Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews. This is Rhett's last flashback and it is a doozy.

Warning: Extremely coarse language.

Chapter Twelve

Rhett

While the members of the Hamilton House were changing bedrooms, Rhett was lying on his cot thinking about when he went back to Atlanta to check up on Scarlett. It was about four years after the divorce, Rhett had business in Atlanta. He had finally decided to sell his interest in the bank there. That was the lie he had told Emma. He had sold all his holdings in Atlanta in June of seventy-four. He had given his lawyer power of attorney and told him to sell everything. He had thought he would never want to return to Atlanta. He had really thought that he no longer loved Scarlett. He had thought he did want the charm and grace he had told Scarlett about that night. He had really thought he wanted to be around respectable people and make peace with his family. He had been so very wrong about all of it.

The real reason he had gone to Atlanta was to convince Scarlett to run away to Paris with him.

He had gone to the mansion and it had a new resident. They had bought it in the spring of eighteen seventy-five. He had gone to Kennedy's General Store and noticed it was now called Robinson's General Store. He didn't recognize anyone in the store. He had asked for Mrs. Butler anyway. He had been told there was nobody here by that name. Rhett had asked for Miss O'Hara and got another head shake on that name also. When he had asked who owned the store, he had been told Sam Robinson. He had owned it for over three years now. He had asked if there was a Mrs. Robinson and he had been told no. He had mumbled something about his mistake and left the store.

He had gone by the Hamilton House and it was no longer the Hamilton House. There had been strangers living there. The new owners had known of Miss Hamilton. She had died in the fall of seventy-five. They had bought the house from the heirs. He had gone to the preparatory school and there hadn't been a Mr. Wilkes that worked there.

Rhett had gone to The Painted Lady and had been glad he had given his half to Belle. Rhett remembered thinking that Belle had looked very old.

Belle told him, "After PittyPat Hamilton died Mr. Wilkes and Scarlett sold the Hamilton House. The Wilkes moved to Richmond, Virginia. They have family there. Mr. Wilkes got a job as a professor of philosophy at one of the universities. I was surprised that bitch hadn't gotten Mr. Wilkes to the altar but by the time you finally divorced her, I think she had seen what a weak man Mr. Wilkes is. She had already found her next victim."

Belle continued, "Scarlett was seen with an engineer in the spring of seventy-five. His name was Nicholas Fowler. He had been coming to Atlanta since the spring of seventy-four. He had been there to do some work on the buildings downtown that had been damaged by the Yankees. He would come to Atlanta once a month then after a few days he would return to Macon. Every month he would go to Kennedy's store to look at the furniture and peruse the catalogs in Scarlett's office. I wonder what else Scarlett was letting him peruse in her office," Belle had cackled then continued. "He had dithered over buying some furniture for a long time. Mr. Fowler had always asked for her to wait on him and she had never gotten impatient with him for not making up his mind. After the good people of Atlanta had learned about your wedding then Scarlett was seen in public with Mr. Fowler occasionally."

Belle told Rhett, "I know they had been secretly seeing each other before your divorce."

Rhett had asked, "How do you know that?"

Belle had said, "Scarlett O'Hara has always been a fast piece. You were just too blind to see it."

Rhett ignored Belle's characterization of Scarlett and said, "Did anyone ever see them together?"

"Nobody ever saw them together except at the store. In the spring of seventy-five Scarlett sold everything. She and the children moved to Tara that June."

"Really?"

"It had surprised me when she sold everything and moved to Tara. She had been welcomed back into polite society with open arms. Of course, she put on quite the act after you left her. She moped around Atlanta all that fall and winter. She acted even sadder when we heard about you spending time with a proper lady in Charleston. After your divorce she had walked around Atlanta looking like a broken bird. She really did look pitiable. She must be a much better actress than I ever gave her credit for. She fooled all those high and mighty people into thinking she had reformed." Belle said and cackled.

He remembered thinking Scarlett must have really been sad if she allowed people to see her in that state. Bastard that he was that had made him hopeful that if she was still that unhappy, she would move to Paris with him. Rhett said, "Do you think maybe, Belle, that Scarlett was incredibly sad in the fall of seventy-three? Afterall she had lost her daughter, her best friend and her husband. Do you think that maybe she might have been completely broken by my divorcing her?"

Belle sneered at him and said, "She could always fool you. She hasn't got a heart so how could it be broken? You yourself said it. Scarlett was nothing but a cold-hearted self-centered bitch."

Rhett had thought, 'Yes, he had said that about Scarlett. On more than one occasion.' Rhett was intent on getting information on Scarlett but he had plan to circle back to Belle's comments about Scarlett. He had said, "So she moved to Tara?"

Belle had said, "Yes which surprised me like I said. After we heard about your marriage she immediately started walking around Atlanta like her old self. That's why I know she was faking it or maybe her engineer was plowing her." and Belle cackled again.

Rhett had clenched his fist to stop himself from shouting at Belle to not talk about Scarlett that way. He instead said, "Go on."

As he thought about it now, he knew his Scarlett and he knew that with his marriage she had consigned him to the back of her mind. What he wished she had done when Wilkes had gotten married but that was the difference between her being a naive sixteen-year old and a disillusioned twenty-eight-year-old.

"Yeah until the fall of seventy-six. Her Mammy died and she married that engineer. They live in Macon. That cracker, that her sister is married to, tells the clerk at Robinson's, Mr. Elsing, what she is doing. Mr. Elsing seems overly concerned about her activities also. I never understood what was so fantastic about her that made men act like fools over her. Even you acted like a fool around her. Everyone knew that you were calling on her while she was Mrs. Kennedy. A lot of people made fun of you behind your back but you just kept acting the fool. It was bad enough that you were obsessed with fucking her but when you married her that was ridiculous. Just for a fuck," Belle shook her head then continued, "After you married her your obsession got worse. What does she have? A golden cunt? I always thought we would end up together. I really thought that you didn't care about all those high society things. At least I saved you from that shrew Scarlett O'Hara."

Rhett was surprised at all the hatred and venom flowing out of Belle. She must really despise Scarlett. He was also taken back at her saying she had thought they would end up together. "Why do you hate her so?"

Belle looked at him and said, "We were happy until you became obsessed with fucking her. She stole you away from me, made your life miserable and she didn't even want you."

Rhett was appalled and astonished, "Belle surely you never thought I would marry you."

"No but you would have been contented with me. Instead you are back in Atlanta trying to find out information about that slut."

"Belle! Never call Scarlett a slut again. You completely deluded yourself. I would never have stayed with an old hag like you. I can have a young, beautiful woman. I can have any woman I want. I would never have ended up with a worn-out whore like you. You were just convenient."

As Rhett got up to leave Belle said, "Not every woman. You never got Scarlett, you jackass. You think you are such a ladies' man but you don't know the first thing about how to win a woman's heart. You actually thought you could win that bitch's heart by buying her gifts. What made me laugh was the more you bought her the more she held you in contempt? You know what your mistake was with Scarlett? Two things – You punished her for loving another man and you were too much of a damn coward to tell her your feelings. Oh, you justified it by saying she would hurt you if she knew you loved her. But the truth was you were just a big fat fucking coward. What's more you would tell me how obtuse she was and I would think not as obtuse as you are. Every chance I got I damaged your relationship not that you weren't doing a great job by yourself. When you ran to me because she didn't want to have any more children, I got you drunk and got you in my bed. When you had raped her, I kept you drunk for three days then convinced you she deserved it because of her actions regarding Mr. Wilkes. I even convinced you to run away which wasn't hard. Coward that you are you were always running away. Every time she wounded you, I was there to soothe your conceit and keep the anger burning. You were so stupid. You should have romanced her and made her feel like a lady. That is what Mr. Wilkes did. You stuck up bastard. You laughable son of a bitch. Now get out of my saloon and don't ever come back you spineless creature."

"I'll leave but not without telling you that I had only continued using your services because you were so pathetic, I pitied you. You weren't even that great of a lay. The only thing you had going for you was your enthusiasm and even that got to be tedious after a while. I only fucked you to hurt Scarlett. She hated you so much and she was so jealous of you. You really must be an incredibly stupid, bitter, old, washed up whore if you ever thought a man like me would end up with you. You can take your shriveled up, blacken heart and go straight to hell."

As Rhett was walking out, Belle was screaming at him. He heard her say, "I have already been there every time I had to listen to you whine about Scarlett. Damn you to hell, Rhett Butler. I may be stupid but not as damn stupid as you. I didn't ruin the relationship with the woman I loved because I was a coward. Does it eat at you that you could never satisfy the woman you loved and you know that was why she kicked you out of her bed."

He just kept walking. He could not look at Belle any longer. He remembered thinking Belle was a bitter old woman with an axe to grind against Scarlett. Rhett wondered how long Belle had hated Scarlett. Probably from the first time he had mentioned her to Belle judging by the handkerchief incident. It seems he had a dog in his manger too. Belle could never have him the way that Scarlett had him and Belle was bitter and hateful toward Scarlett. He remembered thinking, 'I thought Belle was my friend but she never was.'

He had wondered why he had never realized how much Belle hated Scarlett. He knew it was because he had dismissed Belle and Belle's feelings. He had always just thought of her as a stupid illiterate whore and he had not even considered her thoughts or feelings even though he had known she loved him. He had been such a self-centered narcissistic bastard he had never wondered what Belle was feeling when he was going on and on about Scarlett. As he had said she was just convenient. She had just been someone to listen to him whine about Scarlett and ease his sexual needs with. As he thought about it now, he felt some shame about never considering Belle's feelings.

If he had considered her feelings, she would not have been able to sabotage his and Scarlett's relationship as easily as she had. Rhett knew right then that it was true. Every chance Belle got she had damaged his relationship with Scarlett. He had been too self-absorbed and obtuse to realize it.

He and Scarlett had made huge mistakes in their marriage but how many times had the two of them taken the wrong path because of Wilkes or Belle. And what the hell was he thinking taking advice from an illiterate whore. He had been disgusted with himself. He was still disgusted with himself. Of course, neither Belle or Mr. Wilkes had anything to do with the debacle that he had created all by himself by divorcing Scarlett.

He remembered as he had gotten on the train to go back to Charleston he had thought, 'Another insignificant woman that fooled me. It cost me dearly.' He remembered trying to tell himself that he didn't care what had happened to Scarlett but he had known immediately that he was lying to himself. He had known the he had wanted to find her alone and miserable. If he had found her that way, he knew he would have thrown everything he had with Emma away if Scarlett would have run away with him. Emma was what he should want his wife to be like but Scarlett was who he wanted and who he would always love. He had let her go when she had finally realized she loved him. In his private car he had admitted that he had made so many bad decisions during his marriage to Scarlett. Yes, Belle had encouraged him in those bad decisions but he was ultimately responsible for all the decisions he had made. He was responsible for all the ugly words he had spoken to Scarlett and about her. Worst of all he was responsible for divorcing her.

On the eighteen-hour trip back to Charleston he had cried almost the entire time. He had cried like he hadn't cried since Bonnie's death. He had cried for Scarlett, he had cried for Bonnie, he had cried for their lost baby, he had cried for what they could have had if he had made different choices, he had cried for how awful his life was because of his own actions.

Rhett had briefly considered going to Macon to check on her to make sure she was happy and if not beg her to go to Paris with him. He had not because he had thought she would never take him back after everything, he had done to her. Somehow, they had gotten a redo and by some miracle Scarlett was willing to try again with him. Now he had a chance to correct the mistakes of his life. One truth that Belle had said and he agreed with was that he was not a good judge of women. Belle, Emma, Rosemary and Scarlett proved that. He now laughed at the irony of the situation. He had always been so concerned that Scarlett would not make a fool of him but he had let women who really didn't matter make a fool of him.

He laughed when he thought, 'I had always called Scarlett obtuse and it appears so was I.' Today he only cared about keeping Scarlett happy and getting their babies back. He was going to make a lot of money while he was here also, of course. Afterall he knew which business ventures would be successful and which ones wouldn't.