Chapter 6: A War Without a Cause
Gerald had been so embarrassed that he made such a spectacle of himself and lost all his money to that blackguard, Butler, that it was painfully easy for Scarlett to blackmail him into letting her stay in Atlanta.
With Melanie opening up the house to guests with her invitation to Rhett, Scarlett was beginning to see visions of picnics by the bubbling waters of Peachtree Creek and barbecues at Stone Mountain, receptions and balls, afternoon danceable, buggy rides, and Sunday-night buffet suppers. She would be there, right in the heart of things, right in the center of a crowd of men.
Scarlett procrastinated Sunday afternoon and put off getting ready for dinner as long as she could. After Rhett's crude remarks the night he brought her father home, she was hardly in the mood to see him again. All she wanted to do was kick him after she had learned that he spent the evening getting her father drunk and then making her Pa gamble away all the money in his wallet.
Despite herself, she checked her hair carefully in the hallway mirror before slowly descending the stairs for dinner. Rhett had arrived a few minutes earlier, and Scarlett felt she could not put off her entrance any longer. She tried to silently enter the room, but in such a small party, it was impossible to enter without everyone turning to look at her when she entered.
Rhett, forever appearing the gentleman in front of everyone except her, stood from his seat and walked over to her.
"My dear Miss O'Hara," he said, taking her hand in his. "It is truly a pleasure to see you again," he kissed her hand and winked at her when he noticed her menacing glare.
"Scarlett! You must taste these bonbons Captain Butler brought us! He assures me they came straight from Nassau and blockaded in at the risk of his life!"
Scarlett resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Pitty, who sat on the settee with the box open on her lap, her size three feet practically swinging with glee.
After dinner, unable to face the scandal that sat in her house, Pitty excused herself immediately following dinner, discreetly taking the bonbons with her. Scarlett felt she couldn't leave Melanie alone with Rhett, so she was trapped in the parlor for an hour, watching Rhett hold the yarn Melanie was winding for knitting. She had noted his blank inscrutable expression when Melanie talked at length and with pride of Ashley and his promotion. Scarlett knew Rhett had no exalted opinion of Ashley and cared nothing at all about the fact that he had been made a major. Yet he made polite replies and murmured the correct things about Ashley's gallantry.
Melanie also talked of their work at the hospital, and Scarlett sat stunned when Rhett had expertly convinced Melanie that she was in desperate need of rest and he would be fine in Scarlett's hospitable company. When Melanie left the room, she smiled kindly at Scarlett and discreetly closed the door behind her, making Scarlett wonder if leaving her alone with Rhett had been his idea or not.
Rhett reclined in his chair and lit a cigar. They sat in silence for a moment, Scarlett trying to ignore the feeling that she was sitting naked in front of him as he pursued her body with his eyes.
"Don't think I've forgiven you, Rhett Butler!" she said, harshly breaking the silence.
Rhett chuckled to himself but did her the courtesy of responding, "Do you still blame me for your father's condition the other night?"
Scarlett bristled at his incredulousness, "I know you're the reason he was drinking, and you stole money from him! He had $500 to buy supplies for Tara, and you stole it all from him!"
A grim look crossed Rhett's face, startling Scarlett, "I don't cheat at cards. Your father lost his money fair and square." He said evenly.
"Well you took advantage of him!" she stammered, recovering quickly. "You got him drunk, of course he'd loose."
"Your father is a grown man, Scarlett, it was his mistake to make. Besides, I kept you in Atlanta, didn't I?" he said, taking another drag of his cigar.
"What are you talking about?" she asked dubiously.
Shaking his head at her naivety, "What was the first thing you did when your father woke up the next morning?" he asked, not expecting an answer, "You took advantage of his conduct and used it against him so he would let you stay in Atlanta."
Scarlett gasped softly in surprise. The blackguard had manipulated her father into his indiscreet behavior, knowing she would blackmail her own father. She hesitated for a moment in silence, not knowing how she wanted to react to him and being his unwitting accomplice. Her first impulse had been gratitude, but that couldn't be right.
Instead, she impulsively changed the subject, "I don't see why you're so much nicer to Melly than to me. I'm much prettier than she is," she continued, "and I don't see why you're nicer to her."
"Dare I hope that you are jealous?"
"Oh, don't presume!"
"Another hope crushed. If I am 'nicer' to Mrs. O'Hara, it is because she deserves it. She is one of the very few kind, sincere, and unselfish persons I have ever known. But perhaps you have failed to note these qualities. And moreover, for all her youth, she is one of the few great ladies I have ever been privileged to know."
"Do you mean to say you don't think I'm a great lady, too?"
"I think we agreed on the occasion of our first meeting that you were no lady at all."
"Oh, if you are going to be hateful and rude enough to bring that up again! How can you hold that bit of childish temper against me? That was so long ago, and I've grown up since then, and I'd forget all about it if you weren't always harping and hinting about it."
"I don't think it was childish temper, and I don't believe you've changed. You are just as capable now as then of throwing vases if you don't get your own way. But you usually get your way now. And so there's no necessity for broken bric-a-brac."
"Oh, you are - I wish I was a man! I'd call you out and-"
"And get killed for your pains. I can drill a dime at fifty yards. Better stick to your own weapons - dimples, vases and the like."
"You are just a rascal." Scarlett said weakly, but didn't even try to hide her coy smile.
A silence settled over them and they seemed to come to a peace agreement as Rhett snuffed out his cigar.
R&S&R&S&R&S&R&S&R&S&R&S&R&S&R&S&R&S&R&S&R&S
Life seemed to have quickened to an incredible speed. Every day dawned as an exciting adventure, a day in which she would meet new men who would ask to call on her, tell her how pretty she was, and how it was a privilege to fight and, perhaps, to die for her.
Rhett was in Atlanta often, he would appear with no fanfare and disappear without a goodbye, but for all his exasperating qualities, she grew to look forward to his calls. When he was in town, he seemed to monopolize her time, and she had none left for the young soldiers who entertained her while Rhett was away. He would wait outside the hospital to drive her home every night, escort her to danceables and bazaars or sit in pleasant conversation in Pitty's parlor for hours on end. There was something exciting about him that she could not analyze, something different from any man she had ever known. There was something breathtaking in the grace of his big body, which made his very entrance into a room like an abrupt physical impact, something in the impertinence and bland mockery of his dark eyes that challenged her spirit to subdue him.
"It's almost like I was in love with him!" she thought, bewildered. "But I'm not, and I just can't understand it." But the exciting feeling persisted.
The war began to drag on, and people slowly stopped saying that it would be over with one more battle. Luxuries became less and less accessible, and Scarlett could only dream of how much Rhett must be making on the supplies he brought into town. Women began cutting down their old dresses into simpler day dresses and even weaving their own simple fabrics. Cotton was so scarce that Melanie and Scarlett had to take bloodied bandages home from the hospital every night to wash them for the next day.
They stood in silence, both tired from a full day at the hospital. Scarlett was lost in thought, thinking about Rhett, as she seemed to do often when he would disappear for a month or so. She stood scrubbing the bandages, mindlessly wondering what love must feel like. Surely she wasn't in love with Rhett, but if it wasn't love, then what was it? She could not comprehend the feeling she got in the pit of her stomach when he would return from being away. It seemed to radiate throughout her body and made her heart race.
His kisses made her wonder if she was a wanton because she was left dreaming about them and willing to risk her reputation for a few moments alone with him. None of her beaux had ever left her as wanting as Rhett's arms did. The thought crossed her mind that maybe she enjoyed his kisses so much only because he was so skilled. To be sure, she had never kissed anyone else who kissed half as well as Rhett Butler. It must just be that he had much more practice than any of her other beaux. The thought of Rhett visiting other girls as he visited her made her prickle angrily, and she scrubbed the bandages so forcefully she sloshed water all over the porch.
Melanie, startled out of her own thoughts by the ruckus, looked up from her work and wiped her brow. "When will Captain Butler be returning?" she asked, startling Scarlett more than her own thoughts.
Looking at Melanie, wondering if the woman had become a mind reader, Scarlett said slowly, "Soon, I would think. He's been gone six weeks tomorrow."
Melanie smiled that annoying smile that made Scarlett sure she was a mind reader.
"Why do you ask?" Scarlett asked, picking up another soiled bandage from the large pile on the floor.
"Ashley mentioned him in his last letter," she said, returning to her work, "He said…" Melanie trailed off, and Scarlett waited impatiently to hear about her brother and what he could possibly have to say about Rhett.
Eventually, Melanie continued, but she spoke very quietly, "I'm only telling you this my dear because I know you love Ashley as much as I do and would never judge him for what he's said. You know as well as I that he's a brave, patriotic soldier, but…" she stopped scrubbing again suddenly and slowly pulled her hands out of the water. She looked at them as if they were foreign objects. As if she couldn't understand why they were darkened red and the water that dripped off her hands was as dark as blood. "The war must be hard on them, away from their families and all." She continued, and Scarlett was unsure if Melly was talking about Ashley or the wounded soldiers who they were washing the bandages for.
"He remembered Rhett from the Twelve Oaks barbeque. Do you remember that day, Scarlett? When Ashley and I announced our betrothal?" She took a resigning breath and began scrubbing the bandages again with renewed determination. "Captain Butler almost started a fight when he said all the south has is 'cotton, slaves and arrogance.' Ashley said he shouldn't be writing such things – oh, but Scarlett -" Melanie could barely finish, "he says we might lose."
Scarlett gasped and dropped the bandages she was holding in the wash bucket. "No, no! Melly, you must have misunderstood!" Scarlett shook her head forcefully, "Ashley would never say that – he – he -" Scarlett couldn't speak, her mind was racing so fast. Rhett had spoken very plainly many times about how the south would lose, but Scarlett had never believed him. He was a smart man, yes, but how could he possibly know they would lose? As long as Ashley was fighting, they couldn't possibly lose. All those brave soldiers, sacrificing their lives, marching off to fight, so sure of their cause. What if it was all for naught? If Ashley and Rhett both thought they would lose…. Scarlett couldn't bring herself to even think about it. She looked at Melanie, who was scrubbing the bandages so hard her hands would be rubbed raw, and Scarlett did the same.