Chapter 12
Scarlett walked the five blocks from her hotel and came after a few minutes to the commercial section, which had the courthouse as its center. The sun beat down fiercely although there was enough of a breeze in the air to set the flags a-flapping. They were on every street corner, the Stars and Stripes, as if the city existed for no other purpose but to remind her of who and what held Rhett prisoner.
She had put Ashley on the first available outbound train to Atlanta, with the intention of interviewing Belle Watling about the mysteriously absent Mr. Jacobs, and she had expected that he would return within the week with some bit of information that would vindicate Rhett from the capitol offenses and mitigate his guilt in any lesser ones. As soon as she had seen Rhett's picture in the paper, the face if her beloved coupled with the words "hanging" and "imminent", her imagination began to burn like a brightly liberating star. The very next morning after she had been so rudely expelled from the Arsenal, she had wired Rhett's cousin the senator, and then, having received no response, had packed the children into a carriage and had them at the senator's house in a little short of an hour.
On the quiet, shaded street where the senator resided, she noticed that all of the neighbors were staring avidly at her with a kind of languid reverence…or was it contempt? The houses formed a dark, jagged wall against the colorless street. They were all alike, possessing no innate grace or beauty, just languishing in the quiet neighborhood along with the citizens who dwelled within them. A mysterious dread filled Scarlett as she located the address she had sought, and she half-turned to run.
With the purpose for her visit set firmly in her mind, Scarlett took Ella's and Beau's hands and walked up the drive, Wade following behind her. She released the two younger children in order to grab hold of the cold knocker. A large black face filled the glass panel on the right side of the door, and the sturdy looking colored woman opened it grudgingly. The maid stood absolutely still, as if she thought that by looking at them long enough, they would certainly disappear.
"I need to see Senator Butler," Scarlett found her voice. "As soon as possible, if you please."
The woman did not seem to understand the significance of her statement, then looked down at the children then back at Scarlett impatiently.
"He ain't here," the woman growled. "Only his mamma at home."
"I'll wait," Scarlett declared, but the woman only shook her head, then backed up inside the house and slammed the door in Scarlett's face.
"I thought Uncle Rhett didn't get on with his people, Mother," Wade questioned wearily.
"Well, I can sure see why!" Beau piped up. "She was awfully rude."
"Well," Scarlett shrugged, "we haven't any other option, have we?" She stared at the door boldly, as if hardening herself for an encounter. She grabbed the knocker and began beating the door as if it were her own personal enemy. She was aware of nothing, save for making the most racket as she possibly could.
Finally, there was a click and the knob turned.
The woman who answered was about seventy and post deaf, and she plugged something into her ear. She fixed Scarlett with two steel grey eyes and then seized Ella by the arm, scrutinizing her.
"No. Too small. I told that damn children's home that I wanted a bigger girl for a kitchen maid, not these starved little scarecrows they've been sending. I'm not interested in boys either. Worthless lollygaggers all of them; never of any use."
Scarlett cleared her throat nervously as she grasped Ella's hand and pulled her child toward her. "I apologize for the…misunderstanding…I'm not from the children's home. This is my son and daughter and nephew, and my name is Scarlett Butler. I hail from Atlanta and I was hoping to see Senator Butler, if at all possible."
The woman's small, drill-like eyes penetrated Scarlett's own, and she was forced to lower her gaze.
"I suppose you're here about that goddamned nephew of mine. Scalawag! Serves him right what's happened."
Scarlett was torn between expressing shock at the woman's foul mouth or letting out her own expletive in Rhett's defense. Instead, she cleared her throat loudly and said simply, "I take it you are my husband's aunt," though a perceptible trace of scorn crossed her face.
The straight line of the old woman's mouth slowly turned into a smile. "I hope he gets hisself hanged. How'd they get him here, in a chariot of fire? Proud as the devil, he was as a boy! Always has been! I hope he gets what's comin' his way."
"Now see here!" Scarlett said, suddenly breathless. "I came here for help, but if you're just going to throw insults at me, I might as well leave."
Although the old woman looked as if she'd be glad if that very thing happened, she had already determined that she dealt with an interesting lady, this Scarlett character. Her expression changed again.
"I'd say you best come back after the ball tonight, if you want to talk to my son. 'Course, he'll be hobnobbing with all the society folk for all hours. On second thought, he won't thank me for spoiling his night, Missy. Go on there and see him for yourself."
Scarlett's green eyes began to burn within her fierce, fragile face. "Where is it? Where do I need to go?"
The old woman laughed loudly, as though she were enjoying the exchange immensely. "Pity I'm too old and full of mischief to be invited. I'd dearly like to see this play out."
"Tell me where it is, you old fool!" Scarlett ordered with new energy.
"The White House," the old woman sneered. "Think you'll have trouble finding it?"
Scarlett was not looking at the woman. Her neck was suddenly snapped forward and she was staring directly over the old woman's shoulder.
The woman put a claw-like hand on Scarlett's arm in an attempt to penetrate her inattention. "Look here, girl. You got more nerve than most women coming here with these little children. But you won't save my nephew. Not a chance. He's lived a long and useless life and he did you a great injustice by marrying you and dragging you in his dirt along with him. It'll be a blessing for you as well as the rest of us when the Yankees do hang him. It's a perfect irony that his dear friends will take care of him in that way. Yes, a perfect irony!" Her old eyes were alight with pleasure. "It's not too late for you, Missy. Get home to Georgia or wherever it is you hail from and make a new life for yourself. Marry you a nice Southern boy who can help you and understand you, that's my suggestion."
Scarlett's face darkened. "I'll have you know that I would crawl on my hands and knees before the President himself if it meant helping Rhett. I'll do anything, anything at all to help him! And as for you, well, I've never met someone in all my life as coldhearted as you are! And about your own nephew! Why, if you only had an idea of what he'd been through, you'd die of shame for speaking so of him!"
The muscles in the old one's neck twitched, her face twisted in some sort of agonizing contemplation. "Stupid girl. Go on then, ruin yourself on his account. But don't think to drag my son into your dirt. We Butler's are a proud family, and you're mad to assume that my son would risk his good name to aide you in this…folly!"
Scarlett straightened. "Well, I wouldn't take help from the likes of you on a silver platter." After a moment, she muttered, "Come children. Mother has to buy a new dress."
The old woman clinched her fists as Scarlett Butler and the three children wordlessly exited her residence, slamming the door loudly behind them.
"Ruth!" she bellowed loudly. Instantly, the maid appeared behind her mistress, sticking out her large black hand to touch her. The elder shot out her arm like a whip and her mouth stretched painfully as she spoke.
"Extend some invitations for tea this afternoon, Ruth. A few of my son's friends' wives. And send one to Mrs. Grant, if she's available…We must make absolutely certain that it's well-known that we have nothing to do with that woman."
A/N-Just when you thought that the real culprit had been unmasked...
BlaqueCat, I think you're onto something about Rhett having a multitude of enemies. ScarlettStarlet, I'm glad someone caught that little press reference. ScarlettLovesRhett, Belle will be back, never fear. Can't keep a good woman like her down for long. Thank you, thank you for the nice reviews! Hope you're ready for Scarlett O'Hara, belle of five counties, to crash a Presidential Ball.