I am happy that you are happy to read on. :)

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The next morning Wade woke up early as was his custom. It took a while for his inner clock to adjust to the time difference, but he was back to waking up before the sun rose. He put on his robe and paced around his room for a while before deciding to go for a walk around Berrier Hall.

Wade bundled up a bit since there was a definite chill in the air. He had started to become accustomed to taking the back passages around. He left by way of a secret door out of his room up some stairs to the third level of the manor. He entered into the main hallway and felt an eerie presence about him. Wade shook off the chill and began to wonder down the hall. He opened a door on the right hand side that as far as he knew it may not have been opened in years.

Wade pushed the heavy, creaking door open and placed the candelabra high so he could see into the room...he could see that all the furniture was covered. The room was dark but you could see streaks of sunlight start to come into the room from the windows. It felt as if the room was smoky, but it was only cloudy because of the dust.

Wade closed the door behind him noting where he was, for he didn't want to get lost...

Wade took a turn around the immense dwelling noticing the intricacies on the walls and in the furniture. He raised his light to see a painting on the wall of people he did not recognize. They were a fine looking from far away, but as Wade stepped closer he noticed that the woman was beyond plain. In fact, she was rather ugly. The woman in the portrait sat beside the man and the gentleman was rather short. They were dressed very well but did not smile. Wade stood intrigued by this odd couple. The woman had her hands folded in her lap and wore a plain white and burgundy dress. The man stood with his shoulders square and his chin and brow imposing wearing a plain black suit, white collar, and very thick mustache.

Wade moved from this room to an interior room to see more of the same covered furniture and a very large bed. There were randomly placed desks in the grandiose room. This room had more windows than the one previous. Wade moved toward a window and pulled the curtain back to see the sun light, but was unable to see the sun. This room looked down on a courtyard that he had never seen before. Letting the curtain drop back into place he moved near the desk. He opened a drawer to find random loose papers in the drawer and took them out to read them. He found that they were letters, but he was unable to because they were written in French and his French was not good enough to be able to understand the scribbled words.

Wade placed the papers back into the desk and left the eerie room.

As Wade closed the door, air whistled through the crack sending a chill down his spine. He decided that he had done enough lurking and it was time to go back. Wade returned down the hall back to the hidden stairs quickly, the door closed just in time to miss seeing the figure that appeared down the hall looking for the disturbance...

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Rhett opened his eyes remembering where he was. He looked to his side to see Scarlett still asleep nestled in the pillows and the blankets near him. Rhett turned on his side and just stared at her with such loving eyes. Rhett took a deep breath and pondered.

After so long of wanting her I have her...what will the future hold for us?

God she is beautiful...so much life, so much heart, so much strength...so stubborn...I hope we can make it this time...

Rhett rose from the bed and went to his room to dress and prepare for breakfast. He worried a bit how things would work out between them. Though they had changed, and though they were going to be honest with each other about their feelings, they still had a lot to work through...and big decisions to make...He wasn't so sure how she would take to the idea of going back to Charleston, but she would come around...he was sure she would...she had to...

Scarlett felt Rhett leave the bed and she turned on her other side...

She didn't want to wake up yet. She preferred the dream. When she woke she knew that there was reality to be faced. She was happy to have Rhett, but that would mean more changes, and she was finally getting used to things calming down. Nothing would change how happy she was for Rhett, but still, after so long of hardening herself, it wasn't as if she could make all the pain disappear. Scarlett decided that thinking had ruined any hope of more sleep... so she rose and sought out her journal...

Dear diary.

What am I going to do? I have grown used to having to take care of myself and think of my children, but now I have someone else to consider...What if Rhett doesn't want to find a place in MY world...what if he wants to take us all to that horrible Charleston!! No! No! I refuse to go back there. They were all double faced, lying, devious, conniving guttersnipes! I refuse to raise my children there. Besides, their future is here. There future is French...

Scarlett took a deep breath to calm down a bit. She was very adamant about her children growing up french and privileged among high society. Surely Rhett would understand that and help. He would see things her way... he simply had to...

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Wade returned to his room and stoked the fire, determined that he was cold... He dressed for breakfast and decided to take out his books and do a little bit of studying of french. Hopefully he would learn quickly to be able to read french...he wanted to know what those letters said...

Wade sat and studied until he was inturrupted by a servant at the door.

"Young sir, breakfast with your parents will be starting soon." the man servant said in french.

"Thank you. I will be down soon." Wade replied in french.

Parents indeed...Wade thought to out loud, after the servant left.