Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and the feedback.

Chapter Fifty-Five

The Connecticut River ran through Hartford. Scarlett smiled. Rhett was finally getting his wish. He was going to live by the water. Scarlett and Melanie were trying to get settled at the hotel. Rhett said he would get Bonnie enrolled at the school. He said he had a few other errands to run but he would be back before supper.

About four o'clock Rhett returned and told everyone he had bought a carriage and he wanted to take everyone for a ride. He made everyone get in the carriage and the driver took off. Scarlett asked, "Where are we going?"

"Just for a drive."

Scarlett noticed that Rhett was excited. She had never seen him that excited. He usually had a dignified, controlled expression on his face except when he was interacting with the children. He looked like a kid so great was his excitement. The carriage stopped at the marina and Rhett hurried everyone out of the carriage. As he carried Alex and held Bonnie's hand he hurriedly walked toward the boats. He stopped at one and said, "What do you think?"

Scarlett said, "What do I think about what?"

"My new yacht."

There in front of them was a boat that looked to be about fifty feet long. It had three sails and a little cabin. Scarlett who knew nothing about boats said, "It is a boat."

Melanie said, "It is lovely Did you buy it today?"

"This very afternoon." Rhett was bouncing on his feet he was so happy. "Shall we go for a sail?"

Scarlett said, "A small one. It is almost time for supper. Your children are not happy when they are hungry."

Rhett said, "Neither is my wife. Get on. Get on. I hired a man, Nate, to help me with the sails."

Scarlett scowled at him but preceded to get on the yacht. Wade and Beau were running all over the deck. Scarlett took Alex and Bonnie and they sat on the bench seat in the middle of the boat. Scarlett said, "What is its name?"

"Her name is My Pet."

"Rhett Butler! You didn't! You know I hate that name."

Rhett laughed and said, "I know. I called her Katie"

"Aw, thank you."

Rhett had smile and said, "Your welcome."

"Is it brand new?"

"Of course."

Rhett took them for a ride around the harbor then brought them back to the shore. Rhett was well aware that his wife and all her children did not do really well with being hungry. In fact, they got angry. He had the entire group in the hotel dining room by six thirty. The service at the hotel was fast so Rhett had not pushed the limits of his wife's patience.

As they were lying in the bed Scarlett asked, "Did you get Bonnie enrolled at the school?"

"I will do it first thing tomorrow."

Scarlett sighed but didn't say anything. She was actually enjoying watching Rhett behave like an excited child. It was a Rhett she had never imagined possible.

It was the first of September when they arrived in Hartford. Rhett and Scarlett both secretly were watching Melanie for any signs of illness. They were also trying to make sure she didn't have an accident that killed her.

Soon Bonnie was enrolled and attending school. Melly went to the Asylum every morning in order to learn sign language so she could teach it to the rest of them. Every day Melanie came home and taught Rhett and Scarlett what she had learned. Scarlett would teach the staff and Alex the next day while Rhett would teach Wade and Beau.

They enrolled Wade and Beau in Watkinson Preparatory School. It was one of the most prestigious schools in Hartford. Everyone who was anyone sent their son to the school. When the boys got home after their first day Scarlett asked them, "Do you like the school?"

Wade had replied, "It is a school with a bunch of Yankee teachers and a bunch of Yankee boys." He had walked away into the room he and Beau were sharing in the suite.

Scarlett sighed. She so hoped Wade was going to give living in Hartford a chance.

Beau went to his mother's room and then came out in a few minutes and went to his room.

At least the boys were still being polite. Scarlett looked at Rhett and he said, "It was only their first day. It is going to take a while for them to acclimatize to the North."

Wade and Beau could be cold to her, Rhett and Melanie but they couldn't ignore Alex. He had missed them. So, he wanted to play with them. It gave the adults hopefulness that Wade and Beau were still kind and nice to the other children.

Alex and Rachel, Prissy's daughter, were the same age. They played together in the morning then they napped. By the time Alex woke up from his nap his siblings and cousin were back. Alex was always so excited to see everyone. One would have to be a real curmudgeon not to respond to Alex's enthusiastic greeting. Bonnie was also happy to see everyone so she greeted Wade and Beau enthusiastically too. It gave the adults optimism that Wade and Beau returned the greetings equally enthusiastically.

It was much the same until the weekend then Rhett took everyone sailing on his yacht. Wade and Beau were having so much fun that they forgot they were supposed to be unhappy about living in the North. Rhett and Nate were showing the boys how to work the sails and they were enjoying it.

Scarlett, Melanie, Bonnie and Alex were sitting in the bow of the boat. The children would squeal every time they got wet. Scarlett was glad Bonnie could still make noises. Scarlett smiled at her children.

If Bonnie had gone deaf in the first timeline, she wasn't sure Rhett would have asked her to move with them to Hartford but she knew she wouldn't have gone. She wouldn't have gone because it would have meant leaving Ashley. She shook off those sad thoughts and started enjoying the day with her children.

They had docked and were getting off the boat. When they all heard, "Butler, is that you?"

Rhett turned around and a portly man was walking to him with a girl of ten or eleven. Rhett said, "Mr. Stone."

"Butler you have the devil's own luck. You know that venture you were part of? It crashed about four to five weeks after you sold your shares."

"Really! I hadn't heard."

"When you sold out, I thought you were a fool but it turns out you got out just in time."

"Mr. Stone let me introduce you to my wife," Rhett reached out his hand for Scarlett. "Scarlett, this is Grayson Stone. We have been in some business ventures together."

Scarlett said, "Pleased to meet you."

Stone said, "What are you doing up here? I thought you said you would never leave Atlanta."

Rhett smoothly said, "Never say never. Isn't that the old saying? We live here now."

"Come to supper tomorrow at six. I have a few friends coming over. Bring your wife." Stone handed Rhett his card and walked off with the girl. The girl that was smiling at Wade who was smiling back.

Both Rhett and Scarlett noticed the exchange between the children and smiled at each other. Rhett said, "I guess we have plans for supper tomorrow."

"Who is he?"

"A man I did business with many times. If he thinks he can pull a fast one on you then he will. I have caught him a couple of times. I got out of that venture because they wanted me to travel to Europe for their meetings. I could never be away from you that long."

Scarlett smiled and said, "Thank you Rhett. I know you think I am silly but I am never comfortable with us being apart for very long. I'm always afraid you have disappeared unless I see you at least every day."

"No, I don't think you are silly. I feel the same way."

Later that day Scarlett reflected on that look between Wade and the girl and she thought, "Maybe Wade will decide that the North isn't that bad of a place after all.' Then she thought about her son marrying a Yankee. Scarlett knew that if they continued living in the North it would probably happen. She would think about that tomorrow but one thing for sure if that happened Charles would roll over in his grave. That made her giggle.

Rhett and Scarlett did go to the Stones for supper the next night. There were over two hundred people there. After dinner they had walked around greeting people. Scarlett was surprised by how many of the men and women knew Rhett.

Scarlett said, "How do you know all these people?"

"Remember, my love, since eighteen fifty no true gentleman of the South would do business with me. These men in the North were not as discerning. They were happy to make money with me," Then he whispered, "Especially during the war."

Scarlett looked at him and said, "How did you come to be at that bar-b-que at the Wilkes?"

"I was doing a business deal with Old Frank and as we concluded our deal for some reason, he invited me to come with him to the bar-b-que. For an equally strange reason I said yes."

"If no true gentleman would do business with you why was Frank doing business with you?"

"He had a bunch of cotton to get rid of and I offered him the going rate for the cotton and then he was very happy to do business with me. I knew I was going to store it in a warehouse in London for two or three years and sell it for three times as much. I was just trying to buy up as much as I could before the war started. Time was of the essence. I guess his gentlemanly code wasn't as strong as the little gentleman's"

Scarlett smiled at her husband for he had said the last part so bitterly. "I love you. I didn't even love him. He was someone I made up."

Rhett smiled back and patted her hand. He said, "I know, baby, I know."

Scarlett said, "Rhett, do you think we will ever get over these wounds?"

They had been walking around the courtyard. They had been smiling and nodding at people. Rhett had been speaking to a lot of men and their wives. He walked them over to a secluded spot and said, "I don't know. I think it doesn't bother me anymore because we are so in love and we are so happy but then out of nowhere I feel the pain again. Like now we weren't even talking about him and then there was the pain."

She laid her head on his chest and said, "I know. Sometimes when we are being intimate especially when we do something new it will flash through my head I wonder if he did this with her or one of the other whores."

Rhett stepped back and took her face in his hands. He made her look at him. He said, "Yes, I had to learn how with someone. There aren't instruction manuals on that. But you are the only one I have ever done any of those things out of love. With all the other women it was pleasure for pleasure's sake. Anything I did for them was to make my pleasure better. I do things with you solely to make your pleasure more or longer."

They stood in the shadows a little longer until she said, "Let's go home. I'm not in a festive mood anymore."

"Alright, baby."

As they walked back into the house a lady came up to the couple and said, "I'm Judith Stone. I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to talk. I receive visitors on Wednesday from one to four. I'll see you then. Ta Ta." The woman walked away.

Scarlett said, "I guess I have plans for Wednesday. I will make Melly go with me."

"Come on. I'm ready to be alone with you."

When they got in the carriage Rhett pulled her onto his lap and they did a lot of kissing. When they got to the hotel Rhett said, "Mrs. Butler, you do amazing things to me. You make me feel like a young man of twenty."

"Thank you."

When they got to their suite everyone else was asleep. They just went to their room and continued what they had started.

The next Wednesday at Mrs. Stone's home, Scarlett and Melly met a lot of lovely ladies and were invited to attend several social events in the afternoon in the next several weeks.

They were introduced to Harriet Beecher Stowe and after the introductions were over Melly quickly moved them away. She told Scarlett, "She is the woman who wrote that awful novel, Uncle Tom's cabin."

Neither Scarlett nor Melanie had read Uncle Tom's cabin because it had been banned in the south but they had certainly heard about it. Everyone had said it was trash.

Scarlett gasped and said, "Mrs. Stone received her?"

"She is quite the celebrity here in the North."

"We just won't speak to her." And they didn't.

Author's Notes: Harriet Beecher Stowe did live in Hartford from eighteen seventy-three until her death in eighteen ninety-six. Uncle Tom's Cabin had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U.S. and is said to have 'helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War.' The year it was published eighteen fifty-two it out sold every other book published that year. It was a best seller before they even had that term. It was banned throughout the South as Pro-Abolitionist propaganda.

In the novel Uncle Tom was whipped to death by his master, Simon Legree, for not telling where two slave women had run away to.

Today the term 'Uncle Tom' means a black man who is excessively obedient to white people. The exact opposite of the character in Uncle Tom's Cabin.