Chapter 25 Summary

Scarlett wakes the next morning and heads down to breakfast where she finds a deluded Gerald still waiting for Ellen to come down the stairs. Scarlett wonders how she will handle it all on her own if he cannot take charge and pushes the thought away until tomorrow. Scarlett finds herself having to order the slaves about, though they protest that they are house slaves, not field hands. Ignoring their protests, she heads out to Twelve Oaks to find food, but finds the great plantation in burnt remains. It is in looking around at the disaster that Scarlett finally breaks down, wondering how the beautiful belle of the county ended up here. Remembering a way of life that was gone forever, she vows that she and her family will live through it and never be hungry again.

While the war rages on outside...