〈接续〉
“我知道，比她再傻的老女人我这辈子还没见过。”
“是这样，昨天我们在亚特兰大等火车回家的时候，她正好坐马车经过车站，停下来和我们说了话，她告诉我们明天晚上韦尔克斯家舞会上要宣布一个订婚消息。”
“哦，这我知道，”斯佳丽失望地说，“就是她那个傻侄儿查理·汉密尔顿和霍尼·韦尔克斯。有些年头了，谁都知道他俩迟早要结婚，尽管他好像对这事有点儿冷淡。”
“你觉得他傻吗？”布伦特问道，“去年圣诞节你可让他在你周围忙了个够。”
“我又没法儿不让他忙，”斯佳丽耸了耸，显得毫不在意，“我觉得他是个讨厌的胆小鬼。”
“不过，要宣布的订婚消息可不是他的，”斯图尔特得意地说，“而是阿希礼和查理的姐姐玫兰妮小姐的！”
斯佳丽的脸色没变，但是她的嘴唇白了——仿佛冷不丁当头挨了一棒，一时还没明白是怎么回事。她的面孔凝固了似的，眼睛直勾勾盯着斯图尔特，斯图尔特从不多想，还以为她不过是感到惊奇，觉得挺有意思罢了。
“佩蒂小姐告我们说，本来打算明年再宣布来着，因为玫荔身体不好；可是人们纷纷传说要打仗，双方家里都觉得不如赶快结了婚也就放心了。所以明天晚上要在晚饭中间宣布。好了，斯佳丽，我们把秘密告诉你了，你得答应跟我们一块儿吃晚饭。”
“I do， and a sillier old lady I never met in all my life.”
“Well， when we were in Atlanta yesterday， waiting for the home train， her ca
iage went by the depot and she stopped and talked to us， and she told us there was going to be an engagement announced tomo
ow night at the Wilkes ball.”
“Oh. I know about that，” said Scarlett in disappointment.“That silly nephew of hers， Charlie Hamilton， and Hone's known for years that they'd get ma
ied some time， even if he did seem kind of lukewarm about it.”
“Do you think he's silly?” questioned
ent.“Last Christmas you sure let him buzz round you plenty.”
“I uldn't help him buzzing，” Scarlett shrugged negligently.“I think he's an awful sissy.”
“Besides， it isn't his engagement that's going to be announced，” said Stuart triumphantly.“It's Ashley's to Charlie's sister， Miss Melanie!”
Scarlett's face did not change but her lips went white—like a person who has received a stunning blow without warning and who， in the first moments of shock， does not realize what ha still was her face as she stared at Stuart that he， never analytic， took it for granted that she was merely surprised and very interested.
“Miss Pitty told us they hadn't intended announcing it till next year， because Miss Melly hasn't been very well; but with all the war talk going around， everybody in both families thought it would be better to get ma
ied rea it's to be announced tomo
ow night at the suppe， Scarlett， we've told you the secret， so you've got to promise to eat supper with us.”
以上摘自美国《飘》
上面的摘录文字讲了一个非常具体的事，关于Ashley和Melanie的订婚。Scarlet一直暗恋着Ashley，Ashley要跟其他女人订婚，这消息对Scarlett的冲击可想而知。
这人世间，男女订婚是一个个个体生命的大事，在许多社会形态下都如此，无论东方还是西方。
16岁的Scarlett暗恋也是富有农场主家的公子Ashley。Scarlett在公共社交场合很出风头，以尽可能多的小伙子围着她转献殷情为乐趣，但那都是逢场作戏，Scarlett心中的真正指向是Ashley.
Scarlett的这种心态，与习俗无关，应与人类的一半人种女人的特性有关。
〈待续〉