Apparently, his calling on her shortly meant that he would come to see her the very next day, and every day after that until they were finally married. It was as if he was afraid that if he let Scarlett out his sight for one moment, that everything he discovered about her newly found feelings for him would suddenly vanish or that she would end up changing her mind about marrying him. In fact, what had brought on this sudden anxiety was what he found when he had come to see her the day after giving her the ostentatious engagement ring.
When he had come to the door that day, Scarlett had let him in.
"Good afternoon Scarlett. How are you today? Haven't missed me too much have you?" he asked with a wicked grin, evidently still amused by what she'd said the other day.
She scowled in response. "That's it. I'm closing the door on you," she said roughly, pushing on the door with all her force, but his hand went out so quickly to hold it open so that she could not close the door in his face as intended.
"Don't be angry Scarlett, I was only teasing. Would it help if I told you that I have been missing you every moment we've been apart? That when I walked away from you the other day, I was about to turn around and come right back just to be near you so that I could quench the sudden loneliness that took over me and that—"
"Hush up, and come inside," she said, cutting him off before he could finish his ridiculous speech. She could tell he was still joking, and even though she was annoyed by his mocking remark, she also wanted to laugh.
He smiled then did as asked, taking a step into the entranceway. "You stop me in the middle of my heartfelt declaration? I see that you have not missed me then, whereas I have been counting the minutes—no the seconds until—"
"You've hardly given me enough time to miss you, Rhett. Why are you here?" she asked impatiently.
He chuckled then took her two soft hands gently in his.
"Because I wanted to see you."
She blushed faintly and smiled up at him. Rhett could be so sweet when he wanted to be, and she wished he would be this way more often because it was so pleasant to be around him when he was being kind. She wondered why he did not behave himself more frequently, when she knew he was perfectly capable.
"That's nice of you to say. Why can't you be like this more often?"
He only chuckled gently in response, and then bent his head and brought her hands up to his lips so he could plant a soft kiss on each of them. And that was when he noticed that something was missing. The large diamond he had bought her was not where he had last left it, on her finger. He dropped her right hand immediately but kept the left one in his tight hold.
"Scarlett, is there something you want to tell me?" he asked firmly, though still masking the anger and faint worry that lay just beneath the surface.
"What?" she asked, confused by the sudden change in his mood.
"Where's your ring?" he said more roughly, still holding her left hand.
Blushing to her hairline, she averted her eyes. Scarlett had taken the ring off yesterday and hid it in her dresser drawer before anyone had come home. She was not quite ready to tell everyone about her engagement, particularly since she knew that people would not be pleased by the news. There was also the fact that they would all probably find it odd that she was ready to be married so soon after the death of her husband, especially after the way she had been behaving lately: heartbroken. She would have gladly put it back on had she known Rhett was going to show up, just to avoid this particular situation, but it hadn't crossed her mind that he would be back the very next day to see her.
"It's upstairs, in my bedroom."
He laughed shortly and dropped her hand abruptly.
"So at least you know where it's situated; now why aren't you wearing it?"
"I haven't told people yet Rhett, and I couldn't let them see the ring first without telling them."
He let out a quick breath, which he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. He was relieved that she hadn't changed her mind and that she was only afraid of facing her family.
"I never really thought of you as a coward. I see that perhaps I was wrong."
"I am not!" she shouted, goaded by the insult. "I'm just not ready yet. What will everyone think after…well everyone thinks I'm still in mourning and well— "
"Excuses, really Scarlett? Go upstairs and get your ring. We'll get this over with today."
"No Rhett," she pleaded.
"Don't tell me I have to drag you all the way up to your room?"
"You wouldn't dare."
"Wouldn't I?" he said with a devilish grin. "Don't tempt me."
And she knew he was serious, just by the way his dark eyes were boring into hers, so she went up to her room reluctantly to fetch the ring. When she came back to meet him in the hallway, he was smiling smugly and it took every effort for her not to slap the smile off his face.
"You're hateful," she said crossly.
"Such sweet words any man would want to hear," he said, his words dripping with sarcasm.
She only glowered at him fiercely, turned away from him, then lead the way to the parlor where she was sure her aunt was still sitting. Scarlett rolled her eyes at how Rhett greeted Pitty with his hand kissing and his over the top flattery that left her aunt in a complete ferment. Rhett caught the look Scarlett was giving him, and he gave her a sly wink. She scowled in return and turned her head.
"Miss Hamilton, I have actually come here today for a particular reason. Scarlett and I have some new, news we hope will please you. We are going to married," he said gallantly with a smirk.
Pitty only looked at him then at Scarlett with wide, almost terrified eyes, and then suddenly her whole body had gone limp and she was falling to the floor.
"Rhett you fool, she fainted!" cried Scarlett.
He was holding Pitty up as best as he could so that she did not drop to the floor completely, but he was having a hard time lifting her to the couch, given that she was slightly heavier than any woman he'd ever had to carry before.
"An astute observation. Scarlett, some help please."
"This is entirely your fault you know. You just had to—"
"Scarlett!"
"Oh fine."
She walked to over to Rhett and she could see just how badly he was struggling to hold Pitty up right, so she took her feet in her hands to help him lift her to the couch. However, as hard as she may have tried to repress it, the laughter that she was holding in at the absurdity of the whole situation, came bubbling to the surface and she began giggling uncontrollably.
"Oh Rhett, this was a wonderful idea. Telling her like this." Scarlett managed to get out between giggles.
He chuckled. "She's fainted before, though I've never seen her go out cold quite like this."
Scarlett was laughing so hard she could barely breathe, and Rhett couldn't help but join in because her genuine laughter was so intoxicating.
"Knowing I'd be marrying you was too much for her to take," Scarlett muttered, clutching her stomach and sliding down to the floor.
"Scarlett stop laughing. All I need is two unconscious women on my hands," he said, though he could barely stop laughing himself.
"I can't!"
"She won't wake up. Where's Uncle Peter? Go get her smelling salts."
With some effort, she stood up, went to get the smelling salts and brought them to him, wiping the tears that had fallen from her eyes.
"I don't think the first face she should see when she wakes up is yours, Rhett."
He chuckled softly in reply. "Perhaps you're right. Why don't I accompany you to the Wilkes' next? See how much damage we can do there," he teased.
"Well at least we know you could carry Melanie to the settee."
"It's not Mrs. Wilkes I'm worried about," he said with a smirk, not being able to resist.
"Rhett!"
He chuckled. "I think she's coming to, so I'll be leaving. That ring better be on your finger the next time I see you, Scarlett."
And with that, he left, and she could hear him laughing softly to himself until the door closed behind him.
Aunt Pitty was not the only one who took the news of their engagement badly. Almost all of Atlanta was in an uproar at the impending marriage, but not even all of the town's bitter gossip affected Scarlett as much as Mammy's blunt words about how she and Rhett were mules in horse's harness. While Scarlett tried not to let Mammy's hurtful words or the town's gossip put a damper on her wedding plans, she couldn't help but feel less thrilled about the whole marriage.
One day Rhett had noticed how morose she'd been lately and he questioned her about it.
"It's nothing," she answered absently.
"It is not nothing. Tell me what's wrong. You've barely said a word the whole time I've been here."
"Well, I just don't understand why people have to be so mean! I was finally excited about one of my marriages and nobody is even happy for me. Nobody."
"Did you really expect anyone to be happy for you?" he said as a smile crept onto his face.
"No, but they don't have to be so hateful, gossiping about me this way. It's their fault I'm feeling so low. Oh I hate them all!"
"Is this really the first marriage you've been looking forward to?" he asked teasingly.
Her cheeks lit up with a rosy pink because she hadn't intended on saying so much.
"You're changing the topic."
He chuckled. "Yes but it's a much more pleasant topic don't you think?"
"This isn't helpful at all, thank you. Maybe I shouldn't plan such an elaborate wedding, no one will come. Oh, but I so wanted a grand wedding and a large reception—oh and dancing!" she pouted, thinking that all her plans wouldn't pan out.
"Did you really want that kind of wedding?" he asked, more serious now.
"Yes, well I don't know anymore. What did you want?"
His eyes flashed and he watched her, suddenly alert.
"Are you really asking me what I want?"
"Yes. Well you don't have to look at me like that. It's not all that shocking."
"Oh no, not shocking at all." He laughed shortly seeing he had offended her. "Now, I was only teasing. I think a simple wedding would be preferable. Why give anyone the chance to decline our invitations?"
She thought a moment. "Maybe you're right."
"You're agreeing with me?" he said with a grin, disbelieving.
"I suppose," she said, still pouting, wishing this was her first wedding instead of her third.
In the end, the wedding party consisted of only very close friends and family members, and there was a small reception afterwards at Pittypat's home. Rhett had not even invited his own family members and Scarlett's own family hadn't bothered to show up, which made her think this wedding was by far the most pitiful one she'd ever been to, other than her marriage to Frank However, she liked to pretend that that wedding had never taken place. The only thing keeping her spirits up was the fact that Rhett had promised her to take her on a wonderful honeymoon to New Orleans the very next day and the thought of what was to come tonight at the National hotel when she would spend the night alone with Rhett for the first time. She felt excited, but also exceedingly nervous because she did not know what to expect from a man like Rhett. He was certainly not Charles or Frank in his demeanor, not to mention that she also loved Rhett, so Scarlett wondered how and if everything would be different.
Although the simple wedding was not what she would have truly desired, she did enjoy one part of the ceremony, which was when they had exchanged vows. For once in her life Scarlett meant what she promised, and even though she knew Rhett perhaps did not mean what he had repeated to her, she felt that she had given him a little piece of her heart when she placed the gold band on his finger.
The kiss they shared afterwards was also a highlight of the wedding, although she found it was all too brazen, and she couldn't help but think Rhett had done it purposefully just to spite everyone, herself included. She could tell he'd been quite pleased with himself because he'd even had the audacity to wink and smile at her devilishly afterwards. In the end, after thinking it over some, Scarlett decided that perhaps the wedding was not as bad as she had thought. At least she loved the groom this time.
Scarlett was relieved when Rhett took her away from the awkward reception and brought her to the hotel, although then she thought about what was waiting for her at the hotel, and she grew remarkably anxious. When Rhett opened the door to their suite, she was about to walk in but his hand came out quickly to stop her, and before Scarlett even knew what was happening, she was abruptly swung off her feet into his arms and carried over the threshold into the room. Giggling carelessly, she wrapped her arms around his neck then had the sudden urge to kiss him, so she did, but quickly and timidly on the cheek.
His eyes darkened with anticipation as he brought her gently back down to the floor. He took her chin in his hands softly, searching her eyes attentively.
"Scarlett, are you happy?"
"I am now," she said smiling.
He chuckled softly then affectionately tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear before kissing her petal-soft lips tenderly. Her heart was racing wildly and she trembled involuntarily she was so nervous. Rhett broke from their kiss, feeling her anxiety, and she opened her eyes to look up at him.
"I promise I won't hurt you."
"I know" she whispered breathlessly.
He started to undo the buttons at the back of her dress ever so slowly, until it slid effortlessly to the floor. He then began to unlace her stays as he swept her thick raven hair to one side and planted velvet kisses every so often along the back of her neck, sending shivers up and down her spine. When she was only left in her chemise, he turned her to face him, and placed gentle kisses on her cheeks, along her jaw, and down her neck, as he ran his hands through her hair and along her arms. She started to unbutton his shirt, finding it difficult to concentrate with the way he was kissing her.
He chuckled softly when he realized her hands were shaking as she tried to take off his shirt, so he took it off for her, reluctantly releasing her from his hands to do it. Running her hands up his bare chest, she could feel his hard muscles beneath her fingers, and then she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to kiss her. He complied willingly, kissing and drawing her closer to his body. Her lips melted instantly under his, and she was kissing him back with as much fervor. His caressing hands and hot breath on her body made her feel so warm inside that she thought she was being pulled into a dizzying dream.
When the light came shining through a crack in the curtains, Scarlett woke to find herself enveloped in Rhett's strong arms, her hair strewed across his chest, with only the sound of both their heartbeats reverberating through the room. Smiling, she knew that it all couldn't have been a dream.
