“I am not!Now, come here and lace me tighter because we are late already. I heard the carriage come round to the front of the house.”
Mammy's tone became wheedling.
“Now, Miss Scarlett, you be good an'come eat les'a lil. Miss Carreen an'Miss Suellen done eat all dey'n.”
“They would,”said Scarlett contemptuously.“They haven't any more spirit than a rabbit. But I won't!I'm through with trays.I'm not forgetting the time I ate a whole tray and went to the Calverts'and they had ice cream out of ice they'd brought all the way from Savannah, and I couldn't eat but a spoonful.I'm going to have a good time today and eat as much as I please.”
At this defiant heresy, Mammy's brow lowered with indignation. What a young miss could do and what she could not do were as different as black and white in Mammy's mind;there was no middle ground of deportment between.Suellen and Carreen were clay in her powerful hands and harkened respectfully to her warning.But it had always been a struggle to teach Scarlett that most of her natural impulses were unladylike.Mammy's victories over Scarlett were hard-won and represented guile unknown to the white mind.
“Ef you doan care'bout how folks talks'bout dis fambly, Ah does,”she rumbled.“Ah ain'gwine stand by an'have eve'ybody at de pahty sayin’howyou ain’fotched up right. Ah has tole you an’tole you dat you kin allus tell a lady by dat she eat lak a bird.An’Ah ain’aimin’ter have you go ter Mist’Wilkes’an’eat lak a fe’el han’an’gobble lak a hawg.”
“Mother is a lady and she eats,”countered Scarlett.
“W'en you is mahied, you kin eat, too,”retorted Mammy.“W'en Miss Ellen yo'age, she never et nuthin'w'en she went out, an’needer yo’Aunt Pauline nor yo’Aunt Eulalie. An’dey all done mahied.Young misses whut eats heavy mos’gener’ly doan never ketch husbands.”
“I don't believe it. At that barbecue when you were sick and I didn't eat beforehand, Ashley Wilkes told me he liked to see a girl with a healthy appetite.”
Mammy shook her head ominously.
“Whut gempmums says an'what dey thinks is two diffunt things. An'Ah ain'noticed Mist'Ashley axing fer ter mahy you.”
Scarlett scowled, started to speak sharply and then caught herself. Mammy had her there and there was no argument.Seeing the obdurate look on Scarlett's face, Mammy picked up the tray and, with the bland guile of her race, changed her tactics.As she started for the door, she sighed.
“Well'm, awright. Ah wuz tellin'Cookie w'ile she wuz a-fixin'dis tray,‘You kin sho tell a lady by whut she doan eat,'an’Ah say ter Cookie,‘Ah ain’never seed no w’ite lady who et less’n Miss Melly Hamilton did las’time she wuz visitin’Mist’Ashley’—Ah means, visitin’Miss India.”
Scarlett shot a look of sharp suspicion at her, but Mammy's broad face carried only a look of innocence and of regret that Scarlett was not the lady Melanie Hamilton was.
“Put down that tray and come lace me tighter,”said Scarlett irritably.“And I'll try to eat a little afterwards. If I ate now I couldn't lace tight enough.”
Cloaking her triumph, Mammy set down the tray.
“Whut mah lamb gwine wear?”
“That,”answered Scarlett, pointing at the fluffy mass of green flowered muslin Instantly Mammy was in arms.
“No, you ain'. It ain'fittin'fer mawnin'.You kain show yo'buzzum befo’three o'clock an’dat dress ain’got no neck an’no sleeves.An’you'll gitfreckled sho as you born, an’Ah ain’figgerin’on you gittin’freckled after all de buttermilk Ah been puttin’on you all dis winter, bleachin’dem freckles you got at Savannah settin’on de beach.Ah sho gwine speak ter yo'Ma‘bout you.”
“If you say one word to her before I'm dressed I won't eat a bite,”said Scarlett coolly.“Mother won't have time to send me back to change once I'm dressed.”
Mammy sighed resignedly, beholding herself outguessed. Between the two evils, it was better to have Scarlett wear an afternoon dress at a morning barbecue than to have her gobble like a hog.
“Hole onter sumpin'an'suck in yo'breaf,”she commanded.
Scarlett obeyed, bracing herself and catching firm hold of one of the bedposts. Mammy pulled and jerked vigorously and, as the tiny circumference of Whalebone-girdled waist grew smaller, a proud, fond look came into her eyes.
“Aid'nobody got a wais'lak mah lamb,”she said approvingly.“Eve'y time Ah pulls Miss Suellen littler dan twenty inches, she up an'faint.”
“Pooh!”gasped Scarlett, speaking with difficulty.“I never fainted in my life.”
“Well,'twouldn'do no hahm ef you wuz ter faint now an'den,”advised Mammy.“You is so brash sometimes, Miss Scarlett. Ah been aimin'ter tell you, it jes'doan look good de way you doan faint‘bout snakes and mouses an’sech.Ah doan mean round home but w'en you is out in comp’ny.An’Ah has tole you an’—”
“Oh, hurry!Don't talk so much. I'll catch a husband.See if I don't, even if I don't scream and faint.Goodness, but my stays are tight!Put on the dress.”
Mammy carefully dropped the twelve yards of green sprigged muslin over the mountainous petticoats and hooked up the back of the tight, low-cut basque.
“You keep yo'shawl on yo'shoulders w'en you is in de sun, an'doan you go takin'off yo’hat w'en you is wahm,”she commanded.“Elsewise you be comin’home lookin’brown lak Ole Miz Slattery. Now, you come eat, honey, but doan eat too fas’.No use havin’it come right back up agin.”
Scarlett obediently sat down before the tray, wondering if she would be able to get any food into her stomach and still have room to breathe. Mammyplucked a large towel from the washstand and carefully tied it around Scarlett's neck, spreading the white folds over her lap.Scarlett began on the ham, because she liked ham, and forced it down.
