Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

Chapter Fifteen

The party was attended by the Scallawags and the Old Guard. Most of the Old Guard only attended to see the inside of the Butlers' home yet they had a good time. The abundance of free food and free liquor certainly made the Old Guard happy. They had not seen that much food in one place since before the war. Rhett smiled when he saw men slipping some of the food in their pockets. Rhett almost burst out laughing as Mrs. Merriwether scraped almost an entire tray of appetizers into her purse.

Rhett knew that the décor of the mansion was going to be talked about in every drawing room in Atlanta in the next several days. The matrons would all critique and criticize all of what they believed were Scarlett's choices especially how big the mansion was. Rhett knew the mansion was tastefully decorated. He also knew it was appropriate to a man of his great wealth.

Rhett knew the trashy Scallawags would go home and redecorate their homes to match the Butlers' décor. He smiled as he looked around the room at the trashy Scallawags trying to pretend they were classy and failing miserably. In the end he knew they would have a good time. All one needed to do for the Scallawags to have a good time is give them free food and free liquor, although Rhett made sure that the alcohol served was the cheap stuff.

The Old Guard looked down their noses at the Scallawags, but Scarlett's reputation was no more tarnished at the end of the evening than it was at the beginning. The matrons thought she was trashy before the party, and they still thought she was trashy.

To Rhett Scarlett wasn't trashy at all. There were moments when her choices in clothing and décor bordered on being tasteless but a lot of that was because she was falling prey to fashion magazines. Fashion magazines that were telling her what the new style was. She was following the dictates of people she thought were experts without realizing they really weren't. Well, maybe they were experts but that didn't mean they were right. This was another case of him guiding her instead of criticizing her.

At the party, Rhett saw Scarlett talking to Mr. and Mrs. Wilkes and he hurried to join the conversation. He heard Mr. Wilkes say, "Scarlett, remember that barbecue the Tarleton's hosted to celebrate the twins' eighteenth birthday."

"Yes, it was right before they went to the University of Georgia or was it, Virginia. Brent and Stuart had been thrown out of four universities and they hadn't even made it through their first year."

Rhett joined into the laughter and Scarlett smiled at him. When everyone had sobered, Ashley said, "They weren't exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer."

Melanie said, "Unlike you, my dear, who are so very smart."

Rhett said, "Come along, my dear. We have to play good host and hostess."

Scarlett went with Rhett, but she was frowning at him. As soon as they were far enough away that she knew the Wilkeses couldn't hear her, Scarlett said, "There was nothing wrong with what I was doing. Melly was standing right there."

"Yes, Miss Melly was right there but you were mooning over Mr. Wilkes. You don't want Miss Melly to figure out your secret, do you?"

"No."

"Furthermore, I will not allow my wife to be seen mooning over another man."

"If I didn't know any better, I would swear you were jealous of Ashley."

"I am jealous of Mr. Wilkes. It hurts my conceit that my wife thinks someone is better than me. You would be terribly angry, and I hazard to guess jealous if I went over and started flirting with Miss Bonner. She is a pretty girl."

"You wouldn't dare."

"You want to test that theory? Go right on back over to Mr. Wilkes and I will go right on over to spend the rest of the evening with Miss Bonner."

When Scarlett neither replied nor walked back over to Mr. Wilkes, Rhett said, "When is the dancing going to begin?"

"In an hour."

"Alright. Let's go play good hosts."

In a tight voice, Scarlett said, "Of course, Rhett."

The rest of the evening Scarlett did not go within ten feet of Mr. Wilkes and therefore Mrs. Wilkes. Rhett had yet to figure out how much Mr. Wilkes was involved with Scarlett. What had his future self said about that…. He remembered. Scarlett saw Mr. Wilkes as the man he was before the war. Not the failure he was today. Rhett remembered the other half. Mr. Wilkes saw Scarlett as the girl she was at that barbecue. Not the woman who had done all those awful things to survive.

Rhett decided that taking Scarlett to England was an extremely good idea. She would not be reminded daily of what horrible shape the South was in because of the war.

As Melly and Ashley had been driving home, Ashley said, "Captain Butler has more money than he has good sense. Imagine spending all that money to take Scarlett to London just so Scarlett doesn't have to go into her confinement. If he keeps spoiling her like that, he is going to have a spoiled brat on his hands."

"You know I love Scarlett dearly, but she already is a spoilt brat. She wants what she wants no matter who gets hurt."

"Just like her not letting me go to New York. I would be a vice-president at least by now."

"Yes, Dear, you would. Although I am glad that Beau will not have to go to school with…. Well, you know."

"That is a good thing. Just like her insisting we use convict labor instead of Freemen. The inhumanity of it all, sometimes turns my stomach."

"Yes, Dear."

The couple was quiet for the rest of the trip home. Ashley was thinking about what a success he would have been if Scarlett had let him go to New York. His resentment of Scarlett grew a little more.

Melly was glad she had help Scarlett trick Ashley into staying in Atlanta and working for Scarlett. Scarlett would forgive him all of his mistakes. That is as long as she thinks she is in love with him. She wondered why Scarlett had never returned to talk and flirt with Ashley. That was very unusual behavior for Scarlett. Melly also wondered how much Captain Butler suspected about Ashley and Scarlett's relationship. Melly was not worried about Scarlett and Captain Butler falling in love with each other. She didn't think either one of them ever thought about anyone but themselves.

Later after the Wilkes and the rest of the Old Guard had left Rhett had been wishing there was some way, he could permanently separate Miss Melly and Scarlett but that wasn't very likely. Miss Melly was Scarlett's connection to Mr. Wilkes and Scarlett was Miss Melly's connection to not only Wade and Ella but to ensuring that there was someone there to take care of Mr. Wilkes. Rhett would think about it later.

It was one o'clock in the morning. At midnight, Rhett had the serving girls stop bringing food out not that there was that much food left. He also instructed the bartender that when they emptied a bottle to not go get another one. Therefore, finally the last of the Scallawags were leaving. It was Mamie and Jacob Bart. Of course.

As soon as the Barts were out the door, Scarlett yelled at Rhett, she said, "Is this how our marriage is going to be? You monitoring my every movement."

"Yes, I will not have you behaving in a way that will disrespect me."

"All I was doing was talking to my friend."

"First, we both know you don't think of him as a friend. Second, if all you had been doing was talking to your next husband that would have been fine. But you weren't. You had a worshipping look on your face for anyone to see. Third, I will repeat myself. You and Mr. Wilkes cannot be together until Miss Melly and I are dead, so you are just torturing yourself with all this. You should put your feelings for the man behind a closed door in your mind and enjoy the life you have now."

"I cannot believe how high handed and dictatorial you are being in this matter."

"Scarlett, in our entire relationship, I have been high handed. Did you honestly think that I was going to tolerate you flirting with another man or looking at another man with a worshipping look? If you did then you were sorely wrong. I am not a young boy like all your beaus before the war or your first husband. I am certainly not an old man that will allow you to bully me. I am very much a man. A strong, formidable, rich man and I will wear the pants in the family. The man that paid for this lavish party and this mansion. I believe I have the right to demand respect and loyalty from my wife."

"I respect you and I am loyal to you."

"No, you don't respect me yet but in five to ten years you will."

"Five to ten years?"

"Maybe sooner if you wise up and realize you can't bully me or outthink me."

"Go to Hades."

"No, I will be going to our bedroom. Come along."

Rhett took Scarlett's arm and led her to their bedroom. She fumed the entire time.

Once Rhett and Scarlett were in their bedroom, she took off all her clothes and put on her nightgown. She sat down at her vanity table and haphazardly pulled all the pins out of her hair. She angrily brushed her hair. There were no shy smiles that night. Only angry glares each time their eyes met in the mirror. She climbed into the bed. She turned her back to him and said, "Before you ask, the answer is no."

Rhett just smiled. He finished taking off his clothes. He turned off the gas lights and climbed into bed. He took her in his arms despite the fact she was as stiff as a board. He let her feel his erection and when she tried to scoot away held her in place.

Rhett said into the darkness, "This is when I miss smoking the most. I liked lying in bed smoking my cigar and telling you stories."

Scarlett thought that was a strange statement because Rhett had quit soon after they had gotten back from New Orleans. She didn't comment on that but instead said, "Why did you quit?"

"To live longer."

"Huh?"

"There is some talk among medical professionals that smoking cigars may give a person lung cancer."

"What is cancer?"

"It is a disease in which abnormal cells grow rapidly and destroy the organ."

"It sounds awful."

"It is."

"Why haven't you quit sooner?"

Rhett smiled into the darkness and said, "I didn't have a reason to want to live."

"Are you saying I gave you a reason to live?"

"Of course, Silly. You became my wife, my partner, and my best friend."

Scarlett turned over and stared at Rhett in the darkness. She couldn't see him. She rolled over and laid on his chest. Rhett said, "Have you changed your mind about….?"

"No!"

"Can't blame a guy for trying?"

Scarlett laughed and snuggled into Rhett.

If Rhett didn't know how things were going to turn out, he would not have the patience to put up with Scarlett's infatuation with Wilkes and her stubbornness. In fact, the first time he hadn't, and he had lashed out irrationally. Not this time.

Two days after the Butlers' Open House, they were on the train to Charleston. Rhett had gotten them a private car. Scarlett had left Uncle Henry in charge of her businesses in case of emergency. She was still nervous about going to London and not being there to manage her businesses but Rhett's statement that she wouldn't have to go into confinement in Europe made her accept his offer. She just hated being in her confinement. She had always hated having to stay inside even as a child. Furthermore, Scarlett had always wanted to go to Ireland. Rhett had also reassured her that she was just a telegram away.

Rhett had let the staff go except Pork, Dilcey, Prissy, the cook, the housekeeper, and the stable master. In his first timeline, they had a hard time finding a decent cook when they got back from Europe. Rhett had also had a hard time buying quality horses at a decent price. With all the Yankees and Scallawags moving into Atlanta it would be even harder this time. Scarlett had wanted to continue paying the housekeeper because the woman did make the household run smoothly.

The train ride was fun. Rhett had coaxed Scarlett into playing cards with him and the children. Scarlett had said, "Ella and I will be a team."

Rhett had smiled and said, "Sure."

The card game was Go Fish and Wade was quite good at the game or incredibly lucky for he won every round they played. In fact, he usually had more books than Scarlett and Rhett combined.

Scarlett said, "If being a lawyer doesn't work out for you, Wade, maybe you could become a professional poker player like Uncle Rhett."

Wade beamed and Rhett smiled.

Rhett said, "It does take a lot of skill and a lot of luck to win consistently at poker."