Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
As Scarlett continued to lie there letting Gerry nurse, she thought about all her friends in London. She knew they could have a good life if they chose to stay here. Probably a better life than in Atlanta but she just wasn't ready to move away from Tara yet. She thought about Melly and Ashley. She knew they had been using her. Ashley because he didn't want to live in the world he was living in and Melly because she was married to that loser Ashley. With comprehension she never thought she would possess she knew that Melly had turned a blind eye to her crush on Ashley. Maybe even encouraged Scarlett to believe herself in love with Ashley because Melly had needed Scarlett to carry Ashley in order for them to survive in their new world.
Scarlett now knew that Melly had been right in a couple of suppositions. One as long as she thought Ashley could do no wrong Scarlett would continue to carry him. Two Melly had to break Scarlett and Rhett up so Scarlett would run back to Ashley. Except Melly had been wrong about one thing. Once Scarlett knew she loved Rhett, she could never fool herself into thinking Ashley was a wonderful man.
Scarlett and Rhett were still going to church every Sunday. They were going to St. Paul's Cathedral while they were in London. Last Sunday the bishop talked about forgiving people who had sinned against them. He had finished the sermon by saying, "Just because you forgive someone doesn't mean you have to trust them ever again"
That was how she thought about Melanie and Ashley. She would forgive them, but she would never trust them again. She and Melly would never be as close as they once were. Sadly, Scarlett realized that she and Melly had never been close. She had been coveting Melly's husband and Melly had been using her the entire time. They had never been friends.
Scarlett looked down. Gerry was already asleep. Scarlett thought, 'I am going to be right behind him.'
Scarlett snuggled up to her husband and was asleep within minutes.
Scarlett arranged a third birthday party for Genie. While Scarlett was talking about her plans for Genie's party, Rhett said, "Why do you still call her Genie? Everyone else calls her Bonnie."
"That is her name. I will continue to call her Genie until she asks me to not call her that. I want to forget all about the war. Not call my child by a name that refers to a flag from the war."
With a smile, Rhett said, "You sure are stubborn."
"Just as you are."
"Just a couple of stubborn mules."
"Dressed up in horse's harnesses."
Rhett and Scarlett laughed.
Soon Gerry was six weeks old, each week that went by Scarlett was less and less concerned for Gerry's health. At six-weeks she allowed the baby to be in the nursery all day without her.
Despite Gerry being six-weeks old, the Butlers were not leaving London yet. They were not going to sail across the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of winter. When Dr. Hickman had strongly suggested that they wait until April first to set sail, Scarlett was agreeable to the idea. After all she had no reason to hurry home. She had no businesses. She really didn't have any friends. Although she found the Scallawags fun and entertaining. They truly were just gutter trash. The Republicans weren't much better than the Scallawags in the Butlers' opinion they were just low-class not gutter trash.
The night Scarlett was cleared to resume her marital relations, she and Rhett did not go out to supper. They ate with the children. As soon as the children were turned over to Mammy and Eunice, they retired to their bedroom.
Rhett and Scarlett had fun for the next several hours. As he laid there fully sated and satisfied, he had a passing thought of having done this a couple of times when he was living a more hedonistic lifestyle, yet it hadn't been this good. He would never have believed how much better relations were with Scarlett because they loved each other than all the other women he had relations with. He would never have believed he would be faithful to one woman even during these last months when they had not been engaging in intercourse that much. Scarlett pleasuring him was just a release of the pressure building up in him. Not the total satisfaction he felt when he ejaculated inside a woman. Strike that. When he ejaculated inside Scarlet. He smiled. He didn't actually ejaculate inside Scarlett because he didn't want to get her with child. His younger self would never have believed he would consistently practice coitus interruptus. One more child then, he would get a vasectomy. On that happy thought, he fell asleep.
On April first, the Butlers set sail for New York. Rhett had tried once again to get Eunice to travel with them to Georgia. She had declined the offer saying, "All my family live in London. I could never live that far away from my family."
Rhett had accepted defeat and gave the young woman a bonus of five pounds for her labors.
After arriving in New York, the Butlers spent a week there. Rhett and Scarlett attended several social events.
Scarlett met a lady, Violet Monroe Brooks, at one of these social events who was from Atlanta, Georgia also. Violet's father had been a unionist and when Georgia seceded, he sold his bank. They had moved to New York and Mr. Monroe had bought into another bank. Mr. Monroe was quite the successful entrepreneur. The women spent the entire evening talking about the gentry of Atlanta. When Violet said, "Do you know Melanie Hamilton?" Scarlett didn't let the other woman know just how well she knew Melanie. Scarlett just said, "Yes, although she is Melanie Wilkes now."
"Did she marry that stuffed shirt of a cousin?"
Scarlett giggled and said, "Yes."
"Is she still so prim and proper?"
"Oh definitely."
"I used to play with her when I was a child until I told my mother I was never going over to Melly's house again."
"Why?"
"She would suggest that we do something wrong like steal cookies from the kitchen. If we got caught, Melly would blame everything on me then start crying. Of course, her aunt always believed Melly. Her aunt would tell my mother and because my mother believed Miss Hamilton over me, I would get punished."
"Oh my!"
"When I told her I had a crush on her brother, she told him in front of me. Charlie and I were both so embarrassed. Do you know what happened to Charlie?"
"He died from measles two months after the war started."
"Oh, poor Charlie."
"Yes, he so wanted to be a hero."
"That sounds like Charlie."
"Let's talk about something happier. That old woman there," Scarlett nodded her head at the woman then continued, "Why does everyone act afraid of her?"
"Because everyone is afraid of her. That is Ophelia Albright. She is the most powerful matron. One bad word from her and all your invitations will dry up."
Violet went on to tell Scarlett about everyone in the room. At the end of the evening, Violet said, "Let's exchange addresses."
"Alright."
Scarlett saw no reason to tell her friend about her relationship with Melanie Wilkes. The truth was that Melanie Wilkes was now no more than Wade's aunt. No more important to Scarlett than Aunt PittyPat and Uncle Henry.
Rhett had arranged a play date for the children with a couple who also had children. Everyone had a good time. Rhett smiled as he saw Genie spending a lot more time with the other children than with him. He decided that was the way it should be. It was alright for now he had Gerry to carry around.
Rhett and Scarlett went out for supper several times just the two of them. They took in an opera one night and a play another night. As they were entering the theater, Rhett said, "This play has an unhappy ending."
"Thank you for telling me."
On their last night in New York, Rhett and Scarlett attended a supper party. At the party, Scarlett met several nice ladies. These ladies had causes they were supporting. Like prison reform or school reform or women getting the right to vote. To Scarlett they were extremely passionate in their beliefs which pleased Scarlett. She thought it was nice to feel so strongly about something. On the way to the hotel, she said, "Would you say those ladies were proper ladies?"
"Not in the South but they are in the North. Why?"
Scarlett told him about the ladies and their causes. To which Rhett replied, "You wouldn't find ladies acting that way in the South. It wouldn't be proper."
"I'm glad we are no longer proper."
"Me too."
After a week, the family got into their private car and headed down to Atlanta. Scarlett had, of course, noticed they had not gone to Charleston when they left or when they returned to Atlanta, but she didn't need to ask Rhett about it. She knew he was tired of being snubbed by his mother and family.
Rhett had sent a telegram to Pork telling him of their impending arrival and to prepare the house to be lived in again. Scarlett would hire a staff after they had gotten settled back into the house even another nursemaid. She would keep hiring the girls until Gerry could sit himself up. Once he could do that it was a lot easier on Mammy.
Rhett and Scarlett talked on the way back to Atlanta. She had told him what Violet had said about Melly. Rhett said, "That is very good news indeed."
"Why?"
"If she did it to Mrs. Brooks then she did it to other little girls also. That rumor about Mr. Wilkes may have actually found some traction because it would be egg on Miss Melly's face."
"That would be wonderful. I have been complaining to her about the trials and tribulations of being pregnant."
"How did you explain me getting you with child if I am supposedly using whores?"
"Well, Dear, you don't use whores exclusively. You still like to be intimate with me. I implied that you were an incredibly lusty man."
"I am but fortunately, I have a lusty wife."
"I have also bragged on how posh and luxurious my life is. For example, I told her how wonderful it was that you were a millionaire and could afford for us to continue living in London until the baby was born."
"I can and that is wonderful although I did make money while we were in London."
Scarlett smiled at Rhett and said, "Of course, you did. What else can we do to Melly?"
"We can play practical jokes on her."
"Like what?"
"Like when she comes to tea, have one of the cups have lemon juice in it before it is brought to you. Then pour the tea into the cup and give it to Miss Melly. I am sure it would be very amusing to watch her try to keep a straight face."
"Maybe you could join us."
"Yes, I can."
They both laughed.
"You could dress up like Mrs. Merriwether and pretend not to understand when Miss Melly tries to tell you how much your dress looks like the old battle axes."
"I could get one made like the lime green one that the old witch loves."
"You could hire an actor to pretend to be me and never admit it isn't me. He would have to not be seen by Beau though."
"In other words, make her life miserable."
"Even more miserable than it is now."
"What do you mean?"
"She is living with her bitter sister-in-law. Her aunt is a dingbat. She can't have any children and she desperately wants them. She has to behave properly all the time. You are living a well-to-do life with everything money can buy. You are doing whatever you want to do. The worst thing happening in your life is that you occasionally have to give your husband another child. We are going to avoid spending time with her then we are going to be gloriously happy."
"Don't you think she will try to hurt us again."
"Maybe, but we will not live in fear of what she might do. There isn't much she can say about us that hasn't been said already. Furthermore, she is living in genteel poverty and her husband is a teller at a bank."
Scarlett started laughing and said, "With no more ambition than a frog. That is all he will ever be a teller."
Rhett laughed and said, "And not even Head teller."
When Rhett and Scarlett stopped laughing, she said, "He only got the manager's job because I thought I loved him."
"He only kept the manager's job because you thought you loved him."
"Love you."
"Love you, too."