Scarlett sighed as she walked into her bedroom and collapsed on the bed. A million thoughts were running through her mind, all of them concerning Rhett. She felt like screaming when she thought about Rhett and Anne living in her house. Why did he have to live there? Was it a purely financial issue, as he had said, or could he not get rid of the memories?

"Why he's no better then me! Ashley was the ghost in our marriage, am I the ghost in theirs? Does he think about me? Does he miss me? Does he wonder, like me, what went wrong between us?" she thought. Oh, it was too much to think about! Scarlett heard a noise at the door and looked up to see Mrs. Fitz. She looked very worried and stressed.

"What's wrong?" Scarlett asked, sitting up. "Did something happen to Cat?"

"No, no nothing like that. Cat's fine." Mrs. Fitz said. Scarlett sighed and leaned back down on the bed.

"You scared me! What is it?"

"Well Miss Scarlett we've been under the same roof for about four years now." Mrs. Fitz started. She began pacing up and down the floor of Scarlett's room. "And I've come to think of you and Cat as- well as my own family."

"You never told me that." Scarlett said.

"Well I do. And I thought you had always been fairly honest with me. But, Miss Scarlett, a married man! I believed you when you said you were a widow, that Cat's father was dead. But a married man, Miss Scarlett! It's just not proper, I thought better of you! I never would have thought that you of all people would have had an affair."

"An affair!" Scarlett cried, her face blanching. "I have never in my life had an affair!" Had Anne told Mrs. Fitz those old stories about her and Ashley?

"I didn't want to believe it at first, Miss Scarlett, I didn't. When Miss Eleanor said that Captain Butler had built you a house I thought I must have misunderstood. But then I got to looking at him and Cat, and she looks just like him! And then I saw you two out there hugging just now!"

"Oh" Scarlett sighed. "Mrs. Fitz, Captain Butler is Cat's father. But it's not what you think! We used to be married, him and I. We were married for years. I never had an affair with Rhett, he was my husband!"

"But-But you told me your husband, that Cat's father, was dead."

"Well it wasn't totally a lie. I was widowed. Twice! Just, not by Cat's father. He divorced me before he knew about the baby. I told you I was a widow because I was ashamed that my husband had divorced me. I didn't tell him he had a daughter till a few weeks ago. That's why he's here, to see Cat. And we- we were hugging just now because I was crying. We had been talking about our daughter."

"Oh, Miss Scarlett, I am sorry. I wasn't knowing, I should've just kept me big mouth shut. Why, if I could ask, were you cryin' if you were talking about Cat?"

Scarlett shook her head.

"No, not Cat" she said quietly. "Bonnie. Our daughter Bonnie, she died about four years ago. We loved her very much. Rhett was a wonderful father to her. I should have told him about Cat sooner. He loves children so much."

"Why didn't you tell him, if I may be so presumptuous as to ask?"

"Because I was afraid." Scarlett said. "I was so afraid that he would take her from me. I was always such a bad mother before. My other children are frightened of me."

"Other children, Miss?"

"Yes. I was married and widowed twice, as I said. I have a child from each marriage. Wade and Ella, they live back in Georgia with my sister. I love them, I do. But they're scared of me. I wasn't a great mother to them. I got so caught up in my work. I was just trying to feed them, though. I was so frightened that they would go hungry. It's horrible not to have food to give to your son. Rhett didn't understand, he thought I never cared for them. Everything came easy to Rhett; he didn't know what it was like to be hungry. I just wanted to make sure that we had enough money to give them food. I worked so hard for it that I never got to see them. Even when I married Rhett and we were rich, I thought I had to work. I just made a mess of things though." Scarlett said as she began to cry. "And now he's gone. He's married to that little hussy Anne. I love him so much and he's gone." Scarlett lay down and buried her face in a pillow. She wouldn't give Rhett or anybody else the satisfaction of hearing her cry. Apprehensively, Mrs. Fitz sat down next to Scarlett and tried to soothe her. But it was not the right hand rubbing her back, and it was not the right voice telling her that everything would be all right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rhett knew that he should go up and check on his wife but he couldn't. He needed to talk to somebody, somebody who definitely wasn't Anne. He decided to take a little tour of Scarlett's town. Rhett was amazed at how good Scarlett had done for herself. Her home was magnificent, and she even owned a town. Rhett noticed that he was getting some strange looks as he walked down the street. They probably weren't used to visitors in this tightly knit community. He looked up and saw that he was standing by a church. Well, if he had to talk to someone, then why not a priest? At least he could be sure the priest wouldn't tell anybody. At least that's what he vaguely remembered from having been dragged to church in his childhood days. Rhett opened the doors and went in. There was a priest looking at something under a tarp, which he quickly covered up when he heard a noise.

"Can I help you?" he asked as he drew near to Rhett.

"I need someone to talk to father." Rhett said.

"Come in, come in." The priest said, motioning for Rhett to sit down on a pew. "What's troubling you, my child?"

"I- I've made a mess of everything." Rhett said as he leaned forward and began to play with the brim of his hat.

"May I ask what brings you to Ballyhara?"

"My daughter. I'm visiting my ex-wife and my daughter." If Rhett had looked up he would have noticed the spark of recognition in Father Colum O'Hara's eyes. "That's what the problem is, my ex. I divorced her about four years ago. I didn't know that she was pregnant with my child. I never would have left her, if I had only known. But I didn't know, and I married someone else."

"Why did you leave her in the first place, my child?"

"Because our marriage was a lost cause. I had loved her for years but she didn't know. She never loved me that whole time. She thought she loved another man. Only when I told her I was leaving did she say that she loved me. I had waited for so long to hear her say that. But I pushed her away. I couldn't love anymore. My daughter was dead; she took all my love with her. At least that's what I thought. I never stopped loving my wife but I couldn't believe her when she professed her love. I thought it was all a ploy to get me to stay. I left, I went away. But she followed me. I still couldn't believe her when she said she loved me. She had loved this other man when he was unavailable to her; she stopped loving him when he was available. How could I know she wouldn't do the same thing to me? I thought I was protecting myself from her and her games. I was only throwing away happiness with both hands, like she had done before. She came here, to Ireland, to visit her family. I thought she had finally given up, that she wasn't coming back. So I divorced her. It was one of the worst mistakes I've ever made in my life. The other was when I married again. Now I find out I have a daughter! But I don't know what to do. I'm tied to a woman I don't love. The woman I do love, and always will, has borne me a child. I think she still loves me, I know I love her. What am I to do, father?" Rhett looked up at Colum with tortured eyes.

"I think you know, my child, that I can't tell you what to do. Not I or anybody else. It is something that you, with God's help, must decide on your own."

Rhett nodded and stood up.

"Thank you father. I feel better already, getting this off my chest."



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night everybody sat down for a somber supper. Scarlett's eyes were red from stinging tears. Anne was still pouting. Rhett didn't even seem to be there. Eleanor was trying to be pleasant, pretending that everyone was getting along. Cat was her normal cheerful self, not picking up on the tension in the room.

"Colum should be here soon, he usually dines with us" Scarlett said.

"Really? I'd like to meet him." Said Rhett.

They sat in silence until Mrs. Fitz announced Colum's arrival. Scarlett went to meet him in the hall. To his surprise she gave him a big hug.

"It's so good to see you, Colum." She said

"Scarlett aroon, it's only been a few days."

"It seems much longer."

They walked into the dining room and Rhett, who had his back to the door, stood up and turned around. His mouth opened and his eyes went wide.

"Rhett I'd like you to meet my cousin, Father Colum O'Hara." Scarlett said, wondering why Rhett looked so shocked. "Colum this is Captain Rhett Butler."

"It's nice to finally meet you." Colum said as he and Rhett shook hands.

"Yes, it is." Rhett said oddly.

"Pity we never had the chance to meet before this" Colum said slowly and clearly. Scarlett looked between the two of them; she was picking up on a strange vibe.

"Well there's no use in letting the food get cold." She said.

They sat down and Scarlett made the introductions around the table. Throughout dinner Colum and Scarlett talked about business in Ballyhara. When dinner was over and the table was cleared Cat began to nod off. "She's had a long day, I should put her to bed." Scarlett said. She stood up and picked Cat up from her chair. "Oh darling when did you become so heavy?" she asked, surprised at Cat's load.

"Let me" Rhett said as he took his daughter from Scarlett's arms.

"Thank you." Said Scarlett. "Her room is down here." They walked to Cat's brightly decorated room.

"Should I go find the nurse to put her to bed?" Rhett asked.

"Cat doesn't have a nurse." Scarlett said.

"She doesn't? I thought that you had enough money to provide for her. If I had known-"

"Rhett if I wanted a nurse I have more then enough money to get one. Cat has never had a nurse. I've always looked after her myself. I don't need anybody raising my child for me, not anymore at least."

"I must say you've surprised me, Scarlett. You're a wonderful mother."

"Thank you. You don't know how long I've waited to hear you say that."

Rhett set Cat down on the bed and, with a kiss on her cheek, left the room. He went back to the dining room to find Colum sitting alone.

"You're mother and wife went up to bed." Colum said in explanation. Rhett poured himself a drink and sat down at the table, facing Colum.

"Father Colum O'Hara." He said. "You see, Scarlett failed to mention that first little part."

"I thought as much."

"So that whole time at the church, you knew who I was. And you said nothing"

"You needed to talk to someone." Colum said with a shrug.

"You won't tell anybody what we talked about will you?"

"No of course not."

"Just as you won't tell me what you and Scarlett talk about." Rhett said. Colum just smiled. "Can you answer me one question? You're the only person that knows both sides to the story now. Do you think there's any hope for Scarlett and me?"

"I think that that's something you two are going to determine on your own. By your actions, and by your words. I hope, for the sake of your child, that you can make something work."

"I'd like to thank you." Rhett said. "For taking care of my daughter and my w- and Scarlett."

"It was the least I could do." Colum said kindly.

"No- No it wasn't. I should have been the one who took care of them, but thank you for doing it in my absence."

"Could I ask Captain Butler how long you plan to remain in Ireland?"

"I don't know. I would love to bring Cat to Georgia, but I don't think Scarlett wants to. I can't live here, that's for sure. I want to spend time with my daughter; I want to get to know her. But the last thing I want to do is take her from Scarlett. And you can tell her that if she asks, you can tell Scarlett I won't take Cat."

"You love her very much, don't you?" Colum asked.

"Yes I do." Rhett said, not even thinking to ask whether Colum meant Scarlett or Cat. The answer to both questions was the same.