Chapter 100

Scarlett felt thunder struck. She stared at Rhett in disbelief. Why was he stirring up the past once again? Tell him everything that happened between herself and Ashley Wilkes?! In heaven's name, why?! She tried to conceal her anger but she could feel the tensions rising within her. When they alighted from the boat, her foot slipped and she fell two steps backward into the shallow waters of the river, making the brocade of her summer dress soaking wet. Rhett immediately helped her squeeze out the water but when he reached for her hand, she found that she couldn't grasp it so readily.

"What is it?" asked Rhett, looking alert in an instant.

"It's nothing" said Scarlett, her voice taking a strange tremor. She looked helplessly from Rhett to the sunny river and realized to her frustration that her eyes were filling with angry tears.

"Tell the truth, Scarlett. It will bail you out everytime-"

"No, it won't" stammered Scarlett, in a fit of passion. "Why is it that after all the lovely things we said to each other, after being so kind to each other, why do we have to bring in Ashley Wilkes?! I wish I never knew Ashley! If I knew the trouble he would give me- Oh God!"

Rhett's grip on her wrist tightened. "Why don't you want to talk to me about Ashley Wilkes? If it happened so long ago in the past, why do you fear me knowing about it?! You don't have feelings for him-"

Scarlett's eyes widened in shock. "Feelings for Ashley?!" she asked in wonder. "No. I don't have any loyalty to Ashley anymore. Great balls of fire! How many times must I prove it to you? The only thing I am afraid of is your temper. If just the glimpse of whatever I said to Ashley irritated you so much then imagine what would happen if I gave an entire truthful account of the same thing?! You would probably fire your gun and kill me on this very spot just like-"

She was breathing very hard but she stopped just in time. Rhett had gotten her rattled up again, damn him!

Rhett seemed to smile and nod to himself.

Scarlett could sense that he was withdrawing and she felt lost and full of self-pity. "You called me a trollop and a bitch. Have you forgotten that? I don't like to be insulted too. And maybe I wasn't faithful with my heart, but I didn't deserve to be called that- And that whole evening, dressed in that awful red gown- Why did you make me do that? Its out of kindness that I didn't speak of those things to you. But now... now when you want to stir old sins and past mistakes, if.. if you want to bring up the past, I'll bring this up too!"

"You were insulting to me too-" replied Rhett, his voice deceptively soft and drawling. "Couldn't we just wave flags of truce?"

Scarlett wavered unsurely. "I am all for forgiveness. I know I've been nasty to you too. But you do understand that we cannot keep bringing up the past- especially Ashley Wilkes, don't you?"

They were walking side by side through a random clump of trees back to the road where their carriage was waiting.

"No, I do not understand that part, Scarlett. I think you are being selfish. If we don't have the truth out between us, bare, exposed with every flaw to be seen and inspected, we will never have enough trust."

"But I trust you" replied Scarlett, adamantly. "Don't you trust me?!"

Suddenly she felt her arm being yanked backward and she felt herself pulled against Rhett Butler. "It's not that easy, Scarlett. You are in this place to help me and you better remember that. I don't care if you visit every Irish household in Charleston. I don't care if you ride your horse to Timbuctoo. I don't care if you open shops, read books or climb Mount Everest. But I do care about my people. And I expect you to be truthful to me, no matter how much it hurts for you."

"What about your affair with Belle Watling?! Why won't you be honest about that?!"

"I told you all there was to know-" shot back Rhett, heatedly. Suddenly his eyebrows shot up in mocking crescents. "Do you want to know all the earthy details?!"

Scarlett opened her mouth in an agonized cry. She tried to pull away but he held fast to her. "You say that you relationship with Ashley wasn't anything carnal. Then why be so secretive about it? You should be glad to tell the truth- proud of it. Why do you whimper and quiver as if every thing I say wounds you to the heart!"

"You don't understand anything!" cried Scarlett, in fury. "Let me go- you are creating a scene-"

"A scene?!" laughed Rhett out loud. "Wait a while, my dear. I'll give you enough scenes to change your mind." He gruffly pushed her away and she took a step back in surprise. He walked back and got into the coach. She half thought he would order the driver to close the door and go off without her. She stood rooted to her spot as if stunned. But then after a few moments, Rhett looked out and beckoned her.

Warily, she went over and climbed into the coach.