Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and all of the feedback. It is always welcome.
The comments Rhett makes about Samuel Clemens are true.
Chapter Sixty-Two
In March of seventy-five after it had warmed up Rhett took Scarlett on a buggy ride. They drove all around the town. They had a picnic. They talked about their life in the North so far. Scarlett agreed that it had been a good decision for Bonnie to move to Hartford. Rhett said, "I think Bonnie, Melanie, Beau, Prissy, Esau and I are happier. Alex was too young when we moved for it to make a difference. I just don't know about you and Wade."
"I'm happy because you are so much happier but I think Wade and I feel the same. There are parts to our new life that are better but it still isn't our home."
"Neither is the South anymore."
"No, it isn't. I'm happy here with you." She leaned forward and kissed him. They exchanged kisses for a while.
Rhett stood up and said, "Come on. I want to show you something."
They got their basket and their blanket and got in the buggy. Rhett took her by Samuel Clemens' home on Farmington Avenue.
Scarlett said, "It is beautiful. Is it bigger than ours?"
"No but it was a lot more expensive. It is rumored he spent over forty thousand dollars on it."
"No!"
Rhett laughed and said, "You want to know the funniest part. The year before he built it, he wrote a book called The Gilded Age. The book is about Americans obsession with getting rich."
"Did you say something to him about it?"
"Do you not know me at all? Of course, I did. He mumbled something about he wrote the book for the good of the public. I let him get away with it. I must be mellowing with age."
Rhett told her stories that made her laugh. Rhett teased her and made her laugh. She teased Rhett and made him laugh. They talked about the children. They argued about a couple of items. All in all, it was a good day. After they got home, they spent time with the children. Wade and her relationship had changed yes but now they were close again but in a different way. That night as she was brushing her hair, she thought about how Rhett had always been able to make her laugh even if it was at herself. She was glad she was able to make him laugh every now and then.
Once Rhett's mother arrived in July, they took the train to Chicago then boarded a steamship and traveled to New Orleans. Everyone had a great time. Melly, Elizabeth and Scarlett were amused and annoyed because according to Wade and Beau Rhett was the authority on everything. It was especially annoying when one of the ladies would say some fact and the boys would turn to Rhett to confirm that it was actually true.
Scarlett and Rhett were able to go and do some of the things they had done during their first honeymoon. After being in New Orleans for a week Rhett and Scarlett were laying in their bed. They had just finished making love. Scarlett turned her back on Rhett and sighed and a very loud sigh then she ruined it by giggling. Rhett rolled her over and hugged her close. He was laughing too. They certainly never thought they would be laughing over that memory. They spent about three weeks in New Orleans then took the train back to Hartford.
Rhett had bought Scarlett a praline every day while they had been in New Orleans. When they were sitting in the common room on the train, he gave her a dozen of them. He said, "You will have to ration them out until," He handed Scarlett a piece of paper and continued, "you and Elsie can perfect this recipe."
"How did you get this?'
"From the proprietor of that candy shop that we stopped in every day. When I was buying all these, I persuaded him to give me a copy of his recipe."
"Rhett, thank you."
Rhett had persuaded the owner to give him a copy of his recipe by giving him five dollars and by swearing on his mother's life that he would never open up a candy shop of his own.
Rhett then said, "If you get as fat as the Cuban women, I will divorce you."
Scarlett had smiled and confidently said, "No you won't. You would never divorce me," then she whispered so no one else could hear, "again."
Rhett turned very serious and whispered back, "No, I would never make that damn fool mistake again."
Scarlett kissed his cheek and with a show of generosity that would have been completely foreign to her in the first timeline said, "We can have these after supper."
Elizabeth practiced her signs in front of the mirror every day when she was in Charleston so she would not forget them. It usually took her several days to get functional but soon she was communicating with Bonnie. Bonnie would gently correct her grandmother's signs for her when she formed them wrong. Her grandmother was the only person Bonnie did that for.
When they returned to Hartford Scarlett found the telegram informing her that her Aunt Pauline had died. They had missed the funeral. They wouldn't have gone even if they had been in residence when the telegram arrived. It would have taken too much time and effort to go. The only reason to go would be to see Rhett's mother but since she was visiting them at the time there was no point to travel to Charleston.
Scarlett said, "One of my sister's probably went to represent the family."
Elizabeth had said, "I will get a talking to by my daughter about not attending the funeral of my dear friend. I shouldn't say this about my own daughter but she has become a bitter old maid. It breaks my heart especially knowing that if she hadn't been so set in her ways and had loosened up, she would probably be married and happy."
Rhett quipped, "Just because you are married doesn't mean you are happy."
Scarlett said, "Rhett!" and looked offended.
"Of course, I am ecstatically happy because I am married."
Elizabeth and Melanie smiled at the couple.
Elizabeth continued, "Rosemary has begun taking it upon herself to tell people when they aren't behaving properly according to her high standards. It is so very sad. I have told her that the old ways are over. Her response was to not talk to me for two weeks. I wish I could make her understand that people don't appreciate her telling them they are not behaving properly."
Melanie said, "The poor dear. It seems in these postwar times there are a lot of people who are following the rules of society even more strictly than before the war. My late husband was that way. He was so very proud of himself for always being a gentleman. I think partly because it was all he had left of his life before the war. Maybe that is why Rosemary wants everyone to adhere strictly to the rules of proper society. It is all she has left of her life before the war."
Scarlett said, "I think we all have tried to hold on to something that made us feel like we were still living the life we led before the war. For me it was holding on to Tara. We managed to hold on to Tara but it isn't the Tara we grew up on. Now a days instead of feeling a connection to the past when I am there it reminds me of everything we lost because of the war."
Rhett said, "I feel little to no nostalgia for my life before the war"
Elizabeth said, "What about your life before you were disowned?"
"There were one or two parts of that life I would have liked to recapture when I would have a morose moment when I was in my twenties. Fortunately, those moments were few and far between. I was too busy making money and having fun."
My biggest concern about Rosemary is that she is alienating people and will soon be alone except for me. Robert never invites her to his home anymore. Not since she passed judgement on his children for being too loud and noisy. Her friend Sarah married George Mulberry and moved to Savannah. He is Albert's cousin. They met at the May Masked Ball. You remember the young lady I gave my ticket and dress to because I went to Europe with y'all instead. Her friend Emma moved to Macon. Soon she won't have any friends. At least Albert still calls on her and she has all her committee meetings."
Rhett said, "Mother, I can't do anything about her haughty attitude but I assure you I will continue to support her even after your death."
Elizabeth smiled and said, "Thank you, Rhett. You always were a good boy."
Rhett quipped, "There are lots of people who would argue with you about that."
Scarlett said, "You are right, Rhett. Like Samuel Clemens, or Brad Armstrong, or George Stevenson, or Bradley Milton or…"
When Scarlett paused to think of another name, Melanie said, "Or that man that owns the bank, William Jones. Do you remember at the last musical soiree when Rhett made him so mad that his face turned red? It is a good thing he didn't have a gun or he would have shot Rhett right then and there."
Everyone laughed. Scarlett said, "Or Dr. Mead."
Melanie said, "Or Mrs. Elsing."
"Or Mrs. Merriwether during the war."
"Ladies, thank you for confirming that I am right but I don't think we need to list every person who doesn't like me."
Scarlett said, "I don't think we could even if we wanted to. There are so many and most of them we don't even know about."
Melly said, "Maybe we could just list all the people who do like him. You, me, his mother and….."
"The children."
Elizabeth said, "He's always been good with children."
"And some of the servants."
"But definitely not all of them."
The ladies were laughing so hard they couldn't speak. Rhett just smiled and took the teasing. It was true. The only people who truly liked him lived in this house which was alright. They were the only people he truly liked also.
When the ladies finally got control of themselves the conversation moved on.
Scarlett thought, 'He really does have a good heart when he cares about someone but he can be a real horse's behind to anyone else.'
Two weeks later Scarlett received a scathing letter from her Aunt Eulalie telling her what an awful person she and her sisters were. 'Not a one of you O'Hara girls bother to show up at your sweet Aunt Pauline's funeral.' The line that had made Scarlett laugh was …. 'Y'all are no better than Irish trash now that Ellen is no longer there to keep you in line.' Scarlett threw the letter in the trash. She didn't care what Aunt Eulalie or really anyone in the South thought about her. She received a letter from Careen a week later and at the end of the letter Careen wrote, 'Aunt Eulalie informed me that I was now just Irish trash. So much for me being just like their sweet sister Ellen. I know I am in good company.'
They had Beau's birthday party and Elizabeth returned to Charleston.
Aunt PittyPat died in October of eighteen seventy-five. The funeral was being held two days after they got the telegram. That was barely enough time for them to get to Atlanta in time. Scarlett and Melanie wanted to attend the funeral. They felt Wade and Beau should attend it also. They brought everyone with them. They stayed at the National Hotel because everyone had come with them. There were too many of them to stay at the Hamilton House.
Bonnie got upset if either of her parents were gone for very long. Rhett was quite willing to accommodate Bonnie because he got anxious if he and Scarlett were separated for any length of time. His anxiety had gotten worse as the years had gone by. Instead of feeling more and more confident that they were in this timeline permanently the longer they were here the more uncertain he felt. Rhett knew Scarlett suffered from this same irrational fear because when he had come back from a business trip after only four days, she had begged him to never travel without her again. She had not said why she had made the request and he had not asked. He had just told her he wouldn't. He had immediately sold any of his interest that required him to travel. He had not suffered any financial losses because he had found new industries to invest in.
After all these years Rhett was still afraid that he would find himself back in his old life. He knew it was silly but he felt that as long as he was with Scarlett that wouldn't happen to him. He would never be able to stand it now after all these years of happiness. As a result of those thoughts Rhett didn't like being separated from his wife for more than twenty-four hours.
Scarlett asked Evie if she wanted to go to visit her relatives. Evie said, "The only relative I ever had was my Mama besides my husband and baby boy. Mama passed away last year."
"Evie, why didn't you tell me. We would have let you go to your mother's funeral."
"She was already dead and she wouldn't have wanted me to waste the time or the money on a two-day train trip both ways just to see her put in the ground. Miss Scarlett, she forced me to go with you and Mr. Rhett because she thought I could have a better life in the North. My Mama loved me and I loved her. She didn't need me to see her put in the ground to prove that," Evie gave Scarlett a cheeky little smile and continued, "She might have come back and haunted me for wasting all that money on that foolishness."
Scarlett had smiled as Evie walked off. She guessed she would have to take care of her own children on the trip to Atlanta. She'd make Rhett help her.
They brought Prissy and Esau with them. Once the group arrived in Atlanta, Rhett had sent Prissy and her family on down to Tara. Everyone else would be going down after the funeral. Prissy was so excited to get to see her mother Scarlett couldn't make her wait two more days while Scarlett attended her Aunt PittyPat's funeral.
