Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

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

Chapter Eight

Henry Hamilton was not happy. He kept thinking about his conversation with Scarlett. During her visit with him the day before Scarlett had told the older man that she and her family were leaving Atlanta. She had said, "We will be traveling around Europe for at least the next year."

"What about Wade's education?"

"I will hire a tutor."

"Will that be enough? The entrance exam at Harvard is extremely hard."

"I'm sure it will be."

As Henry thought about Scarlett Butler, he wondered what had possessed Charlie to marry her. She had been unacceptable when she was sixteen and she was definitely unacceptable now. All her antics during the war, her running her own business, her marrying that traitor Rhett Butler and the scandal with Ashley was almost too much to be borne. Now she was going to whisk the last male Hamilton off to Europe and wherever without a care to the boy's future.

Henry decided that he was going to have to do something about this. He went to visit his sister Sarah Jane. He had to get her agreement before he proceeded with his plan.

Uncle Peter opened the door and said, "Mr. Henry this is unexpected."

"Is my sister in?"

"Yes sir. In the parlor."

When PittyPat saw her brother, she got all a flutter and said, "What are you doing here? Where are my smelling salts?"

"We don't have time for your vapors. We have to talk. Scarlett is leaving Atlanta which in itself is not bad news, but she plans to take Wade with her."

"She can't take Wade away from us. He is all we have left."

"I know. I didn't want Ashley to take Beau, but I knew that Ashley would raise Beau properly."

"We know Scarlett won't especially since she is married to that man."

"While they were living here, I felt we could keep an eye on the boy and ensure he was becoming a proper Southern gentleman."

"What are we going to do?"

"I'm going to ask Scarlett to let us keep Wade. If she says yes, will you raise the boy?"

"Of course, Of course."

"If she says no, I will tell her I will sue for custody of the boy."

"Can you do that?"

"Unfortunately, no. Her antics while deplorable by our standards are not grounds to get custody of the boy. But she won't know that. She seems to be in a hurry to leave town so maybe she will give up the boy to avoid all the legal aggravation."

"You may be right. She has always acted like the boy was an inconvenience."

"Let me get all of Charlie's properties sold that she inherited then when she comes in to sign the papers, I will talk to her."

"She shouldn't get the money from selling Charlie's properties. The money should go to Wade."

"True. We can't fight that though for Charlie did leave them to her."

A week later Scarlett was in Henry Hamilton's office. She signed the papers selling all of Charlie's property in Atlanta. The buyer signed the papers and handed Scarlett a check. A check that she was going to put in the trust fund for Wade. As Scarlett got up to leave, Henry said, "My dear, there are a couple of other matters we need to discuss."

"Did you find a buyer for the mansion?"

"Not yet. I want to talk to you about Wade."

Scarlett smiled and said, "Go on."

"I have discussed it with Sarah Jane, and we insist you leave Wade here in Atlanta."

Scarlett was outraged. How dare they. Wade was her son, and they couldn't insist on anything. Could they? Scarlett jumped up and said, "When Hades freezes over."

"Dear, please, calm down and let's discuss this reasonably. He is the last of the Hamilton line. We have to ensure he is raised as a Hamilton should be. Not traipsing all over Europe."

"It doesn't matter what you two want he is my son, and I will never let him go."

"You leave me no choice but to sue you for custody of the boy."

"I will never forgive you and Miss Hamilton for this traitorous act. Good day, Mr. Hamilton. Please send all my legal and business records to Rhett's attorney, James Taylor. I will get Mr. Taylor to sell my mansion. I'm sure Mr. Taylor will be able to stop you from stealing my son from me. I will not lose another child."

Scarlett picked up her purse and left Henry Hamilton's office for the last time. Scarlett was so very mad and so very hurt. She felt she had been betrayed by the only two people left in Atlanta that she had any affection for. She was not worried. Rhett would make sure they didn't steal Wade away from her.

As Henry thought about his conversation with Scarlett he was surprised at the intensity of her feelings for Wade. Henry had always thought she had thought of Wade as little more than an inconvenience. He knew now he was wrong. He sighed. Maybe she had thought that way about Wade before her daughter's death but certainly not now. He also knew they were not getting Wade. Rhett Butler would make sure of that.

When Scarlett got to the mansion, she went to look for Rhett. She just knew Rhett would fix all of this. She found Rhett in the library. Rhett and Wade were discussing his studies. Rhett had told Scarlett that he would handle hiring the tutor. He wanted to be sure the tutor would be able to provide Wade with the education he needed to get into Harvard. When Scarlett walked into the library both people knew that she was upset. For even though Scarlett had stopped crying it was plain that she had been weeping.

Scarlett smiled at her son and said, "Go to your room. I need to talk to Uncle Rhett alone."

Wade said, "Of course, Mother."

Wade left the library, but he did not shut the door. He wanted to know what had upset his mother therefore he stood by the open door and eavesdropped. He in passing thought, 'A gentleman wouldn't do this, but I need to know what has upset Mother and I know they will not tell me.'

Scarlett wailed out, "Henry Hamilton is going to try to get custody of Wade."

"Why?"

"Because according to him and Miss Hamilton I am not raising him correctly. I am not raising him as a Southern gentleman should be raised. He is the last of the Hamilton line therefore he must be raised properly."

"How?"

"By suing for custody. Rhett, you can't let them steal Wade away from us."

"Nobody is taking our son away from us. Here dry your eyes and we will go see Mr. Taylor right now."

Wade hurried away from the door. He didn't want to get caught. He had learned three things this afternoon. His mother really loved him, his Uncle Rhett thought of Wade as his son and his Great Aunt and Great Uncle had made a fatal mistake as far as Wade's mother was concerned. Wade knew his mother would never forgive those two people for threatening to take her child away from her.

Fortunately for Scarlett's state of mind Jim Taylor was able to see them right away. The two men shook hands and Rhett said, "Mr. Taylor this is my wife, Scarlett. Scarlett, this is Jim Taylor, our attorney. Scarlett is going to start using your services," Rhett smiled an amused smile and said, "She seems to have had a falling out with her current attorney, Henry Hamilton. She has an urgent matter that she needs your help with."

"How can I help you, Mrs. Butler?"

"Henry Hamilton is my son's Great Uncle. When he heard we were leaving town he took it upon himself to tell me I couldn't leave town with Wade. If I tried to take Wade away from Georgia, he would sue for custody of my son."

"I don't believe that Mr. Hamilton would be successful in that endeavor. It is awfully hard to get the court to take a child away from the child's natural parents."

"Rhett isn't his father."

"I am aware that Mr. Butler is the child's stepfather, but you are his mother. I also believe that Mr. Butler and your son have a parent-child relationship."

"Yes, they do. Rhett has been in Wade's life since he was a baby."

"You have fed him, clothed him, provided a roof over his head and conferred affection upon him?"

"Of course. I love Wade. I would be lost without him."

As Rhett listened to Scarlett's last statement said with so much passion, he knew it was true. She really did love her children, just as she really loved him. She just had a hard time showing it. Yet she did show it in her actions. He smiled for she had already started fussing over him and he didn't find it the least bit annoying.

Mr. Taylor stood and said, "Let me go talk to Mr. Hamilton about this issue. Let me see if I can persuade him not to pursue this course of action."

Rhett stood up and helped Scarlett up. The men shook hands and Rhett said, "Just let me know what the results of your conversation with Mr. Hamilton are."

As Mr. Taylor watched the couple leave, he thought, 'Haven't they been through enough grief without being threatened with the loss of another child?' Mr. Taylor, who was from Ohio, didn't think he would ever truly understand the Southern mindset.

Jim decided that he would walk over to Mr. Hamilton's office right now. They knew each other for they were both attorneys in Atlanta, but they probably hadn't spoken more than ten words to each other in the entire time Jim had lived in Atlanta. Jim had come down from Columbus right after the war had ended. He had just lost his wife and wanted a change of scenery. He had heard one could make a lot of money on the rebuilding of the south if one had a little money. That was how he had met Mr. Butler. The two men had been involved in some deals that were barely legal. That had been Jim's role to make sure the deals were legal or at least legal enough to make it difficult to prosecute.

He was remarried now to a young lady from the South and although her family was kind and polite, he knew they didn't like him or trust him simply because he was a Yankee. Jim laughed. As far as his in-laws were concerned that would be all he ever was – a Yankee.

When Jim got to Mr. Hamilton's office the secretary asked him, "How may I help you?"

"I would like to see Mr. Hamilton. Tell him Mr. Taylor is here to discuss a legal matter with him."

The secretary went into Mr. Hamilton's office and promptly returned. The young man said, "You may go right in. It seems he was expecting you."

Henry rose when Jim walked into the office. The two men shook hands and Henry offered Jim a chair. There were a bunch of files on one of the two seats, so Jim took the other chair.

Henry said, "I guess Scarlett didn't waste any time going to see you."

"We both know that you haven't got any ground to sue for custody. She has provided for the child within the boundaries of her legal responsibility. She may not be raising him the way you think she should but that doesn't make her a bad mother."

"No, it doesn't but I had to try. He is the last of the Hamilton line you understand."

No, Jim, didn't understand that way of thinking but instead he said, "So you aren't going to sue for custody of the child."

"No, but for agreeing to drop the legal actions can you get us a couple of visits before they leave."

"I will see what I can arrange." Jim stood up.

Henry stood up also and said, "All those files are Scarlett's legal and investment history. You might as well take them with you. Good luck being Scarlett's attorney. She will make you earn every penny."

Jim shook hands with Henry. Picked up the files and left the office. That went better than he had hoped. Jim had known that Mr. Hamilton didn't have a legal leg to stand on and that he had been bluffing with Mrs. Butler. He would, of course, not tell the Butlers any of that. He would tell them what a marvelous job of legal work he had done. He was sure getting Mrs. Butler to let the two old people see their grandnephew would not be a problem.