Chapter 8: A Painful Confrontation

Scarlett sat on her bed glaring at the vile thing across the room. The smell of it rolled her stomach and was enough to make her vomit, but she couldn't so much as take her eyes off it. The dirty, crumpled, pathetic little thing seemed to mock her from across the room.

You thought he was in love with you, her mind screamed.

She could not wrap her mind around what a vile man he was. To visit the likes of her to do God only knows what. Scarlett wondered if he touched her the way he touched Scarlett. With those warm hands that moved skillfully along her body, making her beg for more, even though her naive mind had no idea what more was.

Scarlett bolted off her bed suddenly and grabbed the handkerchief in her hand. In a blaze of fury and humiliation, she went down the stairs to the kitchen and shoved the handkerchief into the flames of the stove and, with impotent anger, watched it burn.

The gold that vile Watling creature had given Melanie had been wrapped in one of Rhett's handkerchiefs, reeking of cheap perfume. She'd recognized it the moment she saw it, and the initials in one corner had spoken the undeniable truth; Rhett Butler had paid that woman. To think that she could have believed he was in love with her! This proved he couldn't be.

Bad women and all they involved were mysterious and revolting matters to her. She knew that men patronized these women for purposes which no lady should mention - or, if she did mention them, in whispers and by indirection and euphemism. She had always thought that only common vulgar men visited such women. Before this moment, it had never occurred to her that nice men - that is, men she met at nice homes and with whom she danced - could possibly do such things. It opened up an entirely new field of thought and one that was horrifying. Perhaps all men did this! It was bad enough that they forced their wives to go through such indecent performances but to actually seek out low women and pay them for such accommodation! Oh, men were so vile, and Rhett Butler was the worst of them all!

When Rhett appeared that night to take her to dinner, he was dressed in a fine black suit with shoes polished to a fine sheen, his diamond cufflinks glittering in the candlelight. He made quite the picture of the proper gentleman, but Scarlett knew better.

She had been sitting at her window for over an hour waiting for him to knock on the door, and as soon as he was escorted into the parlor she burst through the doors, banging them loudly against the wall.

Rhett was startled but did not show it when he said, "This war stopped being a joke when a girl like you doesn't have a presentable dress to wear to dinner," he said, taking account of her worn nursing dress.

"I'm not going anywhere with you, you varmint!" she hissed at him. "You're a terrible, black-hearted deviant, and you can just go to the devil!"

"My, my, what has brought on this sudden realization?" he asked, showing little interest in her tirade. He sat down in a chair and took out a cigar, then lit it casually.

His lack of reaction only infuriated her more. Scarlett was angry enough to throw something. "You've been to visit that Watling creature! I know you have! That – that woman – gave Melly money for the hospital, and it was wrapped up in one of your handkerchiefs!"

Rhett nodded his head, along with her story, "And?" he asked, bored.

"And? And?" Scarlett screamed, "How could you be such a cad? Associating with – with trash like that?"

Suddenly, he was attentive. Rhett glared at her venomously and snuffed out his cigar. He stalked up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, "If you were a man, I'd break your neck for that. As it is, I'll thank you to shut your stupid mouth."

"I hate you, Rhett Butler! I'll hate you 'till I die!" she vowed, recovering quickly.

"Bell is more of a lady than you'll ever be!" he shot back.

"How dare you!" she screamed. "She's a cheap whore!" Scarlett said, stunned by her own language.

The look in Rhett's eyes should have told her to stop, but she was so impassioned, so humiliated, that she couldn't bring her voice down. "You're not happy unless you have to pay someone to touch you, are you? When I think that I let you touch me as you touched her…Agh!"

Rhett looked down at her with a hard, menacing glare, then pushed her away. Regaining himself, he took on a cold, dismissive tone. "Yes, my dear, I touched you exactly the way I touch her." He smiled, leering down at her, "I've kissed her, just like I kissed you and every other girl in ports around the world. Did you think you were special?" he asked, laughing at her horrified face. "Scarlett, you're nothing but another girl who I dabble with and use for my pleasure. Don't think that you're any different from Belle. You both use your – womanly charms – in return for what you want; only she's more honest about it."

Scarlett stood unmoving, her chest suddenly empty and her stomach sick. She looked at his face with her mouth parted slightly. How had he turned this on her? She was no longer angry, only mortified and humiliated. "Get out." She ground out, "Get you!" she yelled, finding her voice. "Get out! Get out!" she screamed at him, only to hear his laughter as he walked out of the room and slammed the front door behind him.

Scarlett remained in that spot, her breath coming in short, gasps, "Oh my God, oh my God! Oh my God!" her mind shouted. Finally, as if her body had caught up with her mind, she let out a heart-wrenching sob and fell to the floor in a pile of skirts. Crying uncontrollably, she did not notice Melanie running into the room and collecting Scarlett into her arms.

"There, there, darling. It's alright," she said, rocking Scarlett like a child. "Shh, shh, calm down, it's alright."

"Oh Melly! He hates me!" she sobbed, barely comprehensible.

"No, no, Captain Butler? Oh, Scarlett, he loves you so!"

"No Melly, we said the most awful things to one and other." She cried, shaking her head.

"It's alright, dear. Once you two have cooled down, you'll forget all about your silly fight." She said comfortingly, "He loves you so, can't you see it? No other blockade runners come so far inland. Why else would he come to Atlanta if not to see you? I can see it in his eyes every time he looks at you."

Scarlett buried her head in Melly's shoulder and clung to her like a child, crying.

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Belle's sat, reclined comfortably on the settee in her bedroom, watching Rhett. She had never seen him in such a state. Rhett was always cool, calm, and collected. Even during the most high stakes poker games or when he went to duel a scorned husband or father, Rhett had never been upset like this. She watched as he paced angrily, back and forth, in front of her fireplace.

He'd never had anything important to lose before.

"Rhett, what the hell happened?" she asked, jolting him out of his thoughts.

He stopped suddenly and looked at her, "I'm in love," he said harshly.

Belle's brown eyebrows flew up to her red hairline in surprise, "That O'Hara girl?" she asked calmly, already knowing the answer.

He nodded, "She's the most aggravating, spoiled child I've ever met!"

"So you don't love her then?" she challenged.

"No! Well…I don't know," he finished pathetically, running his hand through his hair. "She makes me so angry! I wanted to strangle her for the things she said about you."

"Me?" Belle asked, surprised.

"Yes, she said you gave Miss Melly some money for the hospital, and it was wrapped up in one of my handkerchiefs."

He looked at Belle for confirmation. She nodded; she'd given Mrs. O'Hara his handkerchief, knowing full well that word would get back to that little girl. He belonged to Belle, and the girl would surely pull her claws out of him when she found out.

"She was angry that I would associate with you…I told her she wasn't anything special to me, that I had a girl in every port I used just as I'd used her." He looked down at the floor, and for the first time since their childhood, Belle thought he honestly looked ashamed of something he'd done.

"Surely this isn't all over a proper miss getting' her corset strings all in a twist over me."

"It wasn't just that," he said, resuming his pacing. "How could I be so stupid to get tangled up with her? Nothing good can possibly come from an association with Scarlett O'Hara! She'll poison me and play me like a fool!" he shouted, his anger from the argument rising again. "I won't let her control me and play with me like I'm some kind of puppet. Rhett Butler does what he wants and doesn't give a damn about what anyone thinks!"

He sounded like he was trying very hard to convince himself. Bell picked up her champagne glass and, giving him a mock toast, said, "Well, good thing you got that cleared up."

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Scarlett sat in the cooling water of her bath with a half-empty brandy in her hand. Her hair was piled haphazardly atop her head, and she sat completely still, except for one toe rhythmically tapping against the rim of the tub. She felt completely empty. Numb.

She'd sobbed for what seemed like hours in Melanie's arms, until her sister-in-law had ordered a bath drawn and deposited Scarlett in the hot water with a full decanter. She stared straight ahead of her, her mind as numb as her body, and replayed the terrible event over and over again in her mind. She had no idea what had happened. One minute she was yelling at him for associating with such a vile creature, and the next, he was shooting angry words back at her, leaving her with such an empty, hollow feeling.

She'd thought he loved her. Why else would he have given her such beautiful, expensive gifts and kissed her so passionately? But no, he'd kissed her the same way he kissed that Watling creature. He'd told her she was just a trifle, and he had girls in every port. She'd thought she was special and had wondered if what she was feeling for him could possibly, just maybe, might be love. What a fool she'd been to think he cared about her. The beast was incapable of love.

She leaned her head against the rim of the metal tub, and feeling the tears welling up again, she squeezed her eyes shut. No, Melly was wrong, Rhett didn't love her at all, and it hurt so bad Scarlett could hardly breathe.