Summary: Chapter XXVI
One day a Yankee cavalryman rides up to Tara and enters
the house with his pistol drawn, looking for loot. Scarlett shoots
him point-blank with Charles’s pistol. As he falls down dead, she
sees Melanie at the top of the stairs carrying Charles’s sword.
For the first time, Scarlett feels admiration for Melanie. They
discover money in the Yankee’s pockets. Though shocked by the thought
that she has killed, Scarlett feels justified in defending Tara
and happy to have the Yankee’s precious money and horse.
Scarlett visits the nearby Fontaine plantation and finds
the women eager to share their meager supplies. Scarlett tells her
troubles to Old Miss Fontaine, who warns Scarlett to save something
to fear lest she become too cold and hardened. To Scarlett’s chagrin, Old
Miss Fontaine says that at one point in her life she picked cotton to
support her father and she never considered herself white trash for
doing so. Scarlett returns to Tara and takes up the work of picking
cotton, which she considers humiliating “slave work.” Only Dilcey
helps her. Mammy and Pork insist that, as house workers, they will
not perform field hand labor. Melanie is still too weak for laboring.
Still, now that she has food, money, and a horse, Scarlett believes
the worst is over.
Summary: Chapter XXVII
In mid-November the family learns that the Yankee army
is again marching toward Tara. Terrified of losing the food and
the house, Scarlett sends everyone into the swamp to hide with the
animals and the food. She keeps Melanie’s baby with her. Scarlett
refuses to abandon Tara and meets the Yankees at the front door.
A swarm of soldiers pours in around her, destroying everything they
do not steal. One soldier tries to take Wade’s grandfather’s sword,
which is now Wade’s birthright, but Scarlett persuades the Yankee
sergeant to stop him. The enraged soldier runs into the kitchen
and sets the place on fire as the Yankees stream out of the house.
With great effort, Scarlett and Melanie succeed in putting out the
fire. Scarlett’s contempt for Melanie once again gives way to grudging
admiration.
Summary: Chapter XXVIII
Around Christmastime, a man named Frank Kennedy and a
few Confederate soldiers visit Tara, looking for food for the army.
Frank tells Scarlett and Melanie that General Sherman has burned
Atlanta to the ground, although Aunt Pittypat’s house escaped the
destruction. Frank confides in Scarlett that the end is near, and
he finally becomes engaged to Scarlett’s sister Suellen after years
of courtship.
Summary: Chapter XXIX
By April the war is over, and Scarlett, relieved rather
than dejected, makes plans to plant cotton for next year’s market.
The roads are safe once again, and neighbors help each other get
back on their feet.
Summary: Chapter XXX
Streams of returning Confederate soldiers begin passing
through Tara, and Scarlett grudgingly offers them hospitality, sharing
Tara and her food with them. A soldier named Will Benteen, a working-class
Georgian with a wooden leg, stays on to help with the plantation.
He is a godsend, quietly and competently assisting with the land.
He falls in love with Scarlett’s sister Carreen, whose devotion to
her prayer books and memories of Brent Tarleton prevent her from
noticing Will’s attentions. One day, Uncle Peter, a slave, comes from
Aunt Pittypat’s house with a letter from Ashley. Ashley is alive and
walking home from Illinois. Anxious weeks pass, and Ashley finally
arrives. Melanie runs down the front path to meet him and Scarlett
starts to run after her, but Will grabs her skirt to stop her. He gently
reminds her that Ashley is Melanie’s husband.
