也很明白，她们一旦接待了她，以后就不能伤害她了。
有一点很能说明人们对思嘉的看法，那就是很少有人从思嘉本人的正派与否来决定他们到底是维护她还是批评。"我对她没有很高的要求，"这就是一般的态度，思嘉树敌太多，如今已没有几个支持者了。她的言行在那么多的人心目中留下的创伤，因此很少有人关心这桩丑闻是不是伤害了。不过人人都对伤害媚兰或者英迪亚感到强烈的兴趣，所以这场风暴是环绕着她们而不是思嘉在进行，它集中在这样一个问题上----"是英迪亚撒谎了吗？"那些拥护媚兰一方的人得意地指出这一事实，即媚兰近来经常跟思嘉在一起。难道一个像媚兰这样很珍视节操的女人会去支持一个犯罪女人的行径吗，何况这个女人还是跟她自己的丈夫一起犯罪的呢？不会，绝对不会！而英迪亚恰好是个疯疯癫癫的老处女，她恨思嘉，就造她的谣，而且诱惑阿尔奇和埃尔辛太太相信了她的谎言。
但是，那些支持英迪亚的人便问，如果思嘉没有罪，巴特勒船长到哪里去了呢？
他为什么不在这里陪着思嘉，让思嘉从他的鼓励中获得力量？这是一个无法回答的问题，并且随着时间一个星期又一个星期过去，谣言就漫延开来，说思嘉已经怀孕了，于是支持英迪亚的那群人就满意地点着头，觉得自己完全对了。那不可能是巴特勒船长的娃娃嘛，他们说。因为他们分居的事实早已成为大家谈论的资料，因为全城的人早已对他们的分居感到极为愤慨了。
就这样，街谈巷议在继续，全城分成了两派，那些组织严密的家族，如汉密尔顿家、威尔克斯家、伯尔家、惠特曼家和温尔德家，也同样分裂了。家庭里的每一个人都不得不表明自己是站在哪一方向的。没有中立的余地。媚兰保持冷静的庄严的态度，英迪亚则一味尖酸刻薄，各自观测着形势的发展。不过所有的亲朋好友，无论他属于哪一方，都一致抱怨是思嘉引起了他们之间的破裂。他们无不认为她不值得大家这样去为她争吵。亲戚们不管自己的立场怎样，都觉得英迪亚出面来公开宣扬这种家庭丑事，同时把艾希礼也牵连进去，这实在太痛心了。可既然英迪亚已经说出来了，许多人便踊跃为她辩护，站在她这一边反对思嘉，就像旁的人爱护媚兰，便站在媚兰和思嘉方面那样。
有一半的亚特兰大人是媚兰和英迪亚的亲戚，或者声称有亲戚关系，包括各种各样的表亲、姻亲，以及双重表亲、远亲，等等，其中的关系是那样错综复杂，只有地道的佐治亚人才弄得清楚。他们一贯是个排外的家族，在紧急关头便团结成为一个共同对敌的严密阵容，不管他们个人彼此之间有什么分歧或隔阂了。仅有一次，皮蒂姑妈对亨利叔叔发动了一场游击战，它作为家族中大家乐得看热闹的一出好戏，闹了多年。此外，这些人的和睦关系从没公开破裂过。他们为人文雅、含蓄，说话温柔，连半真半假的口角和争执都很少发生，这是亚特兰大的其他家族所做不到的。
可是目前他们已分裂成为两派。全成的人便得以目睹那些五六等的堂表亲戚在这次亚特兰大从未见过的最糟糕的丑闻中都选择了自己的派别，卷入了斗争。这种局面给市民中那一半没有亲戚关系的人造成了很大困难，也给他们的机智和耐性带来子考验，因为英迪亚与媚兰的争执实际上引起了每个社会集团的分裂，如塔里亚协会，南部联盟赈济孤寡缝纫会，阵亡将士公墓装修协会，周未音乐集团，妇女交谊舞会，青年图书馆，等等，都卷了进去。四个教堂，连同它们的妇女协进会和传教士协会，也是这样，人们得注意不要把对立派的会员选进同一个委员会里。
亚特兰大的主妇们每天下午在家时，特别是从四点到六点的时候，便非常着急，因为生怕媚兰和思嘉前来拜访时恰好英迪亚和她的好友还待在客厅里。
她们一家最可怜的要算皮蒂姑妈了。皮蒂这个人别无所求，只希望舒舒适适地在亲戚们互相友好的气氛中过日子，对于当前这场争执也很想两面讨好。可结果无论是这一方还是那一方，都不容许她采取这种骑墙派态度。
英迪亚本来跟皮蒂姑妈住在一起，但如果皮蒂像她所考虑的那样要站在媚兰一边，英迪亚就要离开好。而如果英迪亚走了，可怜的皮蒂怎么办呢？她不能一个人生活呀！那时她只能叫一个生人来跟她作伴，要不就得锁上门到思嘉那里去祝可是皮蒂姑妈隐约感到，巴特勒船长不太高兴她去。那么，她就只好住到媚兰家里去，晚上睡在作为小博育儿室的那间小屋里了。
皮蒂不大喜欢英迪亚，因为英迪亚那个又冷淡又固执的模样以及对于目前事件采取了偏激态度使她感到害怕。不过英迪亚仍容许皮蒂姑妈保持自己的舒适生活，而皮蒂主要是从个人舒服而不是道德观点来考虑问题的，所以英迪亚仍跟她住在一起。
不过英迪亚既然住在那里，皮蒂姑妈的家便成为一个风暴中心点了，因为媚兰和恩嘉把这看成是她对英迪亚的庇护。
思嘉断然拒绝继续在经济上支援皮蒂，只要她让英迪亚住在那里便决不妥协。艾希礼每星期都给英迪亚送钱去，但英迪亚每次都骄傲地、不声不响地把钱退回，皮蒂姑妈对上感到又惊讶又婉惜。这座红砖房子里的经济善要不是亨利叔叔的干预，将愈来愈可悲了。可是接受亨利叔叔的资助，皮蒂还觉得很可耻呢。
在这个世界上皮蒂除了她自己以外是最爱媚兰的，可现在媚兰对她只保持一种冷冷的客气态度，像个陌生人一样了。
她尽管就住在皮蒂家的后院里，以前每天要通过那道篱笆出出进进走十几次，可现在一次也不来了。皮蒂总是主动去看望她。向她哭诉自己怎样爱她和忠实于她，但媚兰始终拒绝具体的事情，也从来不回访。
皮蒂清楚记得她得过思嘉多大的恩惠----几乎是依靠她活过来的。的确，在战后那个极端困难的时期，皮蒂面临的处境是要么接受亨利叔叔的接济，要么饿死，这时思嘉出来维持了她的家庭，给她吃的穿的，让能够在亚特兰大抬起头来做人。思嘉结婚并搬到她自己家里以后，她对她依旧十分慷慨。那个既令人害怕又逗人喜爱的巴特勒船长，每次跟思嘉一起来拜访过以后，皮蒂就会发现桌上有个塞满了钞票的簇新钱包，或者用绣花手绢包着一些金币偷偷地放在她的针线盒里。瑞德总是声称他对此一无所知，并且以一种不怎么高明的手法断言她一定有个秘密的爱慕者，通常认为就是那位满脸胡须的梅里韦瑟爷爷，在干这样的事。
是的，皮蒂一直受到媚兰的爱护，更从思嘉那里获得生活上的保护，可是英迪亚又给了她什么呢？英迪亚，除了住在她那里，让她维持愉快的生活，并用不着凡事自拿主意之外，对她什么她处也没有。这实在是太悲惨、太不体面了，皮蒂一辈子从来没有自己拿过主意，任凭事物自然发展，结果便将许多时间在暗暗伤心和哭泣中度过了。
最后，有些人彻底相信了思嘉是清白无辜的，但这不是由于她自己的个人品德赢得大家的信任，而是由于媚兰始终坚信这一点。另一些人思想上有所保留，但因为他们太爱媚兰，希望保持对她的爱，便对思嘉采取了很有礼貌的态度。英迪亚的支持者们一般对思嘉表示冷淡，少数人仍还在公开指责她。后面两种情况是令人发窘而生气的，不过思嘉也明白，要不是媚兰的坚决保护和迅速行动，全城居民都会板着面孔反对她，她早已成一个被遗弃的人了。