Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

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

Interesting factoid: In the 19th century women didn't wear underwear as we know it today. While our underwear keeps things safe, covered, and protected theirs was actually the opposite. Their dresses went to the floor, so they were not worried about exposing anything. Instead, they were concerned about being able to use the toilet, which would probably be an outhouse actually, without having to get undressed. The Victorian woman put on seven layers of clothing. The layers were her chemise, her pantalets, her corset, her two petticoats, her corset cover and her actual dress. She certainly didn't want to take all that off just to be able to relieve herself. Therefore, the pantalets were basically two pants legs sewn together at the waistband. That would provide a large opening to facilitate relieving herself.

Also, the prevailing medical theory at the time was that it wasn't good for a woman's genitals to be covered. I personally think that was to discourage women from wearing pants.

Therefore, when I have Rhett and Scarlett having sexual encounters without either person disrobing, it in fact would be quite easy to accomplish.

Chapter Eleven

As Rhett and Scarlett sat in the dining room waiting for dinner, Scarlett said, "Things must be going well between India and your friend. India asked Ashley if she could buy a new dress. Ashley turned her down."

"Yes, Stuart told me he was captivated with the fair Miss Wilkes. Let's buy her one. It would make Mr. Wilkes mad for India to be happy. From how you say he talks about her he probably doesn't like her very much."

"I don't think he does either. I will contact Mrs. Browning. I think she sews for the Wilkes. I have another idea on how to torture Ashley," As Wade walked into the room, Scarlett said, "I will tell you after lunch when we take our nap."

Rhett was thinking, 'I don't know if I can be ready that quickly anymore, but I will be certain she has a good time.'

By this time Scarlett knew about how much time Rhett needed to recover therefore when they retired to their bedroom she said, "Let's just lay here and talk."

Rhett smiled at his wonderful, not so naïve wife and said, "Yes, let's just lay here and talk."

"What is a romance language? Are they languages of love?"

Rhett laughed and Scarlett got mad. She knew Rhett was laughing at her ignorance.

Rhett said, "Soothe your feathers. I can see why you would think that, but no the term has nothing to do with love. There are several languages that originate from Latin the language that was spoken by the Roman Empire. They are similar and have many similar words."

"When I said to Ashley, we were thinking of learning Spanish he said he could help me because it was a romance language like French."

"Mr. Wilkes is correct. That means we cannot learn Spanish, Italian or Portuguese if we wish to speak about Mr. Wilkes behind his back. We will learn German."

"What was the Roman Empire?"

Rhett spent the next hour telling Scarlett about the ancient empire. He was speaking as simply as he could because it was the first time Scarlett had shown any interest in becoming better educated. As Scarlett listen to Rhett explain the Roman empire in easy-to-understand sentences she was really fascinated by what he was saying. She really did like this Rhett so much.

A week later, India was thinking about Mr. Townsend. Mr. Townsend had escorted India to three events. She was so happy. India felt like a belle again. They were going to an event tonight and she wished she could afford a new dress. A pretty new dress that would make her look beautiful. She had asked Ashley if she could buy one and he had been so hateful when he had said no. He had made that mean comment about it taking more than a new dress to make her look beautiful. She guessed she would wear her blue dress.

Melly knocked on India's door and said, "You didn't go ahead and buy a new dress after what Ashley said did you? India. He is going to be so mad. He has been so grumpy lately. This will just set him off."

"No, no. I didn't. I wouldn't."

"There is a dress box out here with your name on it. It was just delivered. It is from Mrs. Browning."

"There must be some mistake." India hurried down the hall to the parlor. Much to India's surprise a dress box was sitting on the tea table. There was a card attached to it with her name on it. She reached for the card. She hoped it wasn't from Mr. Townsend. It would be sweet but so inappropriate. So inappropriate she would have to quit seeing him. She read the card.

It said: I am so sorry for coming between you and Stuart Tarleton. If I hadn't you and Stu would surely have married before the war started. I cannot undo the harm that I did but maybe this dress will help you with your next gentleman caller. Please accept my peace offering.

Scarlett Butler.

India handed the note to Melly and opened the dress box. It was a beautiful dress. It was almost perfect. The neckline was lower than what India would have chosen. It was a beautiful shade of pink. It was the perfect color for her. There were shoes tucked into the box also.

There was a card sticking out of the waist band. That card said: Please.

After reading the note Melly said, "How kind of Scarlett."

India may have hated Scarlett, but she was going to accept the dress even with the low neckline. After all Scarlett did know how to catch a man. India laughed when she saw the small bottle of rouge in the box. Yes, she was going to use the rouge also. The rouge made her look prettier. A little bit of rouge and lip gloss and that was it.

India sadly realized that Scarlett had been nicer to her in the last month than anyone else had been in a lot of years. Stuart had been the only ray of happiness she had in a world of gray and unhappiness. She was the older sister, yet Honey had been the one Father had matched up with Charlie. When their mother died, she had to start running the household while Ashley went on a Grand Tour and Honey got to continue being a young belle for a few more years. She often wondered if Ashley had anything to do with Scarlett stealing Stuart away. Ashley had never liked Stuart. He was always making unkind comments about Stuart especially about him being stupid. No Stuart hadn't been the sharpest blade in the drawer, but he had been sweet, handsome and very interested in her. That is until Scarlett stole him away. The thing that bothered India was the comments Ashley made before it happened. A couple of comments about being glad when we no longer had to suffer through his barbarian lack of intelligence much longer. When the whole county found out about Stuart preferring Scarlett to India all Ashley had said was, "At last." He had not expressed one word of sympathy to her for what had happened to her.

What really bothered her was a conversation that she had heard between her father and Ashley. Her father had said, "What have you done?"

Ashley had said, "Nothing."

"Don't lie to me."

Ashley had whined, "Nothing."

"I don't believe you. You have always been such a petty man. So, what if he was stupid? He made India happy. It was a good match."

"I didn't do anything. Scarlett just took it upon herself to steal Stuart away."

"I don't believe you but what is done is done. If she ends up an old maid, it will be because of your pettiness."

Her father had walked away in disgust, and Ashley had gone to the stables and went for a ride.

As disloyal as it was for her to think, it wasn't the first time India had wondered if Ashley had persuaded Scarlett to steal Stuart away from her. Everyone knew Scarlett would do anything for Ashley.

The next day Beau had come over to play with Wade. Rhett had taken them all to the park and Scarlett had happily just gone with them. She hadn't waited for an invitation or anything. Rhett had laid out a blanket for Scarlett and Bonnie to sit on. Bonnie was doing more crawling off the blanket than sitting on it. It wouldn't be long before Bonnie was walking. The child had as much energy as her mother. Ella sat with them for a little while then went to play with Wade and Beau. As Scarlett sat at the park playing with Bonnie and watching Rhett play with the children, she thought about helping India. It made Scarlett feel good to be helping India. India was fairly attractive when she didn't have that scowl on her face. Admittedly Rhett had suggested Scarlett write the note and give her the dress. He had decided that it would torture Ashley if India was happy. Scarlett didn't know about that but something in her wanted India to find happiness. It still infuriated Scarlett to know that Ashley had discarded India's emotions so callously. To her shame she knew that she had discarded India's emotions callously also. She had only wanted Stuart because she wanted all the men to want her most. They had ruined India's life. Ashley because he didn't want to have supper conversation with Stuart Tarleton. She because she was a vain silly girl. She now knew why she wanted to help India find a husband. Because of her part in that whole fiasco.

Ashley had ruined Scarlett's life because he had wanted her to wait for him. He thought Melanie was going to die then he would have married her. Ashley had put her life in danger by tricking her into staying with Melanie in Atlanta. If Rhett hadn't gotten them out of Atlanta they would have died. Rhett was so wonderful. As she thought about it, Rhett had always been there for her except maybe at the Fire House. But that was because he couldn't access his money. It was probably his shame and frustration that had made him be so cruel that day. She knew Rhett had a cruel streak in him. She had seen it often enough. It was that cruel streak that made him such a perfect partner for getting back at Ashley.

Scarlett thought about that day at the Fire House. The one and only time she had fooled Rhett. For a few minutes he had actually believed she had loved him. He had believed her because he had wanted her to be in love with him. He was so angry when he had discovered that she had been lying to him. He had been angry because she had almost played him for a fool. She thought about when he had asked her to marry him, and he had tried to get her to say she loved him. There had been an eager look on his face then he had been cruel and mean when she wouldn't say it. That night in New Orleans when she had sighed. He had been so angry that night because although she had been in bed with him, she had been thinking of another man.

In that moment she knew Rhett loved her. Rhett loved her with the kind of love she had thought Ashley had loved her with. He had told her when he had asked her to marry him, but she had not understood. She understood now. She would not hurt Rhett. She knew she loved him too. That was why having relations with Rhett wasn't gross or degrading but wonderful and exciting. Even all that icky stuff he wanted her to do which while she was doing it wasn't icky anymore.

She knew all she wanted from Rhett was his love. It was nice that he was rich, but it was the man she loved not his money. The man that he was would always triumph. His wealth was an extension of his personality. Just as her building the sawmills up from nothing was an extension of her personality.

She knew now that was why Bonnie was her favorite because she was their child. She knew that was why she didn't mind having another child because it would be their child. It would make Rhett so very happy, and she wanted to make Rhett so incredibly happy.

Rhett made her feel safe and secure on a physical sense and maybe with time she would feel secure on an emotional level but knowing Rhett loved her and would always take care of her sped her along to that sense of security. She smiled when she thought about what Rhett had said that night at Frank's store. He would kill her before letting her sell herself to another man. Yes, Rhett would and that thrilled her.

She wondered if Rhett had killed Frank to get him out of the way. She decided no for in truth Frank was no competition for Rhett and he was old. Frank probably would have died from natural causes soon anyway. If Rhett would have killed anyone it would have been Ashley. She paused and wondered if Rhett had killed Frank and had tried to kill Ashley. It would have been clear sailing for Rhett then. She decided no for if Rhett had tried to kill Ashley he would have succeeded. Wasn't Rhett one of the finest marksmen in the South? Scarlett smiled and laughed at herself. It certainly didn't appall her to think that Rhett killed to have her. No, the thought actually thrilled her.

She wished she could tell Rhett she loved him, but she was too afraid of being wrong. If she was wrong, then he would use that knowledge against her. She would just wait and see if he would tell her first.

Rhett looked at Scarlett sitting on the blanket with Bonnie. He wondered what she was thinking about. He knew it wasn't Mr. Wilkes. He was finding her harder and harder to read. It actually made him happy. He liked her being a little mysterious. It also meant she was becoming a deeper person. He definitely like that. He was so glad she hadn't gotten pregnant from that mishap last week. He would have to be more careful in the future but when he was with her, he wasn't thinking at all. She looked at him and smiled. He smiled back.