Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The next day, Rhett spoke with Pork about retiring. He said, "Scarlett and I are going to sell this house. Would you like to go to Tara and spend the rest of your days? I know Will and Suellen will take good care of you. I will arrange for them to give you money each month for your living expenses."
"No, Mr. Rhett. Room and board will be enough for Dilcey and me. There is something I would like for you to do for me."
"Go on."
"Take my boy Flynn back with you to live in the North. I hear they have schools for people like us."
"Yes, indeed they do. Can he read and write? Do his sums?"
"He can read and write and do his sums but probably not as well as he should be able to do. He is a smart boy."
"I will take him back with me. If I need to, I will hire a tutor to get him up to the class level he needs to be at. He can stay at our house while he is going to school. He can work in the house to earn his keep."
"Thank you, Mr. Rhett."
"Will you stay until the house is sold?"
"Yes, of course."
"I will arrange to have Mr. Powe buy you and Dilcey a train ticket to Jonesboro after the house is sold."
"Thank you, Mr. Rhett."
Rhett stood up and offered the man his hand. Pork hesitated then he shook Rhett's hand.
Later that day, Rhett went to see Mr. Powe. He instructed the lawyer to sell the house and the contents. He instructed him to buy Pork and Dilcey tickets to Jonesboro. He instructed his lawyer to send Will a monthly check for the couples' room and board. They would work but they were both old and would not be that productive.
As Rhett left Mr. Powe's office, he knew that he no longer wanted to return to the South either. He finally accepted that he could never forgive his mother for choosing Charleston over him.
He smiled a big smile when he thought about what Scarlett would do if he tried to disown any of her children. The quote 'Heaven has no rage, like love to hatred turned. Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.' The quote dealt with love betrayed but his woman would take it to a whole new level if he tried to disown one of her children. The thought made Rhett smile. She would manage to make his life a living hell until he re-instated her child.
He laughed. The censorship from the matrons would be child's play next to the pain his wife would inflict upon him. He loved her so very much in that moment.
That night in their bed Rhett told her that they would be returning to New York two weeks early. He said, "Everything is arranged."
Rhett then told her all the plans including Flynn returning to New York with them. When he finished, he said, "Are you alright with these plans?"
"Yes, Rhett. They are good plans. Except I don't want to leave until the pictures are ready."
"They can be mailed to us."
"Alright. When I was seventeen, I couldn't think of anywhere better to live than in Atlanta. When I was twenty, I thought saving Tara was worth any sacrifice. When I was twenty-two, being with you was worth any sacrifice and it still is."
"Since that day we met at the barbecue, you have always been worth any sacrifice. Even the boys."
"Rhett! Ssh"
"No! No ssh. We are in our bedroom. I will speak anyway I want."
Scarlett smiled at him and said, "Of course, you can."
"Now come here and let's put my sacrifice of the boys to good use."
Scarlett did move into his arms. The boys didn't really seem to mind their sacrifice.
On the day Scarlett arranged to have the photographer, Marshall Potter, come to their home, they had all the normal pictures taken.
Scarlett also had a picture taken of Pork, Dilcey, Flynn, Prissy, her husband, and her children. She had three copies of that picture. One for Pork, one for Flynn and one for Prissy. Once Pork and Dilcey moved to Tara and Flynn moved up north the family would probably never see each other again.
The next Sunday Scarlett arranged to have dinner at the Hamilton House with everyone. She also had scheduled Mr. Potter to come to the house. She had to pay him more to get him to work on Sunday, but she didn't care.
Rhett quipped, "Yes, giving you access to my checkbook was quite the mistake."
Scarlett just laughed. Rhett would never stop her from spending his money. She knew he just wanted her to be happy.
Scarlett had a picture of everyone. A picture of Wade, Beau, Ashley, Melanie, India, PittyPat and Henry. A picture of Wade and Beau. And a picture of just Ashley, Melanie, and Beau.
When the other people protested, Scarlett said, "I am having the pictures taken for me. I am also having the photographer make extra copies. If you don't want them, don't go pick them up from the photographer."
No more was said. Scarlett knew they would go and get the pictures.
For the next several days, the family drove around the city. Scarlett told in glowing words how Rhett had gotten her, Wade, Aunt Melly, Beau, and Prissy out of Atlanta before the Yankees took over. She then went on to tell the children in equally glowing words how their father had joined the Confederate Army at the last minute because of his love of the South.
Rhett listened as his wife waxed poetically about his great sacrifice and smiled. He knew she hadn't forgiven him for abandoning her at Rough and Ready, but she was going to make him a hero in front of their children. He guessed that was love.
Both Rhett and Scarlett talked about how grand and ostentatious everything was before the war. Alexi said, "If everything was so great, why did the South go to war?"
Rhett and Scarlett looked at each other and started laughing. Finally, Scarlett said, "You get to answer that one. That is your daughter."
With so much pride, Rhett said, "Yes, she is."
In simplistic terms, Rhett explained to Alexi why the South had done that dang fool thing.
Scarlett had the Wilkes and Hamiltons over to supper on their last night in town. Luckily, the pictures were ready before they left. When Scarlett gave the pictures to Melanie, she knew Melanie would not be handing them back.
Everyone had a good time. Scarlett made some comments about returning in a few years. Everyone believed her. None of the adults but Rhett could believe that The Butlers would voluntarily live anywhere but the South.
All the children were at the table and Scarlett smiled as she watched Rhett patiently help five-year-old Gerry with cutting up his food. As much as Rhett had often said he didn't want any boys he was extremely protective of his son. As protective as he was of his daughters. He may not have wanted any boys, but he wasn't throwing the boy out with the bathwater.
Scarlett smiled as she watched Rhett help Emma with her food. He was such a wonderful father. She was glad that she now appreciated that in her husband.
At the train station, the next day Pork and Dilcey hugged their thirteen-year-old son goodbye. Not goodbye for now but goodbye forever. Scarlett, the children, and the servants were already on the train. The family didn't need an audience.
Flynn said, "I don't want to live in the North."
With a weary voice, Pork said, "Flynn, we have gone over this before. You are going North with the Butlers so you can have a better life. You can go to school up there and learn a trade. After you do that if you want to come back to Georgia, you can. Now get on the train."
"Yes sir."
Dilcey hugged the boy and Rhett marveled at the woman's self-control. She had a smile on her face and there was no emotion in her voice as she told her son goodbye. All the adults knew he would never be back.
Rhett said, "Go on and get on the train. We will be pulling out in a minute," After the boy walked off, Rhett said, "We will take good care of him."
"I know you will. Don't bring him back no matter what he says. Come on Dilc. Let's go back to the house."
The couple turned and walked away. They never looked back. They were going to do what was right for their son even if it killed them.
On the return trip to New York, Scarlett was pleased that Wade had engaged Flynn in conversation. After listening to the conversation, she had smiled. Pork and Dilcey were wise to send him to the North. The boy was too smart to stay in the South.
Scarlett wasn't surprised when Rhett turned melancholic. She let him brood on the train trip to New York until they retired for the night.
Scarlett knew he would never tell her what was bothering him. She didn't need him to tell her what was bothering him. He was replaying the whole buggy event in his mind. He was experiencing regret for everything he threw away. Yet, she knew that given the chance to choose the other choice he wouldn't.
That night as they were lying there Scarlett said, "Baby, you really don't regret not marrying that girl for if you did you would use one of your wishes and go back in time and change that decision."
Rhett had laughed. He was not surprised that Scarlett knew what he had been thinking about all day. The woman who had not been able to see the clearest fact in front of her could certainly see all now. He said, "No, Darling, the reason I won't use one of my wishes for that is that I might lose you. The only woman I will ever love."
"Do you just want it all?"
"I guess I do. I would like to be received in the South for our children's sake."
"No, you don't. We don't. We could never stand to live that life and our children would never be able to stand that life."
Rhett had taken her hand and said, "No, our children could not."
In eighty when her Aunt Pauline had passed away, Scarlett had arranged to have flowers sent to the funeral. Rhett contacted his attorney and told him that he no longer needed to send Pauline Bonney a check anymore. It had hardly been a noteworthy event in the couples' life. Wade was graduating from the Hartford Academy and would be going to Cornell in the fall with all his friends.
In November of eighty-one when Rhett's mother passed away, he had not wanted to go to the funeral. On that he was adamant. When Scarlett heard the news, she had said, "When are we leaving?"
"We are not leaving."
"You don't want to go to your mother's funeral."
"I do not. She chose Charleston over me over thirty years ago. I suspect if she hadn't needed my money, she would still have chosen Charleston. In fact, she did. That was why we could never stay with her. Not because she didn't have enough room."
"Baby, are you sure?"
"You chose me over Atlanta and the South when you married me less than a week after Frank's death."
"You know I loved you even then. It was not a hard decision and I have never regretted it."
"Four years ago, when we decided to say goodbye to the South forever, I thought about how you would react if I tried to disown one of your children. An image of a Mama bear came to mind. You would have made my life a living hell until I re-instated your child into the family."
Scarlett said with a lot of pride, "I damn sure would have."
Rhett laughed. He said in his 'brook no argument tone of voice,' "It is settled we will not be going to my mother's funeral."
"I will arrange to have flowers sent for the occasion."
"Thank you, my dear."
Although Rhett was pensive for several months, he was not morose or especially sad. Scarlett would find him staring off into space. When she did, she would say, "Share with me what you were thinking."
Surprising to Scarlett he often did. In the midst of these musings, he told her how he had felt at the time of the buggy incident and the disowning. How he felt now about it. How she had healed him from a lot of his pain and misery.
After he shared with her his feelings about the buggy incident and his pain at Charleston's rejection, Scarlett finally understood her husband of the first timeline. He had been hurting so badly at that time that she had to blindly commit to him before he would commit to her. It was another case of Rhett and his foolish expectations. He expected her to commit to him while not giving her anything to commit to.
Four months after his mother's death, Rhett received a package in the mail. It contained all the jewelry he had ever given his mother. Rhett said when he opened it, "I guess Rosemary doesn't want the jewelry that was bought with my tainted money."
Scarlett had replied, "Silly girl. Her honor is forcing her to give away a safety net."
Rhett had smiled and said, "Yes, silly girl."
The two had laughed. Scarlett had stood up and said, "Let me dispose of this for you."
"If you mean dispose of it by putting it 'in your jewelry box then I am all for that."
"Thank you, my love."
Scarlett purposely wore the pieces that Rhett bought his mother so he would feel like someone appreciated his gift.
Author's Notes: The quote 'Heaven has no rage, like love to hatred turned. Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned' is from the 1697 play The Mourning Bride by William Congreve. The quote is often misquoted as 'Hell has no fury like a woman scorned.' Interestingly there is another quote from that same play that is often misquoted. The original words were 'Music has charms to soothe the savage breast.' It is misquoted as 'Music soothes the savage beast.'
I wonder what Mr. Congreve would think to know that people were 325 years later using lines from his play.