Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback. Thank you for your comments.
Chapter Seventy-Four
December came and they did all their traditions. They got a tree and decorated it. They exchanged gifts. They had a fine meal. They sang songs and just had a good time. Rhett and Esau took the children ice skating. Henry went with them but he spent a lot of time watching them from the coach.
They had their usual round of birthdays.
As they were celebrating her birthday, Bonnie thought, 'I can hear Papa and Uncle Henry singing. I know what they are saying. I must have gotten some of my hearing back. I will find out how much I can hear with Ella's help. I don't want Mama or Papa to know. They would send me to a regular school.
As Henry and Elizabeth were getting in the coach to go to the train station the next day, Scarlett said, "You are always welcome to come back anytime. You don't have to wait until July."
Henry had said, "Really? I may take you up on that."
Scarlett and Rhett discussed two things that night as they were getting ready for bed. How much of a raise they were going to give their servants and if they would be alright with Henry Hamilton living with them fulltime? They quickly agreed to give both Prissy and Esau twenty-five cents a week. They quickly agreed on most of the other employees. They decided to give both Nate and Evie ten cents more a week. Rhett suggested they give the cook a twenty-five cent a week raise. Scarlett countered with a nickel. Rhett was appalled. Didn't she think Elsie was the best cook they had ever had? When Scarlett shook her head no, Rhett couldn't believe it. He certainly thought she was the best by far. He would give her fifteen cents a week and that was final. If the woman hadn't been old, fat and ugly Scarlett might have been jealous but while Rhett might enjoy her cooking immensely, she knew that was all he was going to enjoy with regard to Elsie. Rhett's attachment to Elsie amused Scarlett. She would never have thought her husband would have been so vocal on their cook but he certainly was.
As far as Henry Hamilton living with them. They were both alright with it. He was pleasant company and all his close relatives lived in their house so it made sense.
As Scarlett walked over to the fireplace to put another log on the fire she said, "Too bad we can't convince your mother to live with us."
As Rhett walked over to the fireplace to prevent Scarlett from putting another log on the fire in an already overly hot room he said, "She will never leave Rosemary."
As Rhett led Scarlett back to the bed she said, "Rosemary is not welcome in my home."
As Rhett pulled his wife down on the bed and started warming her up, he said, "You don't need to worry about that. Rosemary would never lower herself by living with us."
Scarlett's last thought was, "Works every time."
They celebrated Scarlett's birthday with dinner and dancing. Rhett had hired a painter out of Atlanta to go to Tara and paint it. He gave her the paintings as a birthday present that March. The artist had stood in the spot that was hers and Pa's favorite spot to look at Tara and another one of the main house. The paintings were beautiful and she hung them in the family parlor but it still wasn't the same as being there. She didn't tell Rhett that it wasn't the same but he knew. It was the best he could do though. Scarlett knew she would never see Tara again. She never planned to go to the South again. The only thing there for her now was Careen and Will and their sons. She had a few of the pictures Rhett had commissioned that day so long ago placed in frames. Her favorite was the one of her children. It always made her smile when she thought about how her son and daughter had made it happen.
At the end of March, when Scarlett stopped by the school room a very embarrassed Mrs. Anderson asked to speak to Scarlett. They went out in the hall.
Mrs. Anderson said while looking at the floor, "Mrs. Butler, um Alex um was ….."
"Was what?"
"Alex was showing Rachel his …"
Scarlett went beet red. She had to be sure so she said, "Alex showed Rachel his," and in a whisper said, "Member?"
Mrs. Anderson continued to look at the floor but she was nodding her head.
Scarlett still beet red said, "Thank you, Mrs. Anderson." Scarlett then scurried into the school room and picked Alex up. Alex was a big six-year-old but his mother didn't have any trouble carrying him so great was her shame and embarrassment. She stormed into her husband's office and plopped the child down in his father's lap. She then scurried over and shut the door.
She said, "You need to talk to your son. He showed Rachel his … his ….," Then in a voice so soft Rhett would not have understood her if he didn't already know what she was going to say, "member. You will have to tell Esau. I could never discuss that with Prissy."
With that she turned around and walked out of the room which was fortunate for Rhett. She would not have been happy when Rhett burst out laughing. Rhett managed to not laugh because he didn't want Alex to think it was funny what he had done. He did have to take a few minutes to compose himself. He thought, 'I told Mammy boys were nothing but trouble.'
Rhett spent the next thirty minutes discussing with his son what was proper to show people and what was improper to show people. The conversation with Esau while awkward was not that bad. Esau understood how boys could be boys. The conversation between Esau and Prissy was not a happy one but Prissy knew more about how boys could be boys than either Mrs. Anderson or Miss Scarlett.
The next several days were awkward between all three ladies but soon everything was back to normal and fortunately there weren't any repeats of the exhibitionism.
In their bedroom Scarlett said, "That was him behaving like you."
"I have never showed anyone my member," When Rhett saw the icy cold stare Scarlett was giving him, he added, "That I didn't end up having relations with."
Scarlett just continued to stare at him. Rhett said, "I explained to him that he should never show anyone his penis but his wife or maybe a doctor."
Scarlett turned beet red with the utterance of the word 'penis' but she said, "Thank you."
In the spring after Bonnie turned nine, Rhett decided that she would go to the Clarke School for the Deaf located in Northampton, Mass. They were sitting in the family music room and he explained to Scarlett, "The Clarke School teaches Oralism. That is where the deaf person is taught to communicate through lip reading and learns to speak by mimicking the mouth shapes and breathing patterns of speech. If we send Bonnie there, she will fit in with the general public easier. Most people will not even know she is deaf. I want this for her so she can live as normal a life as possible."
"You know she has gotten more of her hearing back in her right ear. I don't know why she doesn't tell anyone."
"Why do you think she has more of her hearing back?"
"I have heard her and Ella talking in their room when they are getting ready in the morning."
"Does she speak clearly?"
"No. Ella understands what she is saying but I only understood about half of it. Also, Ella has to speak louder than normal."
Rhett smiled and said, "Because she is our daughter. She would rather be a deaf person who can speak than a hearing person who can't speak very well."
"That does sound like something we would do."
"It is definitely something we would do."
"You think this is best for her?"
"Yes. There are ignorant people who believe that physically handicapped people should not be allow to marry and have children. They believe it would be best for the population as a whole to not let those defective people reproduce. Their words not mine. It is called Eugenics. It basically means that only the best of us are allowed to reproduce."
"Bonnie isn't defective. She wasn't born that way. It was a result of the meningitis. Who decides who of us is the best?"
"An arbitrary group of people. I will give you an example so you can understand better," Rhett knew he had to personalize it to Scarlett or she would not fully understand the impact. "I'm saying that a group of people could decide that people with green eyes shouldn't reproduce and then just like that all the people with green eyes can't have children."
"That is horrible. I don't want to talk about it anymore."
"This arbitrary group of people could decide that anyone who can't hear for any reason can't have children. I don't want to take any chances. I want her to go unnoticed."
Scarlett snorted and said, "Like that beautiful girl is ever going to go unnoticed."
Rhett smiled and said, "You know what I mean."
"Tell me more about this Clarke School."
Rhett said, "It was the first school in the nation for teaching Oralism. It was founded by John Clarke in sixty-seven." Rhett continued telling her everything about the school until Scarlett's eyes glassed over."
When he finally stopped speaking Scarlett said, "So, we are moving to Northampton?"
"Yes."
"Can my house be as big as this one?"
"Yes."
"Can we not sell this house until I am sure I like Northampton better than Hartford?"
"Yes."
"Build or one that is already built?"
"Let's see what is available. If there isn't anything, we both like then we can build."
"I can have all the luxuries my greedy little heart desires?"
"Yes."
"And as opulent, lavish and luxurious as I want?"
Rhett smiled and said, "Yes, but I have to approve your choices."
"When will we move?"
"Over the summer. I have already reserved her a spot for next school year."
"I'm glad Ella is here she will be a great comfort to Bonnie."
"I'm just glad Ella is here."
Scarlett smiled at her husband then she said, "You might as well take me down to the book store so I can buy some magazines to look at. We might as well let the arguing begin. I'll go get my hat."
Rhett laughed and replied, "Yes, let the arguing begin" even though his wife had already left the room.
When Melly found out they were moving to Northampton it made all her guilt about taking advantage of Rhett rise up again. Although Melly had been raised to be completely dependent on a man she had qualms about their situation. The main one was that Rhett wasn't her husband yet he was providing for her much the same as a husband would. He wasn't even a relative. She felt bad about taking money from Rhett and Scarlett even though both Scarlett and Rhett would always squash any talk of her moving out.
One night in May while Scarlett and Rhett were talking about the move, Melly said, "With this move maybe I should move back to Atlanta. I have imposed on your kindness long enough."
Scarlett had started crying and said, "How can you abandon me in my time of need Melanie Wilkes? I'm all alone here in the North without any friends and you want to move back to Atlanta. I didn't abandon you during the war when you were pregnant with Beau. I delivered your child for you. Rhett and I didn't abandon you when we fled from Atlanta that awful night with your new born son. Now you want to abandon us. It hurts so bad that you would prefer to live with India and Suellen. I thought you were my friend, my best friend. I thought you were the sister of my heart. I have never needed you more and you are going to abandon me. I will be in a new city without anyone." She then threw herself on the divan, hid her face, and sobbed deep heartbreaking sobs.
Melanie patted her back and said, "I won't leave you and move back to Atlanta."
"Promise you won't ever leave me."
"I promise I won't ever leave you."
"And we won't ever speak of this again. Promise."
"I promise we won't ever speak of this again."
Scarlett sat up and wiped her eyes like she was wiping away the tears. Melly remembered Scarlett's eyes had been very red.
As she sat there Scarlett said, "Remember you promise to never talk about abandoning me again."
Melly remembered feeling so ashamed and embarrassed that she had dared to talk about leaving Scarlett. No, for talking about abandoning Scarlett in her time of need.
Melanie Wilkes would have been horrified and hurt to find out that entire display had been an act on Scarlett's part. When Scarlett had hid her face, she had been busily rubbing her eyes to make them red. It wasn't that the sentiments weren't true. It was that Scarlett had been so extreme in order to play on Melanie Wilkes' sense of duty and obligation.
As they had gotten into the bed that night Rhett had said, "If I didn't know you as well as I do, I would have believed your act this evening. My compliments to your acting skills."
Rhett had smiled when his Scarlett hadn't even looked ashamed. In fact, she looked proud of herself. She replied, "I had to do something to end all her guilt about taking your financial help. I had to make her realize that we need her as much as she needs us. Afterall if we didn't have her, I might have to listen to you when you talk about new discoveries in the world."
Rhett laughed and said, "Or I might have to listen when you drone on about which shade of pink is perfect for Ella or Bonnie's new dress.
Scarlett smiled and said, "We can't have that can we."
He kissed his wife and said, "No we can't."
Rhett turned off the gas lamp and got into bed. He said, "We are perfect for each other."
"But we aren't all things to each other."
"I would listen if Melly wasn't here."
"I would too but let's not talk about Melly not being here. It scares me when we talk about it."
"Then we won't talk about it." Rhett knew his wife was a little bit superstitious and he was a little bit scared of the unknown. So, he was fine about not talking about things they didn't want to happen.
Author's Notes: The eugenics movement actually didn't become popular in the United States until eighteen eighty-three but there has always been some form of eugenics. From the Spartans killing children at birth that didn't appear to be healthy to the people killing their daughters because only a son could provide for them in their later life. In the late 19th century, there were quite a few people who believed that deformed people were a waste of resources.
In the late 19th century, there was quite a division among deaf people and educators between Manualism and Oralism. For a while Oralism was most popular because then no one needed to know the person was deaf. Now they use a combination of the two.
