This is kind of gap filler…the action shall commence again soon! Thanks for the reviews :-) I'm going out of town tomorrow, so I probably won't update this weekend. Thanks for reading! Enjoy! This is my first ff excluding a RR on yahoo :-)
"Good afternoon, Captain Butler." A sheepish young man said from behind the counter of the bank.
"Good afternoon, Aaron. I have this for you, and I'd like this in primarily small bills." Rhett responded, using his right hand to pass the teller the withdrawal slip.
The teller took one look at the slip and couldn't help but chuckle. "Um, Captain Butler, I'm not supposed to tell you, but, your wife cleared this account out this morning, first thing. There's no money in this account."
It took a minute for Rhett to realize what the young man was saying, and Aaron was beyond startled when Captain Butler's countenance changed from one of pain, to one of anger, to a huge smile as he began to laugh. "Ah, my little vixen has struck again. Tell me Aaron, why did you let my wife have all of my money, and what kind of an excuse could she have used that seemed logical to need so much money at one time?"
"I'm sorry Captain Butler, she told me it was a secret and I cannot say. But I know you'll be happy." Aaron replied innocently, still believing that Captain Butler was the luckiest man in the world to have such a beautiful wife who would go to such extremes to plan a surprise that he just knew would make Rhett so happy.
Rhett read the young man like a book, and because of this, he knew that Scarlett had won this boy over, and he wouldn't betray her. "Still playing the belle of the county." Rhett thought to himself. He chuckled softly this time, and merely reached into his pocket and withdrew his checkbook. "So tell me, Aaron, since you and I both realize I have multiple accounts at this bank, something my dear wife was not privy to, which accounts with the name Butler remain?"
"Well, sir, Mrs. Butler withdrew all of her funds, all of the accounts for the children, the joint account you had, and, I believe that's all. I must say, she loves you an awful lot to go through such trouble for this. But, I believe the rest of your accounts are in tact."
Rhett laughed with a loud roar at this one, admiring his wife's ingenuity, as well as planning, and laughed even harder when he contemplated showing Aaron his shoulder to prove how much his wife loved him. He quickly thought against this one, though. "What is Scarlett's game this time? This is very odd." Rhett thought to himself. Then his anger was mounting. "She's planning on running off with Ashley Wilkes. I bet she's over there right this minute. I'll kill them both." He thought, and his eyes turned so dark, Aaron was visibly shaking, thinking that Captain Butler was now angry with him for allowing Mrs. Butler to withdraw all of the funds.
"Aaron, please, I need this amount of money, I don't care which account you get it from, primarily small bills, now." Rhett said, placing added emphasis on the last word. As Aaron nearly ran away, Rhett returned to his ponderings, "She's cleaned me out, to the best of her knowledge, to run away with her boyfriend. What was she playing at, confessing her love for me, and saying that she was not in love with Ashley. And to think, I thought I could read her and that she wasn't lying. I'll kill them both."
"Here you are, Captain Butler, primarily small bills, just as you requested." Aaron said handing the stack of bills to Rhett.
"Aaron, one more question for you, and I do believe that you can tell me, where was my wife heading when she left this morning?" Rhett questioned in a tone that was strictly business.
"She was going to the train station, and then home, Captain Butler, I overheard her mumbling." Aaron replied shakily.
"Thank you for everything Aaron."
"Thank you for your business, Captain Butler, sir."
With that, Rhett tipped his hat and exited, changing his plans. He turned the carriage around and headed straight to the Wilkes' house with murder on his own mind.
He arrived in record time, his arm forgotten, and he ran to the door and banged on it mercilessly.
"Captain Butler, thank you for coming." India Wilkes answered the door with a look of relief upon her face, though the words seemed more like forced propriety. She had obviously been crying quite a lot. She ushered him into the foyer.
"Where is my wife?" Rhett asked, playing no games and throwing manners to the wind.
"Why Captain Butler, she left this morning, making quite a spectacle of herself, screaming for you through the streets of Atlanta." India said, obviously trying to assail Scarlett for her fervor, yet again.
"Yes, but she returned to see Ashley." Rhett stated, growing furious. He did not think that India would harbor Scarlett, he'd known just how much resentment India had for Scarlett.
"No, Captain Butler, I'm sorry to say that Ashley's quite beside himself today over Melanie, we all are, and have had no callers. Ashley is sitting in the parlor right now, actually. We can't even bring ourselves to make the arrangements." India forced out as tears began falling once more.
Rhett could not hide the perplexed look that flashed upon his face, but was quickly masked as he said, "Yes, yes, I understand. I came to see if Scarlett and Mr. Wilkes needed my help in making the arrangements."
"We were actually hoping that Scarlett would be back by now. She's always been the one to take control of the situation and I'm ashamed to say, I'd hoped she'd take over now." Ashley Wilkes said as he made his way to the foyer. "Captain Butler." Ashley continued, extending his hand to Rhett.
Rhett was even more perplexed now, shaking hands with the man he was just about to kill. In all of the frenzy of the day thus far, he had almost forgotten about poor Ms. Melly.
"So you have not seen my wife today, Mr. Wilkes?" Rhett asked, staring Ashley down.
"Not since, not since…Melly." Ashley stuttered, obviously trying painstakingly to hold in his emotions.
"Yes, well, Mr. Wilkes, we are all so very sorry about your loss. Ms. Melly was one of the greatest ladies I have ever known." Rhett said, his face softening and more appropriate for the dismal mood of the situation. "Please, let me know if I can be of any aid to your family at this time, Mr. Wilkes, in Ms. Melly's honor."
"Thank you Captain Butler, but I supposed we'll have to just deal with this ourselves. We will send word of when the arrangements are. I'm sure Scarlett's just resting, she's lost so much lately, and looked so tired." Ashley finished.
"She's strong, and you have to be too." India said, looking at her brother.
"Well, I will take my leave now. Your family is in my thoughts." Rhett said while tipping his hat to India.
Rhett returned to his carriage and his thoughts. "Well, did Scarlett leave town? Aaron said she was heading to the train depot. But she didn't take anything with her. This is Scarlett, she needs her dresses, all of them. And her jewelry." Rhett thought with a chuckle, albeit a nervous one for the first time in his life. "I suppose I just didn't notice what she took…but with $100,000 dollars, I'd imagine she could buy as many new dresses as she'd want. Sneaky little vixen. I'm glad I thought ahead and only allowed a maximum balance of $100,000 in the account at a time. I'm sure she thinks that she's cleaned me out, although, I'd imagine she thinks I am dead as well." Rhett laughed again, this time, remembering the pain in his left shoulder. "I have to go see Dr. Meade. I'll go to the train depot when I get this lead out of my body." Rhett mused to himself while making his way to the Meade's in the carriage. He was almost there, he would have to think of an excuse for this bullet, and fast.