Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.

Chapter Two

Scarlett went to her room and there was only one chest of drawers. After she opened it up, she saw that she and Ashley shared the bureau. As she searched through the rest of the drawers there weren't very many clothes in the entire chest of drawers. There were two dresses in one of the drawers. They were both something she would not have chosen. She guessed the rest of her clothes were dirty. They really should do laundry once a week.

She put on her shimmy, her corset, and her petticoats which were all thread bare. She picked up the green dress and put it on. It was a very plain ordinary dress. Why had she bought this dress? It was not her usual style at all. It was more like something Melly would wear.

She took the boys, her father, and Melanie to the park. They had a wonderful time. After an hour, they returned to the house.

When they returned, Mammy said, "Miss India is not happy about you going to the park and leaving her to wash all the clothes alone."

"Wash the clothes alone? Why is she washing the clothes at all? That is the washer woman's job."

"Miss Scarlett, you know we don't have a washer woman. You and Miss India must do all the chores around here."

Scarlett remembered what Ashley had said about not being able to afford servants and the few servants they had were just working for room and board.

"Thank you for telling me about India. I will go apologize right now."

Scarlett found India in the back yard. Normally, she was not one to apologize for anything but something inside her had told her that she needed to keep the peace with India. Therefore, she said to India, "I'm sorry for leaving you with all the clothes. I forgot today was laundry day. You go on inside and I will finish hanging the clothes."

"Thank you, Scarlett. I will get started on the next load."

"Thanks."

Scarlett didn't know what was going on. She wished she had someone to tell her. She remembered that Genie had said she could give Scarlett information if she needed it. As she hung laundry which was a lot of hard work she called for Genie. After the woman appeared, Scarlett asked, "How do they believe this came about?"

"You married Ashley Wilkes in January of sixty-six."

"How did Melly die?"

"You fled Atlanta to avoid the Northern troops who would be invading the city. A couple of days after you arrived at Tara Melanie died because she was so weak after giving birth to her son."

"Did Rhett get me out of Atlanta?"

"Yes."

"Did Rhett abandon me at Rough and Ready?"

"Yes."

"What year is it?"

"It is May of seventy-one."

"We have been married six years and we only have one child."

"That is the way it works sometimes."

"Is Rhett Ashley's boss?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"He loaned Frank Kennedy the money to buy the sawmills. When Frank was killed…"

"In a clan raid?"

"Yes. Frank still owed Rhett about two hundred and fifty dollars. Rhett bought your sister out of the sawmills and started running it himself."

"Is he making Ashley's life miserable?"

"Not exactly. He expects Ashley to do his job and Ashley is not particularly good at his job because he thinks the job is beneath him."

"Of course, it is."

Genie chose not to respond.

"Why are my dresses so plain?"

"Because those are the dresses Ashley likes seeing you in."

"Thank you."

All day long Scarlett hung laundry. That is when Scarlett found out she only had nine dresses and they all looked basically the same as Melly's dresses. Every minute of Scarlett's day was busy. She had never known that Melly had worked that hard.

Over dinner she asked Cookie, "Are you going shopping for food today?"

"Miss Scarlett, you know that we can't shop for food until Friday when Mr. Ashley gets paid."

Were they that poor that they didn't have enough food? As she looked at the boys, she knew they were. They were both too thin. How can this be? Ashley should work harder to provide for his family better. His family should motivate him to work harder and sell more lumber. Yet she knew even in the other timeline Ashley had not worked hard to provide more money for his family. A thought popped into her head, but she quickly dismissed it. Yet the question still careened around in her head. The question was: Was Ashley lazy or just selfish? A question she had never asked herself before was: What did Ashley do all day if he wasn't out selling lumber.

As soon as Ashley got home, he expected supper to be on the table. They ate in relative quiet. Every time Scarlett would introduce a topic there was little discussion on the matter.

That evening in the parlor Scarlett tried to get Ashley to tell her about his day. She said, "Where you able to sell a lot of lumber today?"

Ashley said, "You sound just like Captain Butler. Scarlett, you know I don't like talking about my work or my day. I just want to read my book. It wouldn't hurt you to read a book every now and then."

Scarlett sat in the parlor and leafed through her magazine. Her first day as Mrs. Ashley Wilkes had not turned out very well. At nine, Ashley said, "Let us retire."

Scarlett got up and followed Ashley into the bedroom. Scarlett got out of her dress. Her dress was so simple she did not need help getting undressed. She could do it all by herself. That is when she remembered that Melanie and India had not had a maid to help them dress and undress.

Scarlett quickly put on her nightgown. She was a little bit uncomfortable with having so few clothes on in front of Ashley even if they were husband and wife. She got into the bed and tried to snuggle up with Ashley. He said, "Scarlett, you have been acting strange all day. In fact, India mentioned that you ran off to the park with the children and left her alone with the laundry. You know I don't like to be touched when I sleep. Good night."

Scarlett said, "That witch tattled on me."

"I have told you before about saying anything ugly about India. Melanie never spoke an unkind word about anyone."

"Yes, Ashley. Will you kiss me good night?"

"Just one kiss."

When Ashley kissed her, it was a peck on the lips. She tried to deepen it into something more. Ashley pulled back and said, "Scarlett, you need to get your baser instincts under control. You know a lady doesn't like relations. Melanie would never have done something like that."

Scarlett was stunned by Ashley's statement, and she would think about it later but for now she wanted a passionate kiss from Ashley. She said, "I like the kissing."

"I'm not in the mood."

Ashley rolled over and with his back to her said, "Don't wait me up early in the morning like you did this morning with your foolish talking."

"Of course not, Ashley."

As she laid there in the bed, she was thinking that this was not the way she had always imagined being married to Ashley would be. She decided that men must change after they got married. Rhett certainly had.

Breakfast was a disaster the next morning. All they had in the house for breakfast was oatmeal. They didn't have any honey or sugar to sweeten it with. On top of that Scarlett had always disliked oatmeal. Wistfully she thought about the sweet rolls that she had every morning for breakfast in her other lifetime. There was little to no conversation over the breakfast table. Scarlett was beginning to realize that there wasn't a lot of talking in the Wilkes household. The rest of the day was spent doing more household chores.

That evening India and Ashley had a discussion about a play by William Shakespeare. Scarlett thought the name of the play was Hamlet. It had something to do with a prince avenging his father's death. It was all very boring to Scarlett. What amazed Scarlett was that was the most she had heard Ashley speaking since she arrived in this lifetime. At the end of the evening Ashley had a smile on his face and he seemed happy. Scarlett knew why he was happy when he said, "That was one of Melly's favorite plays."

Ashley had been happy because he had been remembering a favorite memory of Melanie. All happiness left Ashley's face when he said, "It is time to retire."

"Of course, Dear."

After they had gotten into bed, Ashley started kissing her. They were not wonderful kisses. In fact, they were awful kisses. They certainly had not compared to that passionate kiss they had shared in the orchard that day so long ago. They didn't stir anything in her, but she kept trying because it was Ashley. Ashley, her one true love. Finally, he entered her, and it was much the same as with Frank. He was not concerned about her pleasure only his own. She was just a body to take care of his needs with. That was to be expected. She was a lady, and he was a gentleman. This was the way proper people had relations. After he had finished, Ashley had rolled over and with his back to her had gone to sleep.

Scarlett was sadly disappointed. She had an awful thought. Had Ashley been thinking about Melanie while he was with her? She remembered Rhett stating that he knew she had been thinking about Ashley when they had been together. Sadly, she decided that he had.

Scarlett tried not to think another awful thought, but she thought it anyway. It was so much better with Rhett even when he was treating her like a lady. The next thought shamed her for she knew she shouldn't think it, but she couldn't help herself. Despite her unwillingness to participate Rhett had always made her feel so special during their intimate time. When it was over Rhett had always held her in his arms until she had fallen asleep.

The next day breakfast was worse. All they had to eat was oatmeal or leftovers from the night before. She made Ashley's dinner then warmed up the rest of the food for breakfast. The meal was better than unsweetened oatmeal but not by much. The meals were quite a step down from what she was used to. She had never appreciated the quality food that she had been able to consume since her marriage to Rhett. She in truth hadn't appreciated a lot of the things that Rhett had provided for her. She knew that now. She had taken all the things he had provided for her for granted.

That afternoon Scarlett and India went calling. They went visiting. They called on Mrs. Merriwether and she greeted Scarlett like they had never had a cross word between them. Scarlett guessed since her marriage to Ashley, she had behaved herself as far as the matron was concerned. Maybelle, Fanny, and Mrs. Meade were all there. Scarlett could tell that all the ladies were pitying her. Why were they pitying her? She was Scarlett O'Hara. No, she was Mrs. Ashley Wilkes.

She realized that they pitied her because Ashley was not providing her with a particularly good life. Everyone knew how poor they were. They saw Ashley as a loser not the great man that he was. They saw him as a loser because he was barely able to handle being a manager of a sawmill. They didn't understand that he was too good for that job and that was why he wasn't any good at it. For once Scarlett heard the hollowness of her argument.

She didn't want to think about it so she wouldn't. She wondered if Ashley and Melanie had been this poor in the other timeline. She didn't think they had been this poor, but they certainly hadn't been doing well. She wondered how long he had been the manager of the sawmill. She did wonder why he didn't try harder for the sake of his family. Then unbidden the question, 'Was Ashley lazy or just selfish?' popped into her head again and this time no matter how hard she tried she could not dismiss the question from her mind. She finally admitted to herself that Ashley was a lazy, selfish man.

After a lot of discussion on who wasn't behaving and what they were doing. There was also some discussion on what the Scallawags and Republicans were doing. There were a couple of comments about Rhett Butler. The ladies always looked quickly at Scarlett to see her response when they spoke of Rhett, but Scarlett did not react. After all Rhett was no longer her husband so his actions did not reflect on her in any way.

There was also some discussion on the fund raiser that was being given by the Monument Committee that Saturday.