From a distance Beau Wilkes looked just like his father. They had the same sun kissed hair, the same lanky frame. Face-to-face though it was obvious that he was the son of Melanie Hamilton, with that great woman's delicate bone structure and appraising eyes. It was those eyes that so clearly differed from his father's. While Ashley's eyes were always clouded in some far away thought, Beau's were completely clear and concerned with the moment. He was a quiet and serious man, but in a way that spoke of inner strength instead of any priggishness. He was popular. Not because he was witty or fun loving, but because his presence always comforted those around him, making them feel at ease.

He must have gotten that from his mother, Rhett realized. No matter how the world changed Melanie had always managed to stay just as well loved and popular because she always managed to fit in like a finely made antique that could be placed in any décor and still look like it belonged there. Rhett's own wife was more like the gawdy gold trimmed furniture that she was always drawn to, it would always stand out.

Rhett thought about the differences between the Wilkes and Butler families as he watched the young man from his office at the Atlanta National Bank. Beau was nervous, pacing back and forth along the tile hallway muttering to himself as he practiced some well rehearsed speech. Their appointment was for 9:00, a good half an hour ago, but Rhett just perused papers never actually looking at them. The business world was never very different from the scene at the card tables where he had first made his fortune. You had to play the player, not the cards. To that end, he deliberately kept Beau off balance, making him wait. Not only would it make him more nervous, it also gave Rhett time to really study the young man to try and get a sense of how to best proceed.

Finally he stood up and leisurely walked to the large oak door, still watching Beau through the glass on either side of it. "Beau," he said with deliberate coldness, "What on earth are you doing here?"

"We.. um… we had an appointment today… at least… that is…" Beau swallowed nervously and Rhett had to cough to conceal his laughter. Right now he didn't so much resemble either of his parents nearly as much as he seemed to be the embodiment of the nervous energy that consumed his deceased uncle, Charles Hamilton.

"Did we? Oh, yes, Scarlett did mention something about you stopping by to discuss something. Well, come on in then."

Beau walked into the wood paneled room cautiously, taking in décor. "Doesn't look much like the house, does it," Rhett joked as he motioned for Beau to sit on one of the leather backed chairs that sat on the near side of the desk. "I decorated this place personally, which was a new experience since your Aunt doesn't consult me on anything. Whoever said that a man's home was his castle was clearly never married."

On the word "married" Beau locked his focus on Rhett, who had raised an eyebrow at his previous joke. "Well, why don't you get down to it, my boy, I don't have all day."

He took a deep breath and launched into the well prepared oratory he'd been up all night practicing. "Thank you for taking the time to see me Captain Butler."

"Captain Butler? I suppose this is a serious matter if we're going to be resorting to formalities, Mister Wilkes."

Beau's cheeks turned a pale pink and he swallowed dryly. "I'm sorry if I seem to be acting oddly, Uncle Rhett. I'm just a little nervous."

"Really, I hadn't noticed."

"Well, it isn't as though I have a lot of practice at this. I mean, it isn't everyday that a man asks for…" he let his voice trail off.

"Asks for what?" Beau opened his mouth a few times hoping the right words would come out. Nothing did. Rhett knew he shouldn't be amused by Beau's obvious struggle, but he couldn't help it. Right now he didn't see Beau Wilkes as Wade's cousin or a boy that he'd known his entire life. At this moment he was a thief, trying to take away something that Rhett wasn't quite ready to give up, and so he decided to make Beau squirm a little longer.

"Of course I know why you're here. Actually, I'm surprised it took you this long. After all, you're at an age when you need to start preparing for your future." Rhett finally said, reaching in for a packet of paper from his desk. "I just need you to fill out an application."

"An application?"

"Of course. I may have known you your whole life, Beau, but the bank still needs your information if they're going to give you a loan."

"A loan?"

"Is there an echo in here? I mean, that is why you're here, isn't it? Your Aunt told me you wanted to talk to me about something important, and then you show up as nervous as a virgin on their wedding night. I naturally assumed you needed me to secure you a loan."

Beau leaned back in his chair leveling a cool gaze that Rhett was familiar with from his years at the card tables, one that tried to tell if he was bluffing. In his younger days Rhett wore a poker face that was second to none, at times so good that he had even managed to fool himself. But too many years of happiness and security, and a wife who he no longer needed to hide his feelings from, meant that he was out of practice. At least that is what he told himself when Beau was able to see through his game.

"Aunt Scarlett isn't going to be very happy when she finds out that you've been teasing me. Although I suspect Ella will find it hilarious."

"Just for my own edification, what gave me away? If I'm going to continue to partake in the gaming tables I need to learn how to hide my tell."

Beau shrugged, for a moment feeling the familiar banter that he'd always had with the man who he thought of as his Uncle instead of the strange tense interaction they had as of late. "It wasn't anything you did sir, it was what you said. In the length of out brief conversation you've already mentioned marriage and weddings twice. It's clear that the issue is on your mind."

In a flash Rhett's smile was gone, replaced with the cold aloof mask that he'd kept in Beau's presence lately. The temperature in the room seemed to drop suddenly, and to anyone looking through the windows they must have looked like strangers discussing some mundane piece of business.

Ella had warned him about this side of Rhett Butler. They had been sitting on the front porch of the Peachtree Street house watching the sky turn from pink to blue as night fell and talking about the future. Not a future together, that wasn't anything either of them dared to bring up for fear of rejection. No, they spoke about their individual dreams and goals as though they were characters in a book.

"And what about children?" Ella asked, her voice so quiet he could barely hear it. At first he pretended that he hadn't heard her question, but she could tell by the way his body suddenly became rigid and tense that something was wrong.

"Haven't you ever thought about it?" she prodded, looking at him with those big brown eyes flecked with green that he couldn't ever deny.

"Of course I've thought about it. I've thought about how terrible it would be to lose the woman I loved because she wanted to sacrifice herself to motherhood." His voice sounded bitter, even to his own ears, and he expected her to respond with some type of standard cliché about how motherhood is a gift and that it was worth the danger to create a life. Those same empty saying he'd been hearing his whole life when people would talk about his beloved mother's death.

But Ella didn't say anything. She just leaned closer to him, putting her head on his shoulder. It wasn't at all appropriate, and they both knew it. But the Butler's were out to a late dinner, and on the off chance one of Atlanta's Old Guard did see them like this, they'd keep it to themselves. Beau's mother and Ella's father had been so well respected, and their deaths so tragic, that the children's behavior was above reproach.

"I used to think the same way. After Bonnie's accident I got rid of all my dolls. I threw them off the second floor landing and watched them break on the ground. If being a mother meant having to watch… if it meant that type of heartache, then I didn't want anything to do with it."

"You said you used to feel that way. What changed?"

Ella thought about it for a moment. She wasn't an introspective girl, instead opting to focus on living in the moment. It wasn't that she had her mother's penchant for putting off unpleasant things for some future tomorrow. While Scarlett stored away bad things allowing them rot and fester, Ella simply let them float away like a leaf caught up in the wind. Once they were gone she didn't dwell on them anymore, and instead was open to whatever life would hand to her next.

Beau was able to make her really think about things that had happened long ago. Things that she had just accepted absently in the past. But it wasn't a bad thing. If anything, she enjoyed her talks with Beau so much because they always left her with a better understanding of herself. As she opened up her memory to those dark days after Bonnie's death when everything seemed to fall apart she shivered slightly, leaning her head more tightly against Beau's shoulder.

"Something changed," she finally said. "When Mother and Daddy came together again, when they finally fought their way back to each other… I wasn't very old then but I can remember how everything was different after that. It was like all of the times before was just some bad dream that we woke up from. I guess that's when I realized that I didn't need to be afraid of being a mother, or afraid of whatever else might happen. You can survive anything and end up better because of it if you just keep trying."

She tried to lift her head away, but Beau held her in place gently, enjoying the feel of her soft red hair against his cheek. "I wish I could believe that, but I'm not sure that everyone has that ability to survive. Mother didn't. Father… he's never really healed. I know that if I lost you I'd…"

This time Beau was the one who tried to move while Ella stilled him. He hadn't meant to say so much, but once again he found himself losing all semblance of control when he was around her. It was hard to remember that this was the girl that he had spent his childhood teasing and ignoring as he and Wade would play as soldiers. She'd always been the annoying tag along of his cousin and best friend. A nuisance and nothing more. Then, one day, he came home from school to find that nuisance had become the single most breathtaking woman he'd ever seen.

But he didn't tell her. How could he? They had been practically raised as family and he was certain that she didn't see him as anything more than a cousin. He could never compete with the suitors that her adopted father would bring around. They were the sons of business acquaintances and heirs to empires who were worldly and sophisticated. Rhett Butler never openly championed any of the suitors to Ella, he never even suggested that was what they were. He would just trot them in front of her like a horse show, while he waited to see if anything caught her eye.

Beau knew that he didn't deserve her. That he could never hope to win her affections. So, instead he took up any excuse to be close to her. So he began ferrying her on errands around town, and talking to her about everything under the sun. He kept his feelings hidden, for fear of scaring her away.

Now, in one evening, he'd let a slip of the tongue ruin everything. He refused to look at her, afraid to see her laughing at him or mocking his forwardness. When he finally couldn't stand the silence any more he was shocked by what he saw in her face. No scorn. No joking. Just her lips in a small smile while the green flecks in her eyes bubbled over.

"You love me," she finally said. He sighed deeply, and she shushed him. "Oh, don't even try and deny it. Please don't ruin this. I've waited much too long for you to start making excuses now."

The sun was gone now, and although the moon was far from full, the couple glowed in the darkness from the excitement of requited love. Beau wanted to kiss her, every part of him screamed to just lean over and take her pale lips against his and show her all the things that he didn't have the words to explain. But it wasn't proper, and he respected Ella far too much to ever take a liberty like that. His love for her was so great that he wouldn't sully it with the baser feelings she also stirred in him. Feelings that left him confused because, certainly, no gentleman would ever want to do these things to the woman he loved.

The sound of a carriage could be heard coming up the street. The Butler's would be home in a few minutes. "I suppose that I need to make my intentions known. Hopefully, Uncle Rhett left his dueling pistols back in Charleston."

Ella's face became greatly concerned. "I know it wasn't much of a joke, but at least give me a smile," Beau chided.

"Let's not tell them," she said quickly, the words tumbling over themselves. "If they know that we're courting we won't be able to spend nearly as much time together. And everything will get strange. And Daddy won't be able to handle it."

"He'll be thrilled. I don't know if you're aware of it, but he's quite fond of me."

Ella still didn't smile. In fact, her face was pale and grave. "You don't understand. There's a side to him that you don't know. A side you've never seen. He's just so protective of me and if he knew…"

Before she could say anything else the carriage was in front of the house. Ella stood up and stood far away from Beau, who was still confused about the sudden shift in her mood. Rhett and Scarlett were walking up the front drive arm in arm whispering between themselves. After something he said Scarlett slapped him playfully. "That's terrible. A man of your age shouldn't say those things."

"My sweet, when I am too old to say, or do, those things you might as well put me out of my misery."

Rhett looked away from Scarlett to see Ella standing demurely on the front porch. A second later he noticed Beau seated alone on the white wooden bench on the other side of the landing. "Good evening Ella. You didn't need to wait up for us, it is rather late. Wouldn't you agree Beau?"

"You're right Uncle Rhett. It's just that I wanted to…"

"He wanted to leave," Ella jumped in to explain, "But I was just so lonely that I kept talking and talking and talking to him to make him stay. He was so sweet to put up with my babbling. But you're right, it is very late now."

Rhett thinned his lips as he trained his gaze between his adopted daughter and Beau. He looked annoyed, so maybe her story about forcing him to stay was correct. On the other hand, Ella had a strange glow about her that he couldn't quite pinpoint. Something that made him suspicious that there was more going on. Before he could ask any questions he heard Scarlett sigh loudly and begin tapping her foot in annoyance. His desire to figure out what was going on with the children became less important that getting his wife upstairs and to the bedroom before the romantic mood set by a night of dancing was lost.

"Good night Ella," he said as he escorted Scarlett inside. "And Goodbye, Mr. Wilkes."

Ever since that night on the porch Beau had detected a change in Rhett as this cold indifference seemed to settle over many of their interactions. Ella had been correct in her fears, but Beau was certain that he could overcome any objection that her father had to their match.

"I can secure a good future for Ella. Now that I've graduated I'm spending more time at the mill, and business is up 23%."

"I suspect that has less to do with your presence than the fact that your father is spending less time there. A trained bear could run that place better than Ashley Wilkes does." Rhett was expecting some type of impassioned defense of his father, but instead the young man just shrugged.

"He's never had a head for business, that's true enough. I'd like to share my business plan with you sometime, to get your opinion of it. I want you to know that your daughter will always be provided for. You needn't fear that."

"I assure you, Beau, I'm not afraid for Ella's future." The truth was that whoever Ella married would secure a windfall that would more than provide for the couple without ever having to work a day in their lives.

Rhett had realized that the world was inherently unfair for women, and far too many of them were forced into matrimony just to insure their survival. It was just that type of arrangement that had lead to Ella's very existence. He had made sure that his girl would never have to face that fate.

Rhett let his mind wander while Beau continued to talk about things like family lineage, and good breeding, and Ella's place in the Wilkes' line. Nothing that Beau had said had caused Rhett to change his opinion. In fact, this line of conversation, with its obsession with such mundane matters as money and ancestry, had affirmed his earlier suspicions.

"You don't need to continue." Rhett leaned back in his chair and gave Beau the coldest look he'd ever seen. His eyes looked just like two pieces of black coal.

For as long as he could remember, Beau had heard stories about Rhett Butler being a blackguard and scoundrel. Stories of duels and debauchery that seemed incompatible with the boisterous man who always took time to play silly games with him. For the first time he realized that they were all true. The man who was looking at him now was a stranger, and one who seemed capable of anything.

"Beau, you're a fine young man. And I'm sure one day you'll make some woman a fine and upstanding husband. But it won't be Ella."

There was finality in his words, but Beau wasn't ready to give up yet. "I'm sure that there must be something that I can do. Something to convince you to change your mind."

Rhett's eyes sparked for a moment. "You sound pretty impassioned. Do I need to worry about you two running off to elope?"

"Certainly not! I would never disgrace our families like that."

The light was extinguished and Rhett made some excuse about needing to get back to work. He then looked back at his paperwork as if he were alone. Eventually, he was.