11

Cling and Clatter

Ella had awoken in the middle of the night and had tiptoed down the hallway toward the kitchen for a glass of hot milk. Anything for some sleep. Anything to take her mind off of things.

To her surprise, her mother was already standing in the kitchen. A hot pot off coffee was sitting on the stove and a bottle of whiskey on the table.

"I needed a hot toddy to help me sleep," Scarlett said, her face flushed with the embarrassment of having her nightly ritual discovered.

Ella responded by retrieving her own glass from the pantry and pouring her own generous serving of whiskey into it. Taking a sip, she stared into her mother's face.

"I can tell by looking at you that you fear the worst."

Scarlett sighed aloud. "I haven't cried so much since Melly died. You remember Melly, don't you, Ella? Beau's mother?"

Ella nodded. "She was a wonderful lady."

"Well, seeing Ashley tonight and Dilcey's sorrow and Kathleen Fontaine lying there dead - and knowing that the blame for it is being cast upon Beau. Why did he go, Ella? How could he have gone?"

Ella sighed. "I don't know, Mother. I truly don't. In truth, he was acting strange before he left for the Fontaine's. I was jealous of her…of Kathleen."

Scarlett dropped her head into her hands and cried, seemingly forever, until at last, with a shudder, they came to an end. Raising her head, she took the cup of coffee that Ella held out for her and drank the tepid liquid quickly.

Without further words between them, Ella put an arm around her mother's shoulders and assisted her up the stairs and to the master bedroom, where Rhett lay softly snoring.

"I mustn't wake him," Scarlett whispered, then quietly pulled the door closed behind her. Moments later, Ella heard the rocker creaking on the porch and more of her mother's muffled sobs.

She returned to her own bedroom and closed her eyes, and with a heavy heart, thought that the entire County would most likely be mourning for a very long time.

Her sleep fitful, she shivered in fright, seeing terrible visions of Beau wielding the pistol that shot Miss Kathleen in the heart. Finding it useless to sleep, she rose at last, then sat down at her vanity, readying herself for the new day before returning to the kitchen for another cup of strong black coffee.

Smells wafting up from the kitchen caused her stomach to rumble, reminding her that she did not eat last night, nor the night before.

The tongues were already wagging round the breakfast table as she entered, the gossip arriving long before the ham and eggs had been brought out by Pansy from the kitchen.

Wade had usurped Rhett's rightful position at the head of the table, and Ella thought he looked almost cheerful as he read the newspaper. His wife, Victoria, looked highbrowed and self-important. "Ella, dear, join us," Victoria pasted a big smile on her face.

"You were there when they took him away," she leaned close to Ella as the latter sat down beside her. "You must tell me, is it true what everyone in town is saying about Beau being enraged over poor Miss Kathleen's father insisting upon their betrothal? You know, they're all saying that they were good as engaged. She'd been speaking about it for months, you know, planning out dress patterns and the like. It's really quite shocking!"

"Now, sweetheart," Wade peered over his newspaper. "You know that what you're repeating is hearsay. Beau is our cousin and I will assume his innocence until he is found guilty in a court of law."

"Phoey!" Victoria said dismissively. "You were railing about it this morning at the hotel … just because he's your cousin doesn't mean that he's not a murderer. I daresay, it was worth the trip just to see the spectacle. I do hope we can remain for the trial."

Glaring at her sister-in-law and then her brother, Ella picked up her knife and began cutting the ham on her plate before answering. "Everyone in this town knows the fine, upstanding character of Beauregard Wilkes. He's a pillar of the community, a wonderful gentleman. Could you ever believe him capable of such a thing, Wade Hampton?"

Wade stroked his chin as he leaned back in his chair. "No need to upset yourself, Ella. I was just restating the obvious. Beau will be tried. And he will be hanged if found guilty, that simple."

"Hanged, really? Why that's barbaric - the things you Southerners come up with, why, it's simply extraordinary. I'm very glad that I was born north of the Mason-Dixon Line," Victoria preened in her seat.

"They hang people in New York too, sweetheart," Wade smiled indulgently at his silly, beautiful wife. "The offenders simply aren't important enough to reach your delicate ears."

"I think you're teasing me, dear," Victoria smiled coquettishly. "But still I shall enjoy the excitement while we are here. The scandal is positively delicious."

Having enough, Ella threw her napkin down as she stood up. "Do you think that this is a game? Do you? A girl is dead! And until this misunderstanding is cleared up, Beau will pay for it! You stupid, selfish cow!"

With that she left the room, the sound of Victoria's outraged "Well I never…" behind her.

Fleeing to her mother's office, she looked out the big window and out over the lawn at the hustle and bustle of the servants as they went about working as well as gossiping. She could tell by the way they held their heads together, furtively glancing toward the big house. Truly, the Negro line of communication was remarkable - and this would be fodder for their conversations for months to come.

Standing at the window in deep thought, Ella did not even hear Rhett enter the room until he cleared his throat.

She turned around quickly, startled, and stammered an explanation. "I didn't hear you come in. I was just …oh, I don't know…"

He walked the length of the room and took up position by her side, taking in the same scene that she was.

"No words need be spoken, Ella. We've known each other far too long."

"Oh Rhett," she sobbed. "Beau wouldn't - he wouldn't do this. But when I hear Wade and his wife and all of them … I can't stand it, Rhett, I can't!"

"Shh," he soothed, placing an arm around her shoulder. "It's alright. Look, all that matters is that the sheriff gets to the bottom of the matter. And leave the gossip out of it. I made a terrible mistake once, placing my trust in idle gossip. I know damn well that Beauregard loves you better than anything. Don't start doubting him now, eh? We will all be the better for it."

With a kiss on the cheek, he left her side and shut the door softly behind him.

"He's right." Ella declared loudly. "He's right!"

She excused herself for the afternoon, pleading a headache when Wade asked her if she'd like to come with him to town. They wouldn't be allowed to see Beau until the sheriff had completed his investigation, so there really was no purpose for her presence there. Besides, Ashley had to be lonely over at Twelve Oaks…

Ella and Ashley pulled two chairs from the back porch to sit beside the old oak behind the house after her horse and buggy had been situated, in order to have a conversation away from listening ears.

"Well, Kathleen's funeral is tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m.," he sighed, taking a deep drag on his Havana. "I visited Sally this morning. It was a terrible thing to behold, the wailing and weeping. Alex arrives tomorrow…my oldest friend." He suddenly jumped out of his chair and leaned up against the tree. "It's a good thing Beau's in jail. Alex would come out here and shoot him without stopping to ask questions. In fact, the majority of the folks in town are not very favorable to Beau's case right now. It wouldn't take anything for a lynch mob to gather," he added, shaking his head sadly at the thought of his son being strung up.

"I don't even want to think of such things, Uncle Ashley," Ella replied. "None of it makes any sense. None of it…"

"Of course not - it never should have happened!" He slammed his fist against the tree, articulating each word as it made impact. His fist was bleeding when he had finished.

Finally, he dropped back into the chair with shoulders bent, and Ella could observe tears rolling down his weathered face.

There were no words left, none to be found between the two of them - and finally, Ashley suggested that they return to Tara before Wade returned from town so that they might be the first to hear his news. Thankfully for them, Victoria had elected to remain in town, retiring to her hotel room for the evening; even still, Rhett, Scarlett and Wade were seated round the dining room table, the talk churning like a tidal wave.

Adding insult to injury was the newspaper headline:

Mr. Wilkes Arraigned

The coroner's jury, sitting on the body of Miss Kathleen Fontaine, having found a verdict against Beauregard E. Wilkes for felony murder of the deceased. Mr. Wilkes was arrested yesterday and arraigned before Magistrate Munro, who agreed that the order granting bail to Mr. Wilkes should be vacated.

Rhett was livid, and brandished the paper like a rapier. "It's a damned farce, this whole bail business. As though Beau would try to jump it…"

"Hell, I'd risk my neck riding out for Texas rather than risk my neck in the hands of a Clayton County jury," Wade commented.

Ella thought that her mother looked unusually pale, her demeanor quiet and withdrawn. If she had treated Wade and his wife with grudging tolerance before the murder, her attitude had now shifted to one of outright suspicion and disdain.

Wade didn't seem to notice, because he continued. "I understand why he did it, though."

Ashley grimaced. "Wade -"

"Put yourself in his place," Wade continued, "I'm sure that the truth will come out when the time comes, in court, but I can imagine it now. He's engaged to Ella, prepared to start a new life with her, he says something to Kathleen that he shouldn't have said, makes some promise, perhaps even touches her breasts, as they're saying in town … He goes over there to announce his betrothal and she threatens to expose him, he panics and shoots her. You see, quite reasonable."

"Reasonable? Great balls of fire, Wade!" Scarlett snapped. "Perhaps with your quick temper but not Beau's even one."

"Love makes us do strange things," Wade shrugged. "Don't you agree, Rhett?"

"I think that we have quite a bit of the happenings of two nights ago to piece together," Rhett said cautiously. "For instance, I was not aware that Ella and Beauregard were engaged. Congratulations are in order then, Ella, albeit under the present difficult circumstances."

"I'm not engaged," she shook her head. "He did not ask me."

Ashley exchanged a glace with Wade, who looked irritated.

"His feelings for you were not a secret," Ashley said softly.

"He didn't ask," Ella repeated, feeling that something was being kept from her.

"He -" Ashley began, then was interrupted by Rhett, who interjected, "I'd let him do the asking, Ashley. And no, you don't need to be ashamed that this - misunderstanding - has occurred. My own father was rather ashamed of me, so I sympathize with Beau."

"I wasn't -"

"I know you hate to be talked about, Ashley, else you would have honed in on my wife during my long absence."

"Rhett, stop it," Scarlett snapped.

"Scarlett, I'm talking to Ashley, damn it. I've learned to be frank over the years and I must do so with him, now, Ashley. There are two sides to every story, but there is not necessarily a right or wrong side."

"I understand the expression, but I fail to see the relevance."

"Pity, I thought that you dealt in metaphors. Well, let me explain it. Who other than Beau himself knows the truth about the occurrences of that night? Who can defend his honor? Who, indeed. I have my suspicions, but I am not policeman."

"Well let's hear it, Rhett," Wade smirked. "I'm all ears."

"Certainly, Wade. I would simply pose the question of - who would benefit the most from Beauregard's downfall? Certainly Miss Kathleen would not, for she's dead and of no consequence anymore. You have any enemies, Ashley?"

"No, none."

"Ah, an honest man. Holy and honest. Scarlett, what do you think?"

"Rhett, isn't this exactly the sort of thing you warned us away from doing?"

"You misunderstood me, my pet - I believe that I urged us all to cease our idle gossip. Better surely to place our energy into exonerating Beauregard and unmasking the real killer - a person whom, I suspect, had no real quarrel with Miss Kathleen at all; she was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"My God, Rhett, you must have thought this out at length," Wade smiled. "You missed your calling, I think…what an inspector you would have made.'

Rhett responded with a wry grin of his own. "I'm merely attempting to sort out the truth from the cling and clatter. Of course, Wade Hampton, I'm an old man…what else am I supposed to do with my days?"

Author's Note – Please review and share your thoughts! =)