Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

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

Chapter Seventy-Eight

Scarlett didn't like living in Northampton. She missed Melly, Wade and Beau, of course, but that wasn't why she didn't like Northampton. There were quite a few abolitionists living in Northampton because before the war it had been a haven for abolitionists. These people felt it was their duty to tell her what an awful person she had been to have own another human being. There were also women called suffragettes that were always taking Scarlett to task for not supporting their cause. Scarlett who never cared about women's rights was highly offended by what these women were saying to her. When they made a rude comment about her being completely dependent on her husband, she had become highly offended. To her it was like they were talking bad about Rhett. Rhett took good care of her. Rhett gave her everything she wanted. She really didn't understand what was wrong with being completely dependent on Rhett.

Even with her history of owning her own businesses she didn't see the need for women's rights. She had always been able to get men to do what she wanted them to do. The suffragettes might have reached Scarlett if they reminded Scarlett of Frank stealing her money but in Scarlett's mind that was Frank who stole her money not a man and woman thing.

Scarlett had been invited to tea by one of Rhett's business contact's wife. The women at the tea were very vocal in sharing their points of view about everything from slavery to women's rights to reforms to men being misogynists. She didn't even know what misogynist meant but if it was something bad then she was sure Rhett wouldn't be one. Unless he could make money by being one then he would be one and she was alright with that. Neither one of them believed in letting morals get in the way of making money.

She attended another tea given by one of the other women. When she had stated she was perfectly happy being completely dependent on Rhett, one woman had accused her of being a beautiful, little, painted doll for her husband's pleasure. The lady had said it so ugly but Scarlett didn't know what was wrong with being a beautiful, little, painted doll. It sounded nice to her. Maybe not the paint part but the rest was nice. Scarlett didn't accept any more invitations.

Rhett had accepted a supper invitation from one of his business contacts. When the ladies had left the men to their cigars and whiskey and moved into the parlor those women had started talking about women getting the vote. It reminded Scarlett so much of all the talk of the Confederate Veterans getting the vote back. She had never understood those discussions and why the vote was so important. Those discussions had made her feel stupid just as what these women had said had made her feel stupid. When she had said that she didn't care if they got the vote or not they had given her condescending looks. That reminded her too much of the condescending looks she had gotten from everyone in Atlanta. That had reminded her painfully of the condescending looks she had gotten from Rhett. She knew she would have to attend these suppers because she knew Rhett made a lot of money at these suppers but she wouldn't attend anymore than she had to.

If it weren't for all the hugs and kisses, she was getting from her children, she would have been completely miserable. If it weren't for seeing Alex's cheeky little smile every morning, she would not have been able to stand it. If it hadn't been for how well Ella was doing academically, it would have been awful. If it weren't for Bonnie trying to speak more and more, it would have been impossible to bear. If it hadn't been for Rhett holding her close every night, she would have made him take them back to Hartford.

They had been in Northampton for almost a month. Scarlett and Rhett had not found a house they liked. Part of the reason was that Scarlett found something wrong with every house they looked at. When she had told him that one of them was too ornate, he knew he would have to find out what was really the problem. Rhett had already noticed that Scarlett was not as happy as she had been a month ago when they were in Hartford. They had gone back to Hartford almost every weekend. It was only an hour trip on the train so it wasn't a problem but it reflected Scarlett's unhappiness with the town.

Rhett took her to supper at a restaurant called, Northampton Inn. He smiled as the maître d' showed them to a table and Scarlett had said, "This is not acceptable. I want something on the other side of the dining room."

The maître d' showed them to another table on the other side of the dining room. She said, "We are too close to the other tables."

The maître d' smiled a tight smile and said, "Perhaps madame would like to choose the table herself."

Scarlett said, "Yes. Thank you." She walked over to a table for two that was about two tables over and said, "This will be acceptable."

The maître d' said, "An excellent choice madame."

Scarlett said, "What is your name?"

"Joseph"

"I am Mrs. Rhett Butler."

The man was holding Scarlett's chair for her and opening her menu. He handed it to her with a broad smile. Rhett had sat down amidst this activity. Joseph opened his menu and handed it to him. Rhett smiled and handed the man a tip.

"Thank you, Mr. Butler."

Scarlett giggled and said, "That was presumptive of him"

"It was a safe assumption."

As they were looking at their menus, Rhett was thinking about the way she had introduced herself. In all their years of marriage she had never introduced herself that way. She had always said Scarlett Butler. He had been fine with it because it reflected her personality – big and bold.

They ordered their food and Rhett ordered some champagne. Scarlett smiled at him. She was her normal chatty gluttonous self. Rhett truly did love to watch her enjoy her food. She was happy and flirtatious. He teased her and she laughed and she even made a few jokes. They drank their champagne. Rhett leaned forward and said, "Bonnie will be finished with her education when she is fourteen. When that happens, we can move back to Atlanta."

"No, I could never live there again. Since we have left the South, we have known freedom. There aren't people judging us for everything we have done or haven't done. People respect you and admire you for the great businessman that you are. I am proud of you. I could never go back where people want me to be slightly embarrassed about you.

"Thank you, baby. I'm proud of you too. You are beautiful but more than that you are fun and outrageous. You are my kind of woman. You are as selfish and self-centered as I am. You are a maverick. You are right. We will never be happy in the South."

"Rhett, it would be like voluntarily walking back into a cage."

They were quiet for a few minutes. Rhett knew she had something she wanted to say. Finally, she said, "I have tried not to complain because I know why we are here. I have noticed that Bonnie is trying to speak more already. She is not clear all the time but she is trying so that is a good thing. I will stay as long as we have to but I don't like living in Northampton."

"Why baby?" Rhett suspected he knew why because he also had been accosted about being a slave owner. He knew there was a strong group of passionate women in Northampton who wanted women to get the right to vote. He also knew his lovely bride would not care about that kind of stuff and would not understand why she should care about that kind of stuff. Truth was he probably cared more for women's rights than this woman in front of him.

She looked around to make sure no one could hear her and said in a soft voice, "The ladies here want me to care about things I don't care about. They act like I am stupid for not understanding how important these issues are. They say ugly things to me about being a former slave owner. I never owned a slave. They have even encouraged Prissy and Esau to throw off their chains of servitude. They have said ugly things about you and my complete dependence on you. They have called you a 'misogde something. I don't know what that means but they must think it is something bad because she said it so hatefully. One lady called me a beautiful, little, painted doll which I would have thought was a compliment but she had said it so ugly. I don't understand why it is wrong for me to be completely dependent on you. You take such good care of me. How can that be wrong?"

Rhett smiled and said, "It isn't wrong." Rhett wasn't going to explain all the intricate details to Scarlett about why those women thought it was wrong for her to be completely dependent on him. He now knew why she had introduced herself as 'Mrs. Rhett Butler.' It was a show of defiance.

Rhett thought she was splitting hairs about not ever owning a slave but he claimed to never have own a slave either so he guessed they both were splitting hairs. Furthermore, she was not going to accept responsibility for something she didn't think she was responsible for. In her narrow concept of the world, she probably thought her Pa's slaves were better off being slaves.

He knew his father-in-law had treated his slaves kindly but no matter how kindly one is treated it is man's nature to want to be free. A lot of Gerald O'Hara's slaves had returned to the plantation. Rhett knew that all of the field hands of Tara were former slaves. He knew that a lot of them simply worked for a place to stay and food because Will could not pay them anymore. The difference was that anyone of them could leave any time he wanted.

There were a lot of abolitionists here in Northampton who didn't mind sharing their opinion about slavery although the issue had been decided by the War. There were a lot of women here who were suffragettes and who were passionate about their cause. They would not understand Scarlett's lack of interest in women getting the right to vote. In all fairness she hadn't cared about the former confederate soldiers getting the right to vote either. He knew there were lots of ladies passionate about all types of different reform movements. He knew his wife would not care about anyone else's plight either. What he also knew was that Scarlett would not understand why these people would be verbally abusive to her. She would not handle that verbal abuse very well.

Rhett watched her happily eat her supper but when she looked at him expectantly, he realized she expected him to say more. He avoided the issue and said, "We can go back to Hartford if you want once Bonnie is finished with her education. Or any other place in this entire world you want to live. I don't care. As long as I am with you, I don't care. As long as I am sleeping next to you, I don't care. I just want you to be happy. That is all I have ever wanted. Well, and for you to love me."

"That is all you have ever wanted isn't it?"

"Yes, Baby, it is all I have ever wanted. You."

Scarlett looked at him for a long time and said, "I am so grateful we got this do over."

"You don't know how grateful I am."

Scarlett smiled and said, "I want to live at Tara but that isn't possible anymore so Hartford is fine. We were happy in Hartford."

"But let's go see the world, please."

"Once Bonnie and Ella are married."

"Alright, my love."

"And Alex has graduated from MIT.

"Alright, my love"

"Just buy us a house. I don't care. Something that we can resell easily."

"Maybe a few personal touches like an oversize tub and an oversize bed."

"Indoor plumbing. I like that very much in the winter."

"I do too, my love."

They went and looked at houses for sale. Rhett chose a small house. They were not going to spend much time in it. He knew they would be going to Hartford every weekend. Prissy, Esau, their children moved with them to Northampton. Rhett hired a groomsman and a stable boy. Scarlett hired a cook and only a few local people for the house. Rhett specifically left Nate in Hartford to take care of the house and his yacht. Scarlett suspected that Rhett's main concern was The Katie but she never said anything. She knew Melly would take care of her house in Hartford. She loved their house in Hartford. It was almost as flamboyant as the mansion but it was a house she and Rhett had decorated. It was their home. That made it better than the mansion.

Except for the oversize tub, hot water heater, and indoor plumbing they never made any changes to the house in Northampton because it wasn't their home. It was just some place to live while they were waiting on Bonnie to get educated. To Scarlett it was no better than a hotel but it was a lot cheaper in the long run.

Rhett had let Elsie stay in Hartford since they were going back to Hartford every weekend. Scarlett hired a cook for their house in Northampton. Her name was Judith, not Judy but Judith. She was a good cook but not as good a cook as Elsie in Rhett's opinion. They were the same to Scarlett. Prissy and Esau went where ever they went. Whenever Rhett went on and on about how good a cook Elsie was Scarlett just sat there and smiled. She would think, 'Nobody in Atlanta would believe that Rhett Butler could be that passionate about a cook.'