Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

Author's Notes: Thank you for the reviews. Your reviews often make me want to rewrite parts of the story.

Chapter Four

As the weeks went by and Rhett didn't get his voice back Scarlett was enjoying being with Rhett. He was being sweet. He was being like he had been when she had been married to Frank. She remembered him giving her that horse and her wanting to pay for it but not having the money. Rhett had found a way to give it to her without hurting her pride. Or the way he was when she was pregnant with Ella. She had not thought of that in a long time. She remembered him driving her back from the mills so she wouldn't get hurt and she wouldn't have if she hadn't gotten mad at him. In her anger she had kicked him out of the buggy and Rhett had just laughed at her. She had missed that Rhett but he was back.

Scarlett didn't know it but she was being sweet to Rhett. She was paying him more attention than she had in their entire relationship. Scarlett was treating Rhett like he was her friend. She was treating him like he was an important person to her. Scarlett had not been knowingly treating him better. She wanted his attention so she was doing what she did when she wanted someone's attention. She was sweet, and kind and a little bit feisty. Rhett knew it wasn't love but it was more than he had before he went to Chicago. Rhett liked the way Scarlett was behaving so he was being on his best behavior sort of.

It was harder to get her confused when she could read what he had written at the speed her brain needed it to be read for Scarlett to understand. Also, when she was reading the notes, she would skip over the words she didn't understand where as when he was speaking to her those words would bog her down and she wouldn't understand what he was saying. It was harder to make fun of her when she had to read the comments. If he wrote down a compliment then wrote down something else, she wouldn't read the second sentence because she knew it was an insult made at her expense. Rhett smiled and thought, 'She is getting smarter.'

She still saw the Scallawag wives occasionally in the afternoon when one of them had a get together but they were getting boring. She was seeing less and less of them. They were becoming as boring as the sewing bees and committee meetings. Each group just kept repeating the same gossip. Granted the wives never talked about the war but they talked about things they had done together before they came to Atlanta which left Scarlett out of the conversation. Scarlett often thought they were laughing at her behind her back although she couldn't figure out why.

Mamie Bart had a party and Scarlett accepted for Rhett and herself. Rhett agreed to attend the party. Mamie's house was nicely decorated and they had lovely appetizers. There was a lot of alcohol being served. Scarlett spent the evening flirting with almost every man in the room while Rhett stood off to the side and watched. They normally didn't spend their time together when they attended a Scallawag party. Normally Scarlett spent her time flirting with all the men and Rhett spent his time making deals and mocking comments about how the other men had made their money. This night because Rhett couldn't talk, he kept to himself. He was not going to be seen writing notes. That would have made him look weak and undignified. Rhett never looked undignified. Ever. He drank a lot more than he had planned. The more he drank the madder Rhett got at Scarlett. In his alcohol muddled state he decided that Scarlett should have stood by his side although he had never said anything like that to her. In his alcohol muddled state he decided that she was disrespecting him by flirting with all the other men. It was bad enough that she believed herself in love with another man but for her to so blatantly act like he was a eunuch he would not tolerate. The madder he got the more he drank. So, he was pretty drunk when they left the party. When they left the party, Rhett clinched her elbow pretty forcefully and tightly. Scarlett knew he was mad but she had no idea why.

When they got in the carriage, she did ask him, "What is the matter, Rhett?"

He sat on his side of the carriage and stared out the window. He never acted like he had heard her. Suddenly he banged on the roof of the carriage and Pork asked, "Yes, ma'am?"

Scarlett said, "I think Mr. Butler wants out of the carriage."

Rhett started clapping when she said that. She thought, 'Even through sign language he can be mocking and hurtful.'

After Pork had stopped the carriage, Rhett got out and saluted her jauntily. She knew Rhett was mad but she had no idea why. For once she wished the voice would say something. The voice remained quiet the rest of the night. After she got in bed, she decided the voice didn't know what had happened either. Neither one of them knew why Rhett was so mad. She had a couple of brandies and went to sleep.

Rhett got out of the carriage when it was only a couple of blocks from Belle's. The walk would do him good. Let his wife wonder where he was going. She deserved to suffer after the way she had behaved tonight. It had always bothered him the way she would flirt with every man in the room but tonight it was just too much. He usually could ignore her actions while conversing with the other men. Alright, maybe, he had enjoyed all the other men wanting her while she was going home with him. She was so naïve that she didn't understand that almost every Scallawag man was lusting after her and that only his presence was stopping them from making an overt suggestion. His presence and the fact he was one of the best marksmen in the south. Rhett knew that there was only one man she would be unfaithful to him with and he knew that the only reason they hadn't consummated their relationship was Mr. Wilkes's mores not his wife's. When Rhett got to Belle's there was a seat at one of the poker tables opened. He waved at Belle and motioned for a drink.

Belle knew Rhett was drunk. She knew him too well for him to hide the signs from her. She normally served his drinks pretty rapidly but she intentionally was slow to bring him his drinks. Belle wondered what Scarlett had done to him but she really didn't care. She liked Rhett. He was fun and entertaining. He didn't mind spending his money on whiskey or whores. Although as far as Belle knew he had been faithful to Scarlett which had surprised her. Rhett usually tired of the same whore pretty quickly. There were some men who came in to bed a whore and they would want the same one every time. They would get mad if their favorite wasn't available or had found other employment. Belle had always wondered about that. Belle was glad Rhett still couldn't speak otherwise she would have had to listen to Rhett go on and on about Scarlett.

Rhett's thoughts were pretty hazy but he still won about fifty dollars at the poker game. For a moment he forgot why he had been mad earlier then, he remembered. He had been mad because Scarlett was so selfish and self-centered, she hadn't been the least bit concerned about him all evening. If she wasn't so obtuse, she would have figured it out that he needed her to stay with him and keep him company.

The last several hands he had been dealt had been lousy so he decided to call it a night. Belle had Moses drive him home in her carriage. Well not actually to his home but to about two or three blocks away. Rhett had tried to convince Moses to just take him home but Moses was too smart to listen to a drunk customer. The man might not care when he was drunk and mad but he would care tomorrow in the cold light of day.

Rhett smiled when he was walking home. He hadn't even thought about going upstairs while he was at Belle's. If Scarlett wasn't awake when he got home, she would be before he went to sleep.

She heard Rhett come home. She was surprised at the amount of noise he was making. Usually the drunker Rhett got the more dignified Rhett acted. He must be making all that noise so he would wake her up.

While Rhett was downstairs making a lot of noise, he wrote a note for his wife. When he entered the bedroom, he didn't even try to be quiet. He lit a lamp and took off his clothes. When he saw that she was awake he handed her the note. He had written, - "All I did was get drunker and play cards. One unfaithful spouse is enough in this marriage." –

The little voice said, 'Don't say anything. He is too drunk to reason with.' So, Scarlett put the note on her nightside table and laid back down. She didn't talk she just stared at him. When her husband reached for her to initiate relations the voice said, 'Go along with it. You don't want to make him mad.'

Rhett kissed her and pulled her on top of him. He kept kissing her while holding her head in place. Then he let her go and stopped kissing her. When Scarlett opened her eyes and looked at her husband he had passed out. She laid on top of him for a while and was even more confused than before he had entered their bedroom. She soon got up and blew out the candle and got back in bed. She laid next to her husband and fortunately went back to sleep.

When she woke up the next day Rhett had left her a note on her nightside table next to the other note. He had written – 'Good morning my own personal femme fatale.

I have decided to forgive you for your behavior last night. Although you did make me look like a cuckold husband. I would appreciate it the next time you try to regain your youth by beguiling every man in the room you will remember the man that pays your very large bills and not disgrace him so again.

I will not be appearing at any of the Scallawag evening events again until I am able to articulate therefore if you wish to attend these parties, my little succubus, you will have to go alone.'-

Rhett was at the breakfast table wishing Ella would be quiet. He wasn't hungover for he had taken his magic cure but he was tired and out of sorts. The little girl could go on about nothing for hours and with her being only three her speech wasn't always clear. Usually he let her prattle on because he found her delightful. He did love the child but he wished she didn't look so much like her father. Ella was lucky that she had inherited her mother's eyes and smile at least. Rhett then looked at his other stepchild and wondered how Scarlett's other two husbands had managed to sire children that looked just like them while his child looked just like her mother. Rhett did not see anything of Scarlett in Wade. Idly Rhett wondered if they had another child would she look like her mother or him or a combination of the two of them.

After the note he had left for Scarlett he probably didn't need to wonder about another child. He was pretty sure it would be a cold day in hell before they had relations again after his comment about a succubus. Then again, his wife wouldn't understand the reference and probably would not care enough to look it up or ask him about it. All she would get from the note was he was not attending anymore Scallawag events.

After he had eaten breakfast he considered going to their bedroom and retrieving the note but decided against it. If she woke up and caught him that would make him look weak. So, he wasn't going to do that. He could never let Scarlett see him as weak.