head now and she felt giddy and

“Oh, come! You are confessing and you might as well confess the truth as a decorous lie. Did your—er—conscience bother you much when you offered to—shall we say—part with that jewel which is dearer than life for three hundred dollars?” 　The brandy was spinning in her head now and she felt giddy and a little reckless. What was the use in lying to him? He always seemed to read her mind. 　“I really didn’t think about God much then—or hell. And when I did think—well, I just reckoned God would understand.” 　“But you don’t credit God with understanding why you married Frank?” 　“Rhett, how can you talk so about God when you know you don’t believe there is one?” 　“But you believe in a God of Wrath and that’s what’s important at present. Why shouldn’t the Lord understand? Are you sorry you still own Tara and there aren’t Carpetbaggers living there? Are you sorry you aren’t hungry and ragged?” 　“Oh, no!” 　“Well, did you have any alternative except marrying Frank?” 　“No.” 　“He didn’t have to marry you, did he? Men are free agents. And he didn’t have to let you bully him into doing things he didn’t want to, did he?” 　“Well—” 　“Scarlett, why worry about it? If you had it to do over again you would be driven to the lie and he to marrying you. You would still have run yourself into danger and he would have had to avenge you. If he had married Sister Sue, she might not have caused his death but she’d probably have made him twice as unhappy as you did. It couldn’t have happened differently.” 　“But I could have been nicer to him.” 　“You could have been—if you’d been somebody else. But you were born to bully anyone who’ll let you do it. The strong were made to bully and the weak to knuckle under. It’s all Frank’s fault for not beating you with a buggy whip. ... I’m surprised at you, Scarlett, for sprouting a conscience this late in life. Opportunists like you shouldn’t have them.” 　“What is an oppor—what did you call it?” 　“A person who takes advantage of opportunities.” 　“Is that wrong?” 　“It has always been held in disrepute—especially by those who had the same opportunities and didn’t take them.” 　“Oh, Rhett, you are joking and I thought you were going to be nice!”