A Dire Situation
Chapter Fourteen
Belle opened the door to a room Scarlett had seen once before and led her inside. A few changes had been made since Scarlett was here last, and they added to give the room a more homely, cosy appeal.
Scarlett's small bag containing the few things she had bought with her from Tara was presently being unpacked by a small girl who couldn't possibly be any older than fourteen.
Scarlett was appalled. What could a girl that young be doing working in a place like this? For she herself to be here was bad enough by her way of thinking, without the presence of children in the same situation.
Belle took one look at Scarlett and sensed what she was thinking.
"You may leave us for a moment please Elizabeth" Said Belle, addressing the girl in a far more kindly tone than Scarlett had ever heard her use with any of her other girls.
"I wish to explain a few things to Miss O'Hara and get her settled in"
"Yes of course Miss Watling" replied the girl bobbing a quick curtsey first to Belle then to Scarlett before rushing out the door.
"That was Elizabeth Browning Scarlett" began Belle, nodding towards the closed door once she was certain the girl was out of earshot.
"She is to be your ladies maid. She will do your hair and help you dress; she is very good in that respect. She will also tidy your parlour and see to any reasonable personal requests you may have."
Scarlett nodded absently, still unwilling to believe what her eyes had seen.
"But that is all the work she does here Scarlett, do you understand?"
Scarlett blinked her confusion.
"She is a maid, nothing more, or should I say nothing less." scorned Belle, with more than her usual amount of malice.
"So then she…" Scarlett began but then trailed of, still unwilling herself to say the words aloud.
"No Scarlett." Exclaimed Belle making it obvious the conversation was about to be over.
"She cleans for her money." Belle heaved a sigh, knowing she may as well divulge the entire story and sank into the lush lounger in the corner while Scarlett placed herself precariously on the edge of the bed.
"You will find several more girls just like her in this establishment Scarlett. Five to be exact. Orphans, all of them. From well-to-do middle class families. Both parents died in the war. No relations to speak of. They had no where else to turn and so they came to me, for work. The kind of work you thought they were doing at first." At this Belle gave Scarlett a piercing look, causing Scarlett to turn her focus to her hands in her lap.
"But believe it or not even I know when to draw a line at what's wrong and what's just plain disgusting. So I offered them jobs as maids. They were all more than happy to take them and they all work well, exceptionally grateful et cetera. But I won't hear of anyone mistreating them understood? They're good kids and they deserve respect after what they've been through."
"Yes Belle I understand" replied Scarlett finally meeting the woman's eyes.
"And I'm sorry for..."
"Don't bother" interrupted Belle "I know what your gonna say. You're just not used to all this yet. It shocked you. It won't in time"
Belle possibly meant to calm Scarlett with these words, yet they did nothing but chill her blood and send shivers down her spine.
After getting over his initial shock, Rhett quickly regained his usual dignified air of composure.
"Mr Wilkes" He greeted coolly
"I was just leaving I'm afraid. Is it very important?" Rhett was not in the mood for chit chat, particularly with Ashley Wilkes. He had much more pressing matters weighing on his mind at the moment, such as where the devil Scarlett O'Hara had got too.
"Yes it is." Replied Ashley crisply making it quite clear that the upcoming conversation was nonnegotiable.
Without another word Ashley turned and began to walk
towards what Rhett assumed used to be a stable in better times.
At a loss about what to do now Rhett assumed he should merely follow and hope the upcoming events didn't unfold too badly.
As Rhett pulled the door shut behind him Ashley turned around abruptly. He had a look about him that made Rhett think that whatever it was Ashley was going to say, he didn't want to say it, but he felt he had too.
'How intriguing' thought Rhett 'What could possibly be causing the saintly Mister Wilkes to feel such a burden on his conscience?' Rhett knew the matter would be regarding Scarlett, what else could two bitter enemies such as they were have to discuss except the rope that bound them together? This was perhaps the only thing that kept Rhett in the room as he watched several emotions, hesitancy, fear, determination, guilt, play out upon Ashley's face. Rhett needed to find Scarlett and if Ashley could help him he'd be a fool not to listen to him.
"You're here to see Scarlett?" Ashley suddenly demanded, though it was more of a statement than a question.
"That I am Mister Wilkes" replied Rhett, still unsure of where this conversation was headed he was trying to play it out as casually as possible, giving nothing away.
"Why?"
"I beg your pardon" Rhett was taken much aback by this display of absolute bluntness from a man who, despite their obvious rivalry, had never been anything but calm and polite. Rhett was now more than casually interested in what Ashley had to say.
"I asked you why you are here to Scarlett. Please answer my question Captain Butler." Ashley was very quickly losing his nerve. He knew he needed to get this over and done with before he crumpled altogether.
Rhett was unsure just how much Ashley knew about his relationship with Scarlett. Did he know she had come to see him at his cell? Did he know she went to him to plead for the money to save Tara, and him being the cad he was he had denied her?
No was the answer Rhett assumed. Scarlett held Ashley Wilkes on a pedestal that would be unreachable to Jesus himself. There was no way that Scarlett would ever give Ashley information that would cause him to think poorly of her. She wanted to appear as saintly to him as he did to her, and both impressions, Rhett knew, would be as false as each other. A fact that infuriated him beyond belief and with the fire of anger in his heart he sought to dispel all pretences once and for all.
"I merely came to enquire whether Scarlett had managed to find the tax money she needed for Tara."
"How did you know she needed money" Ashley, desperate, reached for a beam to support himself aware that his worst suspicions might just be coming true.
Throwing all caution to the wind and ignoring the stab of conscience he felt in his heart, that had the shape of Scarlett's emaciated frame and was pleading with him despairingly, he said "I've taken in a personal interest Mister Wilkes. I thought it was only polite after Scarlett took the time to come and see me in my cell, an enticing offer she made me too. First she tried to trick me into marriage but I soon caught her out, I'm sure you of all people know how easy that is to do Mister Wilkes. So then she offered to be my mistress in exchange for the money. Well you can imagine my surprise. A weaker man couldn't have refused her like I did I can tell you that, so desperate did she appear. So I thought it only fair that I came to check up on her to see that she managed to get what she needed." Rhett recited his speech with the calm, practised nonchalance that was his trademark knowing this was his only chance to discover how much of the truth Ashley Wilkes was aware.
As Rhett finished talking Ashley sunk to the floor as though his legs could no longer cope with the pressure of the reality and let out a desolate moan that very nearly touched Rhett's heart.
"You, you refused her?" whispered Ashley running his hands through his golden hair tinted with a grey that appearing in every way the broken man he had become.
"But I thought, I thought… Then how? How? Where did she get the money?"
Rhett glared down at Ashley barely concealing his disgust. So he'd known. He'd known what she'd gone to Atlanta to do. He'd let her go. He'd placed so little value upon her character that he'd let her belittle herself to a scallywag like himself.
Not wishing to witness the disgraceful display that was Ashley's grief any longer Rhett decided to wrap the conversation up as quickly as possible.
"That, Mister Wilkes, is something I do not know but what I was wishing to discover by coming here today. I can see now however that you will be of no help. That you are of no help to anyone. Good day sir."
With that Rhett turned on his heel briskly and strode out the door trying to ignore the piteous wails of Ashley Wilkes. Who was now rocking back and forth slightly moaning "It's all my fault" over and over reminding Rhett of the tragic, fallen Greek heroes he had read about in his youth.
Though Rhett had no sympathy to spare for Ashley. As far as he was concerned it was all his fault. He was trying hard to ignore the voice in his head that was reminding him that he too had let Scarlett leave knowing full well that when she wanted something, she damn well got it, and would without a doubt find herself in a more compromising situation than the one she had proposed to Rhett who was at least, for lack of a better word, a friend.
'But at least I am now willing to do something to render the situation' he thought. 'I'm not just skulking around lamenting my actions.'
Trying to suppress the image of a desperate Scarlett, that had been plaguing him since he had foolishly refused her, Rhett climbed into his waiting carriage to begin his journey back to Atlanta.
So he knew now that Scarlett had the money. She'd made a deal with someone. But with whom? And what were the conditions?
If she'd done anything to compromise herself Rhett vowed he'd break the neck of her benefactor. It was guilt that was eating away at his heart he tried to convince himself. The guilt the came with not having helped out a friend in need. It had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with love.
Scarlett felt like a young bride preparing for her wedding, not a fallen woman doing what she had to.
She was being fussed over in a way that was igniting in her the vanity she used to feel before there had been a war. Before she had known the extent she would go to. Back in the days when she had been afraid of fear.
Elizabeth had proven herself to be an accomplished hair dresser and ladies maid. She had put Scarlett's hair up in a most becoming and fashionable way and was now pulling an elaborate gown from the wardrobe while Scarlett finished off her supper. A meal, she thought with a pang of guilt, that was more than every mouth at Tara would be having for an entire day.
The girls at Belle's had been a complete shock. They had been so normal. Scarlett was having difficulty getting over that. They were just ordinary girls who made an extraordinary living. And they had just as much, if not more pride in what they did than any of the old peahens of Atlanta.
They had amused Scarlett for quite some time, after she had assured them that she was not offended, with impressions of the old cats hobbling down the street with their noses in the air pretending they couldn't see the girls from Belle's two feet in front of them.
And they seemed to simply adore Scarlett, each of them introducing themselves and doting on her. Complimenting her hair, her eyes, her slender frame. None of them recognising her thinness as a sign of hardship, for Scarlett had soon come to realise that the girls within Belle's walls were exceptionally protected and many had not been touched by the war at all, only hearing about it's devastation from one or two drunken customers – the sober ones couldn't bare to talk about it.
Elizabeth slipped the beautiful emerald green gown over Scarlett's head and fastened it up. It showed off every inch of her body and clung to her skin, bare without need of a corset.
Belle allowed a slight gasp to escape her lips as she entered Scarlett's room. She looked breathtaking.
Scarlett swung around to see where the sound had come from and in doing so caught sight of herself in the elaborate gilt mirror hanging on the wall.
Yet she felt nothing but disappointment. How easy it was to change ones appearance, to put up a façade. This wasn't her. Not anymore.
Belle walked up behind Scarlett who was captivated by her own reflection and put her hands on her shoulders. They were like ice but Scarlett didn't flinch.
"Are you ready?" Belle questioned, her voice the faintest whisper in her ear.
Scarlett took a step forward closer to the mirror and noticed a dull spot where the gilt had rubbed away. It wasn't gold. It was a façade. She could be a façade too.
With a frighteningly bright smile upon her face she spun around to face Belle.
"Yes. I am"
Hello everyone who is wonderful enough to take the time to read my story. I cannot apologise enough for how long it has taken me to install another chapter. I hope you have enjoyed the story so far. I hope to make much more frequent updates from now on. The next part should be up soon. Please review to let me know what you think.