Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

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

It has always amazed me how Scarlett was the man stealing vixen and the men were just innocent pawns. The men were the ones that transferred their affections from the other woman to Scarlett.

Chapter Three

When Scarlett was at La Fayette she would get to come home once a month. She knew she had turned into a striking girl who all the boys had been attracted to. She knew she was attractive because all the boys had come over to talk to her at the social events. All the boys who had always been her friends were now flirting with her. At first, she hadn't known how to flirt or what to do but Cathy Calvert had helped her out. Cathy was a year older than her. Cathy had a lot of beaus. Cathy had remained her friend. She would admit that her being so popular had gone to her head especially after the girls at La Fayette had hurt her so badly with their cruel words. Soon she was being talked badly about in Clayton County also. At first, she had not really tried to attract any of the boys' attention. They had come to her. When she heard how the other girls were talking badly about her for 'stealing their beaus,' she decided to see how many beaus she could capture. She had stolen men away from other girls just to see if she could and because she could.

When she graduated from La Fayette Academy. Two things she knew that men were attracted to her for some reason and women were repulsed by her probably for the same reason. That is when she was going to prove to everyone that she was someone important. She was going to be a great lady, and nobody would ever speak badly about her again. She would make the finest match in the county if not in the South. On her mother's side she was a Robillard from Savanah on her father's side she was an Irish peasant. She was proud of both of her ancestors.

If she had married Ashley, she would have been the most important woman in the county. Was that the only reason she had wanted to marry him? Had she ever genuinely loved him, or had she told herself she had so she wouldn't have to admit to herself her selfish, self-centered nature?

She thought about that for a long time. She thought about it the next day and the next. She thought about it when she walked to Twelve Oaks which was only a ten-minute walk from Tara. In that moment she knew she had been convenient. She had been flattering to Ashley's conceit. She had been the belle of five counties, and she idolized him. He hadn't loved her. What was it he had said all those years ago in the library? He had not said, "I love you." He had said, "I love your spirit and your love of life." With great sadness she knew she had misled herself for all these years and for some reason Ashley had let her. With that thought there was a big crack in her image of Ashley.

She remembered his visits. As she remembered them, she knew she had been bored most of the time. She hadn't understood anything he had said. He had always wanted to read her poetry and talk about things she didn't understand. Things she didn't want to understand. He would read romantic poetry with lots of words of love. She had thought it was his way of telling her of his love. It had been what he had wanted to do. Read poetry while a young girl looked at him with worshiping eyes.

One night after the children were in bed, Scarlett and Suellen started talking about their childhood. They had told funny stories. They had told of the pranks they had played on poor Careen. They had told of the love Pa had for his wife and his children. When Scarlett went to bed that night, she was at peace. She hadn't been at peace for a very long time. Not since she had gone to Lafayette Finishing School. Not since she had come back home with her mission. Not since she had started her mission to snag the best husband.

She had quit drinking after that awful night. It wasn't good for the baby. She hoped that Ella was just stupid and that she hadn't ruined her child with all the brandy she had consumed while she had been pregnant with her.

With her mind being clear from her lack of drinking Scarlett had pondered her life and wondered where she had gone wrong. No matter what path she went down it always led to Ashley. Ashley and that conversation in the library that fateful day. She recalled again the words he had said, 'How can I not love your passion for living and your spirit? When I have none." The more she thought about it the worse the words became. He had never said he loved her. Never. She had made a whole fantasy cloth out of some simple words. Once the cracks started appearing in her golden image of Ashley then more cracks appeared.

Melanie wrote her once a week about the doings in Atlanta. She said, "The only news she had was that Ashley had gotten a job as a newspaper reporter and so far, he liked it. There wasn't anything else going on." That made Scarlett laugh. Of course, they had nothing to talk about she and Rhett were out of town. Who would those old biddies talk about if she and Rhett weren't around? She smiled and wrote Melanie back. Her letters were as boring as Melanie's letters. Nothing was happening here either and Scarlett loved it. The peace and calm of the country enclosed her and made her feel safe for the first time since the war had started.

One day as she was sitting on her porch, a man rode up. She had remained seated on the porch swing and placed the bundle of clothes needing mending in her lap. Whoever this was couldn't see her midsection.

The man had looked so handsome. He had looked like a knight in shining armor. He wasn't any of those things. It was Alex Fontaine. It had been a trick of the light. With the light shining behind him Alex had looked like a Greek god just like Ashley had that day when she was fourteen. Scarlett had visited with Alex and the more she talked to Alex the more like a Greek god he looked. Alex wasn't a Greek god. Although Alex was an attractive man, he was just a man.

She recalled that she hadn't seen Ashley for at least a year before that day when he and Charlie had been on their Grand tour. She had not seen very much of Ashley the four years before that because he had gone to school in Virginia. He had gone away a skinny boy and had returned a finely build attractive man. She admitted to herself Ashley wasn't a knight in shining armor. He was a man. He in fact was a failure as a man. He was such a failure that he didn't have the strength of character to shut India down. At first, she was appalled by her thoughts. Her next thoughts would have been even more appalling if she hadn't already been past caring about Ashley. She thought, 'Ashley is a nothing. The Ashley she knew died in the war.' She had instantly lost all feelings for Ashley. No, her feelings had been gone for a long time she just hadn't known it.

She talked to Alex about the war and the changes in their friends. Alex said, "Remember how gung-ho we were to get to go to war. We should have listened to your husband and Abe Vinter. They knew what they were talking about. It was hell."

"Is that why Cade didn't want to live anymore after he came back?"

"Probably. There are a lot of men not adjusting to our new world."

"Like Ashley."

"He always was a little different than the rest of us. He could hunt and ride with the best of us, but his heart wasn't in it. He would have preferred to be in his library reading poetry. I feel sorry for Ashley. He wasn't meant for this world we find ourselves living in. He was meant for a fine world. Ashley had too gentle of a soul to have survived the war. Who knows what happened to him at Rock Island? I have heard horror stories from other men who were there. I will not share them with you. They are not fit for a lady to hear."

Scarlett had said the same thing to Rhett many times about Ashley but now she heard the truth in Alex's words. He wasn't making excuses for Ashley he was just stating the facts.

Scarlett had said words that would have been heresy a year ago. "He can't change and adjust. He can't be anything but a gentleman living by rules that no longer apply."

"You are right. There are a lot of gentlemen in this county that are doing a lot of things that a gentleman would never do."

"There are a lot of ladies in this world doing a lot of things that a lady would never do.

"True. Do you know where Will is? I need to borrow his plow."

"I think he is in the fields. The plow is in the barn. I'm sure it is alright for you to borrow it."

"Thanks Scarlett. I will return it next week."

"Fine."

As Scarlett watched Alex walk off, she knew that her Ashley was lost to her. Not because he was married to Melanie but because he no longer existed. She wondered if he ever had existed except in her mind. After much thinking about the matter, she decided he had only existed in her mind. Scarlett also knew that Melanie knew that Ashley was broken by the war, and she always had.

She knew that Ashley had not been able to shut India down because he didn't have the strength to combat anyone. The next thought that followed was he didn't have the strength to combat her and make her understand he didn't love her not since Rock Island. That is what he meant that day in her mother's office when he had said, "I can't fight both of you." Truth was he couldn't fight anyone. She giggled when she thought, 'Probably not even Beau.' She smiled when she knew he had used her and her love for him to get her to watch over Melanie during the war.

She discharged Ashley as easily as yesterday's refuse. She just stopped thinking about him. She wouldn't think about Rhett either. It hurt too much to think about Bonnie, so she didn't think about either of them. She just thought about the baby, Wade and Ella.

Wade and Ella were enjoying their time at Tara. Scarlett watched as Ella played happily with Suellen's daughters Susie and Solange. They loved her. She was sweet, kind and nice. She was just like Melanie Wilkes. Everyone loved her too. Even Suellen who had the most reason to hate her, loved her. Scarlett watched Wade walk around the grounds of Tara. He loved it as much as she did. Yes, he was her son. She watched Wade work with Will. Will was teaching him everything about Tara.

At the end of September, she saw Mammy visiting her mother's grave and she remembered Phillipe. That evening she cornered Mammy in the nursery. Scarlett said, "Who was Phillipe?"

"Phillipe? I don't know of a Phillipe."

"That's strange you don't know who he is considering he was the man my mother was calling for on her death bed. Tell me who he was."

"First let me tell you about your mother before she married your father. She was beautiful. She was the life of the party. At fifteen she had already received several marriage proposals, but she wasn't interested in any of them. She only had eyes for her cousin Phillipe Robillard. He was a handsome man. He was twenty-five with black hair and very green eyes. Green eyes the same color as yours. He had come to Savannah from Paris the year before. He was enthralled by your mother. Your Grandpere did not want your mother to marry him because Mr. Phillipe was poor. Therefore, Mr. Phillipe went off to make his fortune. I don't think your Grandpere thought he really loved your mother. I think he thought Mr. Phillipe was a fortune hunter. Eight weeks later he was dead. A kind priest in New Orleans had written to Miss Ellen and told her about his death. He had been killed in a barroom brawl. She received the telegram the day before Mr. Gerald had asked her to marry him. She gave her father an ultimatum: She was marrying Gerald O'Hara and moving to Georgia, or she was going into the convent. Your Grandpere chose for her to marry Gerald O'Hara. She never forgave her father nor spoke to him again."

"So, my mother stopped living when Phillipe stopped living. She started being a proper lady and doing good works. Do you think she ever loved my Pa?"

"I think she loved him, but I don't think she was in love with him. She was a good wife to him."

"No, Mammy, she was a dutiful wife. You can't be a good wife if you love someone other than your husband. Thank you."

Scarlett thought about her mother and her grandfather for a long time which made Scarlett smile. She had never spent much time pondering things but that was all she had done since she had arrived at Tara. She wondered why Grandpere had let her marry an Irish man who lived in Georgia. He could have just said no to either choice. Her mother wouldn't have been able to marry or go to the convent if her father hadn't agreed. Scarlett suspected there was more to the story but that she would never know because both Grandpere and Mother were dead. She also realized that despite the fact that Pa had idolized and adored his wife Ellen had not returned the feelings. Scarlett also knew that her mother had given up on living when she moved to Georgia. She had just been doing what was expected of her. Scarlett was beginning to not accept things at face value.

Scarlett thought about what she had said about her mother only being a dutiful wife. She said to herself, "I haven't been either to Rhett. I haven't been a good wife or a dutiful wife. Of course, Rhett hasn't been a good husband either." She would think about that tomorrow.