Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

In the canon Rhett is able to get Gerald drunk and take all his money then blackmail him into letting Scarlett stay in Atlanta. As a guest reviewer said, 'MM made him a drunken Irish man.'

Gerald would not have fallen for that. He had not had a soft life. He had grown up on the mean streets of Dublin (or wherever his mean streets where). He had fled to America because he had killed a man. He had gotten a man drunk and stole his plantation and his slave from him. I don't doubt that Gerald loved Ellen, but he was smart enough to take advantage of a broken heart and a brewing scandal to get to marry into one of the finest families in the South.

I have always preferred to think of Gerald as a man pretending to be a gentleman but underneath it all he was a fighter. He may have lived the last twenty years as a gentleman, but I don't think he would have ever lost his street smarts.

Chapter Four

Belle had seen the older man come into the saloon. She couldn't hear what the men were saying but she could tell that the older man was doing all the talking. It looked to her that he was warning Rhett of something. Why would another man feel the need to warn Rhett?

Later in the evening Rhett came and sat at the bar. Belle asked Rhett, "Who was that older man you were talking to?"

"Mr. O'Hara. He came to tell me to stay away from his daughter."

"Is that the girl's father you danced with Saturday night?"

"Yes, he told me I can't call on her because I wasn't received and even if I was received, she can't receive gentlemen callers for another two years."

"Were you going to call on her?"

"Of course not. No, proper lady would allow me to call on her."

"What are you going to do instead?"

"I don't know but I will think of something."

Rhett finished his drink and said, "Good night, Belle. I am heading back to Charleston tonight."

Belle watched Rhett walk out of the saloon. She and Rhett had been friends for almost ten years now. She had met him in a brothel in New Orleans. He had paid for her services a few times then moved on to other girls. He had left and gone to California. When he had returned, he had stopped into the same brothel but by then she was the madame of the house. They would talk. He had won a lot of money playing poker in her saloon. He would come and go much like he did now.

About five years ago, he had offered to set her up in a brothel in Atlanta. He would give her half the profits if she could run it for him. She had agreed for one reason. She had no romantic feelings for Rhett. He was not an easy man to get along with. He was far too mocking and cruel for her to want to put up with for exceedingly long.

Rhett went to the National Hotel and finished packing his trunk. He took his trunk and carpetbag and went downstairs to check out. After an hour he was on the train to Charleston. He was trying to figure out how to worm his way into Scarlett's life.

As Rhett sat there on the train, he knew how to get Scarlett involved in his life. He would offer to let her invest in his shipping line. With the war hurting everyone financially, she would probably accept his offer for her to make money. He would take whatever money she wanted to invest. Then he would pay her great profits.

The next morning as Scarlett escorted Gerald to Dorr's General Store to buy his supplies, he said to her, "Mr. Butler and I came to an understanding last night about him not calling on you until Charlie has been dead for three years. I wasn't bluffing yesterday when I said if we hear any more about foolish behavior out of you, I will come up here and personally take you back to Tara. You will behave like a lady, do you understand?"

"Yes, Pa. I understand."

"Now let's talk of other subjects. How can you tolerate that dingbat of an aunt?"

Scarlett giggled and happily changed the subject. She had gotten all she had hoped she would get. To be able to stay in Atlanta where life was a lot more fun. She was not surprised when an image of Rhett popped into her head. She said, "She's not that bad."

While Rhett was in Charleston, he was able to meet with his mother and gave her some money. Elizabeth Butler had tried to refuse the money, but the war was having an effect on her husband's ability to provide for the family. Besides, the price of everything was sky high and there were so many shortages. She was also happy to take money from Rhett because if Langston knew she was, it would infuriate him.

Elizabeth was happy Rhett was making money on the war. She just knew they were going to need the money. They visited for a while.

Elizabeth updated her son on her life and the lives of his brother and sister. They never spoke about Langston Butler, Elizabeth's husband. She hated her husband with every fiber of her being. She had disliked him before the buggy incident but had been able to tolerate him. After the buggy incident, she had asked for separate bedrooms and only endured his company when she had to.

Mother and son sat on a park bench and talked for about thirty minutes until Elizabeth stood up and said, "It is time for me to return to the house. My walks usually last about thirty minutes."

Elizabeth took a walk every day in Gramercy Park. Partly for the exercise but mainly so she would have an excuse to leave the house alone whenever Rhett was able to meet up with her. Occasionally, she guessed Langston would get suspicious for those days he would insist on walking with her. She and Rhett had a contingency plan for those occasions.

In Elizabeth's opinion if Langston had come down hard on Rhett's side that it was just a broken buggy wheel the family could have survived the scandal. They had the proof of the broken wheel. Once Mr. Douglass had accepted that Rhett was not going to marry his daughter Langston could have bribed him to support Rhett's position. It would have been just as difficult to survive that scandal as it had the scandal they had actually endured.

Elizabeth did not understand why but after Rhett had turned thirteen, Langston had begun to hate him intensely. Maybe because Rhett's personality was very much like Langston's father's personality, a charming rogue. Therefore, she knew that Langston was glad to have been rid of his eldest son.

Three months later as Melly and Scarlett were leaving the hospital, Scarlett saw Rhett walking down the street. She hollered at him.

Melly looked at her sister-in-law but didn't say anything. Melly knew it was improper to yell at a man. A lady was supposed to demurely wait for the man to approach her. Melly thought, 'Judging by the big grin on Mr. Butler's face, he was happy Scarlett had called to him.'

The ladies stopped walking as they waited for Rhett to catch up with them. He said, "Where are you two lovely ladies heading?"

"To our home."

"Let me walk you home."

Scarlett smiled at him, and a dimple appeared. Rhett stared at her and thought, 'Her dimple is quite cute.'

From somewhere far away, Rhett heard Melly's voice, "That would be nice, Captain Butler."

Rhett said, "Lead on. I just arrived back in the city today. How delightful to run into you lovely ladies on my first day in town."

Melly said, "Are you here to sell your goods?"

"Yes. I am also looking for investors."

Scarlett said, "Investors?"

"The more money I have to spend the more goods I can buy. I want my ships loaded to the gills every time they run the blockade. The risk is the same whether my ships are full or my ships are half-empty."

"How much money does one have to have in order to invest in your ships?"

"One hundred dollars."

"I don't have that much money. I only have eighty dollars."

Melly said, "I have fifty dollars that I can invest but would our investment be a risk?"

"Yes and no. The risk would be if one of my ships goes down. We would then lose all those goods. I would have to find more money to not only buy more goods but buy another ship also."

By this time, the trio was at the Hamilton House. Melly said, "I will ask Uncle Henry to come to supper tomorrow night. You must come too. You can explain everything to him. If he thinks it is a safe investment, we will invest. He will have to approve. He has control of our money."

"Very well, Mrs. Wilkes, Mrs. Hamilton. I will see you tomorrow night. What time?"

"Six. Good day."

Melly turned to walk up the steps and into the house. Scarlett stood there looking at Rhett for a minute then she softly said, "Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

When Scarlett was on the porch, she turned to look at Rhett. She was pleased to find him still standing where she had left him. Although she didn't like the knowing look on his face."

Rhett was pleased Scarlett had turned back to look at him again. Although he didn't like the victorious look on her face.

Rhett walked back to The Painted Lady. In truth, he had been in Atlanta for three days already. He had sold all his goods for a nice price. He had been walking up and down the street the hospital was on for the last thirty minutes hoping to run into Scarlett. Afterall, he couldn't call on her. She wasn't receiving gentleman callers and he wasn't received.

Rhett was pleased with his conversation with the ladies. He was confident he could convince Mr. Hamilton it was a sound investment. In truth, it was a very safe investment. The union blockade was fairly porous right now. Probably because the North knew the blockaders couldn't get enough supplies into the country to really help the war effort.

In fact, Rhett was more than pleased with his conversation. He had gotten an invitation to supper from Mrs. Wilkes. Getting it from Scarlett would have been better but getting it from Mrs. Wilkes was almost as good. Of course, he had not liked the victorious expression on her face when she had seen him watching her. Rhett laughed. He was quite sure she hadn't liked the expression on his face either.

Rhett spent the rest of the evening drinking, smoking, and playing cards. He did not bed any whores. He didn't want Scarlett to hear about that. No, he would wait and bed a whore when he got to Charleston. A green-eyed black-haired whore. He could pretend that way.

The next evening, Rhett showed up at the Hamilton House at six. Henry was already there. The men discussed the business proposition after supper was over as Rhett was smoking his cigar. At the end, Henry said, "There is some risk, but I will let Melly and Scarlett invest in your ships. In fact, I will invest some of my money also. Let me think. Scarlett has eighty dollars, Melly has fifty dollars, and I will invest thirty-five of Sarah Jane's money and thirty-five of mine to bring it up to an even two hundred."

"Thank you, Mr. Hamilton."

"We will all meet at my office at one tomorrow to sign the papers and give you the money."

"Yes, sir."

The men joined the ladies. Henry told them of their plans. Scarlett looked so pleased with the arrangements. Rhett sat across the room from Scarlett so he could watch her. The group talked about the war for the rest of the evening. When Rhett got up to leave, Scarlett quickly stood up and said, "Let me walk you out."

At the door, Rhett said, "Is there tension between the siblings?"

"You mean Aunt PittyPat and Uncle Henry?"

"Yes, that is who I mean."

"Yes, but I don't know why."

"See you tomorrow, Mrs. Hamilton."

"Good night, Mr. Butler."

The next afternoon, after the papers were signed and the money turned over, Rhett, Scarlett, and Melly got up to leave. When they were on the street, Rhett said, "I will be returning to Charleston tonight."

Scarlett stopped walking while Melly walked on to the buggy. Scarlett said, "You just got here."

"I know but I'm not making us any money by being in Atlanta."

"True."

"I will try to return in three months."

"That long."

"Hopefully, I will have some profits for everyone when I return."

"When you come back you will have to come to supper to give us an update on our investment."

"Yes, I will be happy to have supper with you at the Hamilton House."

"Don't come in December. I will be going home for Christmas."

Rhett smiled and said, "If you invited me, I could go with you to Tara for Christmas. To discuss your investment with your parents, of course."

Scarlett smiled and said, "Mother would never let you in the door. Goodbye for now."

Scarlett turned and walked to the buggy where Melly was waiting for her. As the ladies were driving back to Hamilton House, Melly said, "He is only received right now because he is a war hero. Once the war is over people will stop receiving him. I'm not telling you what to do but remember if he isn't received, you won't be received either.

"I know, Melly."

The ladies didn't talk the rest of the way home. There wasn't anything else to say. Scarlett knew she could never marry Rhett, but she was also beginning to believe she couldn't quit him either. She didn't know what she was going to do. She just knew she was already madly in love with the man.