Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.
When Rhett leaves Scarlett at Rough and Ready is one of the clumsy parts of the book. I have read that Mitchell wrote backwards. She wrote the last chapter first then wrote everything else to fit that ending. We know that the only reason Mrs. Merriwether accepted Rhett back into society was because he had served in the Confederate army therefore Mitchell had to write a scene where Rhett joins the Confederate army. We are led to believe that seeing the Confederate army awoke Rhett's long, long, dormant patriotism. I also believe that Mitchell wanted Scarlett to struggle through all the hardships so Scarlett would become a much harder person.
I agree with Rhflash's review. The part that is truly unbelievable to me is that a man would abandon the woman he loves, the woman he admires, two small children and a young girl in a rickety wagon with a nag in the middle of a battlefield to go fight in a war he had mocked and ridiculed for the last three years.
Chapter Four
Although the war wasn't over until May the soldiers started going home after Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Court House in April. Scarlett had Mammy and Dilcey make a big tub of soup and they started feeding the returning soldiers.
Mammy had also made up a tub of some foul-smelling brew that the old woman claimed would cure anything wrong with one's stomach. Mammy had refused to let the men have any soup until they had swallowed the brew. Scarlett was alright with men not swallowing the brew or eating the soup. That meant that there was that much more for the rest of them.
If it had been Rhett's decision, he would not have fed all the returning soldiers, but he wasn't the boss of Tara. He was just sort of the boss of Scarlett. Rhett had said to Scarlett, "Why are you doing this?"
"Because it is the right thing to do."
"Yes, it is, Dear."
Rhett remembered when an almost dead soldier was left on their front porch. Somehow Careen had nursed him back to health. His name was Will Benteen. He never left. Nobody asked him to leave. Rhett certainly, didn't want him to leave. The man worked extremely hard even though he had a wooden peg where his left calf and foot had once been.
In July, Rhett said, "Now that Will has recovered, I feel that it is safe for me to go into Atlanta," At the look of panic on Scarlett's face, he quickly added, "I think I can buy some supplies in Atlanta at a reasonable price."
Scarlett sighed a sigh of relief, "Do you really? That would be wonderful."
"I will go into Atlanta and get some money and get the supplies. I don't know how long it will take me to get the money. I hope to be back within the week, but I may be gone as long as two weeks."
"Why can't you use the money you have on you?"
"I don't want to spend that unless I can't get any more money."
"Alright."
The morning of Rhett's departure, Scarlett had been pressed up against him in the bed but that was not unusual. She was usually pressed against him every morning. What happened that was unusual was that she had crawled on top of him before he could get out of the bed. He had made sweet love to his wife who wasn't actually his wife. He had resolved to get Scarlett to officially marry him at the soonest opportunity without letting her know the depth of his feelings for her.
When Rhett returned one week later, Scarlett had run to meet him. Rhett had stopped the wagon and had gotten down. He ran to Scarlett also. They hugged for a long time. At last, Scarlett had said, "I am so glad you are home, Mr. Butler."
"Did you think I was not coming back, Mrs. Butler?"
"You will always come back to me."
Rhett had smiled at the confident woman in front of him. Despite everything that had happened to her Scarlett O'Hara knew her effect on men. Rhett was glad she was happy being Mrs. Butler.
Rhett had smiled. He had not confirmed her statement. He didn't need to. The woman that was his wife knew her effect on men and especially him.
Rhett recalled that he had trouble accessing his overseas account and therefore could not get any money. He had gotten a room at the National Hotel. The hotel still had his trunks in their cellar. That night they had escaped from Atlanta, Rhett had checked out of the hotel and asked them to hold his trunks. His original plan had been to get Scarlett to Tara then go on to New Orleans. From New Orleans he could get on a ship to Europe. He would have been able to get new clothes in New Orleans and even more in Europe.
When he saw the Confederate army, he had been shamed by his lack of patriotism for the South. That was what had caused him to have the insane idea of joining the Confederate army. Luckily, Scarlett had a better plan. He knew he had really loved her when he had voluntarily returned to Tara.
That first day in Atlanta, Rhett had gotten his trunks then called for a bath. After he had bathed, he put on a set of clean clothes that were not thread bare. It had felt so good. He had a decent meal at the hotel restaurant. Afterwards, he had gone to The Painted Lady. Belle had given him his share of the profits. He had told Belle that he and Scarlett had gotten married. It didn't matter if they hadn't actually legally gotten married, they were married. He would never let her go now.
Rhett had played poker against the Yankees. That was when he had met Captain Tom Jaffrey. Rhett had won about twenty dollars which would be enough to buy the supplies with. When he left the saloon that night, he was a hundred dollars richer.
The next night while at The Painted Lady, Jaffrey had said, "You are just too lucky, Butler. I might have to arrest you, so you don't keep taking my money over the poker table."
Rhett had laughed and said, "Don't do that. My wife is depending on me returning to her in the country. I will be gone by the end of the week."
Rhett played a couple of more hands of poker then left for the night. He never went back to The Painted Lady. The Yankees could do anything they wanted to do right now, and he had to return to Scarlett. She needed him to survive, and he guessed he needed her to survive.
Rhett forgot about accessing his overseas account and used his poker winnings and his profits to buy the supplies. He had remained in Atlanta a couple of more days because the owner of the store had assured him that a few of the items on his list would be arriving in Atlanta by the end of the week. For the next two nights he had played poker at the Blue Bird of Happiness. The card players there were not as good as at Belle's, but they also weren't as rich. He had won ten dollars over those two nights, though. At the end of the week, the store clerk loaded up Rhett's wagon. Rhett made sure that he had a couple of bottles of whiskey before returning to hell.
The night of Rhett's return from Atlanta, after he and Scarlett had retired, she asked him, "How did you get your trunks back?"
"That night we escaped from Atlanta, I had checked out of the hotel, and I asked them to put my trunks in their cellar. They were still there when I checked into the hotel a week ago. So, I brought them back with me."
"Did you get to take a bath?"
"Yes"
"Did you get to put clean clothes on?"
"Yes. Don't be jealous. I have something for you."
Rhett took something out of his trunk. It was a ring box. He said, "At great expense I manage to procure this for you," Scarlett opened the box. It was an engagement ring. It was an emerald in marquis cut with tiny diamonds on either side of the emerald. He said, "I hope it fits."
"Put it on."
Rhett slipped the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly. He had bought enough jewelry for women to be able to easily assess the size of a woman's hand. Scarlett had leaned forward and kissed him. He had kissed her back.
Scarlett said, "It is beautiful. Did you win this in a poker game?"
"I'm hurt that you think I would give you a ring I won in a poker game."
"Did you?"
Rhett had laughed and said, "No, I actually paid money for the ring. A lot of money."
Scarlett kissed him again and this time Rhett didn't give her a chance to ask any more questions. Soon they had nothing on except Scarlett's engagement ring.
The ring was the engagement ring that Rhett had planned on giving to Scarlett when she said yes that night on her porch. When he saw the triumphant look on her face that night was when he changed it into him asking her to be his mistress.
Rhett had no regrets of having returned to Tara and the disaster of the South. In truth their intimate time was not as physically satisfying as his escapades with whores but the way she made him feel emotionally was so wonderful. She always made him feel like he was Apollo. The greatest of the Greek gods. Scarlett was right, he would always return to her. He could not live without that feeling. That feeling that she gave him each and every time they were intimate.
When Mr. Wilkes had returned that had definitely been a low. Miss Melly ran down the path to meet her husband. When Scarlett started to run after her, Rhett held her skirt and said, "You forget yourself, Mrs. Butler."
Rhett didn't know what Scarlett saw in his face but something that scared her. His spirited Scarlett had turned docile and said, "Of course. You are right, Rhett. Shall we go inside?"
"No, we will stand here and greet Mr. Wilkes."
"Of course."
With Mr. Wilkes's arrival in August Scarlett had gotten that worshipping look on her face when she looked at the man. Yet every night she had clung to Rhett. When he made love to her, he knew she was very muchly with him. He knew that she didn't want anyone but him.
The entire eighteen months Scarlett had often said, "You are so wonderful. You are doing more than you have to do. Thank you for not leaving me."
After Mr. Wilkes was back Rhett said to Scarlett, "Let's go into Jonesboro and make it official."
"No, let's go into Atlanta and make it official on August twenty-ninth."
"That is next week."
"Perfect."
The next week Rhett and Scarlett went into Atlanta and became husband and wife legitimately. It had not mattered to him. She had been his wife since he had said the words to Mammy. He knew that he had become her husband since they had relations that wonderful night so long ago.
The couple had spent the night in Atlanta with Wade and Mammy. Rhett had told Wade and Mammy that they wanted to celebrate their anniversary in Atlanta. They would all have a few decent meals, and everyone would get to take a bath. They would pick up more supplies at the same time.
Rhett checked them into the hotel. Once he had gotten Mammy and Wade settled in their suite, Rhett said, "Scarlett and I need to go to the bank then see my lawyer. We will be back in an hour or so."
Rhett and Scarlett had gone to the bank to get some money. Rhett was able to easily access his overseas account. He thought, 'What a difference a month makes.'
Rhett and Scarlett had gone to the courthouse and had gotten legally wed. As Scarlett was saying her vows, Rhett wondered if she really felt that way. He hoped so.
Rhett and Scarlett had gone to a jewelry store but didn't buy rings because it would take too long for them to be sized. Rhett had quipped, "Whether we have a ring on our finger or not, we are married just the same."
Scarlett had looked at Rhett with an adoring look that he liked a lot. She had said, "Yes, we are, Mr. Butler."
"Indeed, Mrs. Butler."
At last, they had gone to Rhett's lawyer, Joseph Powe. At Mr. Powe's office, Rhett made a will leaving everything to Scarlett. The couple were back in time to take everyone to dinner and then out to the park.
That afternoon everyone had a bath except Mammy. She had refused to get in the bathtub after she had seen how small it was. She had said, "No, I can't take the chance of getting stuck in there."
Everyone had put on clean clothes even if they weren't new. Rhett and Scarlett bought some more fabric at the store when they got the supplies. Mammy and Melly made everyone new clothes while everybody else had picked cotton. Rhett had made sure they had a couple of more bottles of whiskey. He had still believed it was the only thing keeping his wife and his father-in-law from going over the edge.
As Rhett laid there in their bed with Scarlett pressed up against him, her feelings for Wilkes were a mystery to him. Scarlett looked at Mr. Wilkes with worshipping eyes but she had clung to him each and every night. She had called his name repeatedly, so Rhett knew she knew who she was with in their intimate times.
Scarlett would flirt with Mr. Wilkes but whenever there was a major decision to be made, she would seek him out to talk it over with him. Most of the time she had listened to his suggestions on what they should do but the final decision had always been hers.