@@@@@She selected a glass, took it and the
@@@@@She selected a glass, took it
and the decanter to the table, sat in the armchair at the headIt was
her table, tooThe brandy sent a relaxing warmth through her bodyAnother drink, and my nerves should
stop
jumping around like they're doingShe filled the elegant little
cordial glass again, tossed the brandy down her throat with a deft
twist of the wristMustn't hurry, she thought, pouringShe sipped her third drink
How pretty the candlelight was, lovely golden flames reflected in the
polished tabletopThe empty glass was pretty, tooIts cut facets
made rainbows when she turned it in her fingersIt was as quiet as
the graveThe clink of glass against glass made her jump when she
poured the brandyThat proved she needed the drink, didn't it? She
was still too jumpy to sleepThe candles burned low and the decanter
slowly emptied and Scarlett's usual control over her mind and memory
was loosenedThis was the room where it had all begunThe table
had
been bare like this with only candles on it and the silver tray that
held brandy decanter and glassesShe'd never
seen
him really drunk like that, he could always hold hisliquorHe was
drunk that night, though, and cruel
He said such horrible hurting things to her, ú and he twisted her arm
so that she cried out in painthen he carried her up
to her room and forced himself on herExcept that he didn't have to
force her to accept himShe came alive when he handled her, when
he
kissed her lips and ú throat and bodyShe burned at his touch and
she
cried out for more and her body arched and strained to meet his again
and again She must have dreamed it, but how
could she have dreamed such things when she'd never dreamed they
existed? No lady would ever feel the wild wanting she had felt, no
lady would do the things she had doneScarlett tried to push her
thoughts back into the crowded dark corner of her mind where she
kept
the unbearable and unthink