Chapter 62

The house was quiet now and the servants began to lock up the windows and doors. "Won't you come into the library and rest your feet a bit, Rhett?" asked Scarlett, carrying a decanter half-filled with brandy and two glasses into the room.

"All right" said Rhett as he followed her into the library.

Once he sat down, he said "What do you want, Scarlett? From the way you were fawning all over Ashley Wilkes, I am still inclined to assume that this is all just an elaborate ruse to get me to sign a divorce petition of some sort-"

"I wish you wouldn't keep talking of divorce" replied Scarlett, handing him a glass of brandy. "You know I don't want one." She hesitated a bit before walking to a chair.

"Then what do you want , my love?" asked Rhett, we behind her. "Surely you still don't pine after my affection- especially after I have neglected you and left you in despair-"

Scarlet looked at him and then sipped her brandy. "Now, we can't go over that, again Rhett. I tried apologizing to you and you told me you couldn't stand me being humble. So, now that's over and done with. I can't keep apologizing forever-"

"I didn't expect you to-"

"But you keep telling me! Now, lets just talk about why you were so curious about me and Ashley- I know I'm not very good with ideas and clever thinking.. but I don't mind stepping out of my line a bit.. if its for you-"

Here Scarlett slowly raised her eyes and a kind of natural demureness crept into her gaze that Rhett stared at her steadily before walking to a nearby sofa. "If there's any truth to it-" he began, in a drawling tone.

"Oh its the truth, Rhett" cried Scarlett, earnestly. "Can't you see how tongue-tied I am? This kind of talk is hard for me but if this is what appeals to you-"

"Very nice of you to consider my feelings" cut in, Rhett, sarcastically. "All right, Scarlett.. what do you have to say?"

Scarlett smiled and her cheeks dimpled immediately. "Well, I really don't know how to start. But do you know this kind of thinking where a person sees pictures in their mind?"

Rhett frowned but nodded faintly.

"Well, I know it all sounds silly... but deep inside, that's the way I like to think.. in pictures. My earliest ideas of my own Mother was that she was wise, calm, loving ,kind and beautiful like Holy Mary. I carried that picture, you see... in my head.. Does .. does it sound very silly?"

"No. No.." replied Rhett. "Go on-"

"And.. and well when I said Ashley was just an old childhood habit, I lied there. Because you see, I myself didn't know what to make of it, Rhett. I was never very confident like you. But now, after everything that happened, I know that there was more to it.. you see.."

"Yes?"

"Well, I pictured Ashley Wilkes as Prince Charming from a fairy tale- honourable, noble, kind, generous, sublime and strong-"

"And what did you picture me as?" asked Rhett, getting curious, despite himself.

"I'll tell you in a minute. But there was more going on between me and Ashley than you knew before, Rhett. You remember, you wanted to know my mind? Well, I'll tell you why I was so caught up with Ashley and this little bit of deep understanding that I got from thinking about this-"

"I don't believe you." said Rhett, rising up. "I'm leaving now-"

"So am I" replied Scarlett. "I usually turn in for the night at about 10:00. Now its fifteen minutes past and its late already. I'm so tired I can hardly stand-"

Rhett looked at her with a blank expression on his face. "Well, good night then-"

Scarlett led him to the door and then as he put on his hat , she laughed and said "I never answered your question. I always pictured you as a pirate, Rhett-"

"A pirate?" echoed Rhett, with a grin.

"Yes. A pirate coming in to ravage and plunder. But this time, you aren't going to. There's more to me than you think and if you want to miss out on it, then it's your choice, Rhett Butler- No don't speak, just listen while I tell you that I am going to New Orleans next week and if you had any curiosity left in you, you would come there and we could spend a few days just talking ideas, if you like- And tell you all about me and Ashley- Allright?"

Rhett stared to turn around but she had already turned and climbed the stairs.