Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Melanie would visit with Scarlett when Melly brought Beau over to play with Wade. As far as Melly could tell nothing had changed in regard to Scarlett's feelings for Ashley. As Melly talked about Ashley, Scarlett listened intently as she always had. The only difference Melly could detect in Scarlett was she was very fond of Genie which was surprising because Scarlett usually wasn't very fond of her children. No, the truth was that Scarlett rarely was aware of her children except as an inconvenience.
Melanie decided that narcissist Scarlett was fond of Genie because the child looked just like Scarlett.
Sometimes, Scarlett would mention Captain Butler, but it was mostly in passing. It was more in the line of what she and Captain Butler were doing socially. She never talked about Captain Butler except in regard to Genie and how silly the man was.
Melanie decided that she had nothing to worry about in regard to Captain Butler stealing Scarlett's affections away from Ashley therefore she finally completely relaxed since the Butlers wedding. Scarlett just had to keep helping Ashley until he could stand on his own two feet.
Melly would have been extremely disappointed to know that often Scarlett would wish Melly would stop talking about how wonderful Ashley was. As Scarlett looked at Melly's threadbare dress and hat that had seen better days, she would wonder how Melly could think Ashley was wonderful when they couldn't even afford to buy new clothes. Scarlett had never seen an outfit on Beau that she didn't recognize as one of Wade's hand me downs. Rhett would often ask Scarlett about Melly's clothes, "Are you sure that isn't the same dress she had on last week?"
Scarlett had started replying, "Who knows? They all look the same."
Which would make both Rhett and Scarlett laugh.
The family went to Tara in July for the day. It was a normal trip. Scarlett won a verbal battle with Suellen and was smug for the rest of the day. The family walked around the plantation. At one point, Rhett said, "How do you know when the cotton is ready to pick?"
"When the bolls crack open, and the cotton is exposed. Before they get started it will look like a sea of white all over Clayton County. It is a sight to see."
"I will take your word for it. I don't want anyone to try and force me to pick cotton."
"Of course not, Silly."
The family had dinner and then returned to Atlanta. On the train, Scarlett said, "Thank you for bringing me down here."
"You are welcome. It makes you so incredibly happy."
Rhett thought, 'And it makes me happy to see you mad when I'm not the one that made you mad.'
While the Butlers were riding the train back to Atlanta, Belle was thinking about Rhett. She had been surprised when he hadn't even stopped in for a drink every now and then if for no other reason than to visit with her. She had been hurt when Tom Sullivan had mentioned that Rhett was now frequenting the Blue Bird of Happiness. She had been shocked that he was doing his drinking there for they didn't have a brothel attached to it. Even more shocked when she found out that he was rarely at that establishment. Maybe three or four times a month.
Unbelievable to Belle, she guessed Rhett was going to be faithful to Scarlett. It was shocking to Belle because Rhett had always liked variety and experience. Now he was being intimate with the same woman who didn't know the first thing about pleasing a man sexually. She was just going to have to do something about this. She laughed when she thought of her plan. Admittedly it hadn't worked very well last time but now Scarlett Butler might object to Rhett Butler, her husband, using whores.
When Genie was six months old, Scarlett had a family picture taken. She had individual pictures taken of the children and one of her and Rhett. Scarlett had always liked having her picture taken but it was a lot more fun when she could order every picture she wanted.
Rhett and Scarlett still attended a lot of the Scallawag and Republican social events. There were a lot of reasons why. They were treated like royalty, it was an opportunity for Rhett to be rude and mocking, it was an opportunity for Rhett to make business deals in the shadows, it was an opportunity for Scarlett to flirt with other men although she was a lot more restrained than she had been the day of that barbecue, it was also a chance for them to go dancing for most of these events had a band, and most of all they were fun. No one ever talked about how good life was before the war. As Rhett had said, "Their life wasn't good before the war."
Scarlett checked on her businesses every Wednesday but since that day that she had made Gus stay in the office with her, Scarlett had not been alone with Ashley. She didn't realize that she wasn't missing her interactions with Ashley. Her businesses were still profitable although with the building boom coming to an end, her profits were not as great as they had been. She often thought about selling at least the sawmills and just keeping the store for the store was actually getting to be more profitable and Mr. Elsing was finally getting the hang of running the store.
One Wednesday while Scarlett was at the store going over the books, Mr. Elsing came to her and said, "There is a woman here to see you."
When Scarlett looked at Mr. Elsing, she saw that his face was beet red. She said, "Who?"
"Just come to the front counter."
As Scarlett walked out of the back, she saw who was at the front counter. It was Belle Watling with her hair fixed and her make-up on. With the brightest outfit on that Scarlett had ever seen. Scarlett's face turned crimson. How dare that woman come into her place of business and ask for her like they were acquainted. Stiffly Scarlett walked to the counter and in a voice as cold as the North Pole, she said, "Can I help you?"
Belle slid a cloth across the counter and said, "Rhett left this when he stopped by the other night."
Scarlett looked at the cloth and saw that it was one of Rhett's handkerchiefs. She didn't touch it. Without any reaction, Scarlett said in an icy voice, "Get out of my store, you … you… you harlot."
"I might be a harlot, but I am also your husband's ….. business associate."
Scarlett held her temper in check, barely. She once again said, "Get out of my store, you harlot. You will never be allowed inside my store again."
As Belle sashayed out of The Emporium, Scarlett never stopped watching her. As she looked around the shop, both of her employees were studiously avoiding eye contact with her. Fortunately, there were no customers in the shop.
Scarlett picked up the cloth and stuffed it into her pocket. Rhett had some explaining to do. She finished checking the books at the store. She went to Johnny's mill and then on to Ashley's mill. She kept one of the other employees in the office with her the entire time she was at Ashley's mill. She diligently avoided making eye contact with Ashley. She knew if she did it would break her.
Scarlett wanted to pour out her heart to someone, but she could not be disloyal to Rhett in that way. She knew there was an explanation, after all Belle had given her one of Rhett's handkerchiefs before trying to get Scarlett to stop receiving him. Before Scarlett did anything she would give Rhett the chance to explain it to her. Then she would tie him up and beat him within an inch of his life.
Scarlett made it home in time to nurse Genie. She had to work awfully hard to keep herself relaxed. Soon the baby was finished, and Scarlett took her to Lulu for Lulu to feed the baby some oatmeal. They had just started feeding the child oatmeal and usually Rhett liked to do that, but she had already known he wasn't home.
Lulu was the eighth nursemaid that they had employed. She would be the eleventh if they counted the ones in London. Scarlett didn't bother to ask Rhett why he fired a nursemaid anymore; she just had the employment agency send them another girl.
Scarlett looked at the child and admittedly Genie resembled her to a large extent, but Scarlett could see Rhett's features on the child's face. Scarlett smiled when she thought how happy Rhett had been when Genie had sat up by herself. He had excitedly told her all about it.
Rhett never acted like Scarlett should know all of a baby's milestones because she had two children before Genie. He just told her when Genie met a milestone. Scarlett never questioned how Rhett knew all these facts about babies. She just accepted that he did.
Last time Rhett had not even bothered to inform Scarlett when her daughter met her milestones. Partly because that Scarlett hadn't cared and partly because Bonnie had only been his daughter in his mind. He could tell that Scarlett was always happy about their daughter's accomplishments.
Rhett was not at dinner that day which Scarlett had known he wouldn't be. He had already told her that he was going to be at the bank all day going over the books with the president of the bank. She worked hard at not letting her thoughts drift to the handkerchief. She just knew there was an explanation for she knew Rhett would not be unfaithful to her. She just knew it. Especially not with that old whore.
Scarlett was in the nursery when Rhett got home. She was playing with Ella and Genie. They were building a tower. They had gotten it noticeably big when Genie knocked it over. Ella was mad. Scarlett said, "We can't get mad at her, she didn't know any better." By looking at Ella's face Scarlett could tell she wasn't inclined to give Genie grace over destroying Ella's tower. Scarlett went on, "Let's build another one. Even bigger."
Rhett stood in the doorway and watched Scarlett. No, she would never be a great mother, but she was moving into the good mother category. Genie saw Rhett and crawled over to him. Rhett picked her up and hugged her. Ella was continuing to build her tower especially now that Genie was gone. When Rhett looked at Scarlett, he knew she was mad, and it appeared that she was mad at him. Rhett said, "What did I do? I have been gone all day."
"We will talk about it after I nurse Genie in about twenty minutes."
"Do you want me to find a book to read to you or leave you alone?"
"Find a book to read to me."
"I know just the book."
Soon the couple were in their bedroom and Scarlett was nursing Genie while Rhett was reading The Count of Monte Cristo to her.
Scarlett interrupted Rhett to say, "Mammy says that Genie will soon be eating a lot of table food."
"Will you stop nursing her?"
"Mammy says I should continue until she is a year old."
"Alright. Are you?"
"Probably.
"What did you do with your other two?"
"I don't know. Mammy took care of it."
"Why didn't you hire anyone to be a wet nurse?"
"Genie was doing good with me, and I didn't want to disturb her routine."
"Or lose the ability to eat anything you wanted."
Scarlett smiled at Rhett. She would never tell him that nursing Genie was something she really enjoyed. It was the only time she had her daughter all to herself. She had until Rhett managed to wedge his way into the nursing process. Still Scarlett got to hold Genie the entire time and it was something she and the child were doing. Rhett entertaining Scarlett was nice, but he truly wasn't part of the process.
Scarlett said, "She's finished."
Rhett put the book down and stood up. He walked over and took his child from Scarlett. He carried her down the hall. He returned to his bedroom and there on his favorite chair was one of his handkerchiefs. His initials had been stitched with yellow thread. He knew immediately what had happened and all his resolve not to kill Belle Watling went out the window.
