Chapter 2 - Tara

On the road again, Rhett prompted Frank for some more information. The girl was a curious mixture of fire and ice. Her wild ways and seeming courage to turn her back on the social mores of the day piqued his interest; her coldness and refusal to offer him her hand challenged his ego. His initial thought was that she was backwards; a girl raised on a rural farm as a boy, but the background Frank gave him told Rhett otherwise. Furthermore, the Tarleton boys were clearly infatuated with her. But then again, he told himself. They were boys, boys who could easily caught up in the charms of a childhood playmate.

"So, what is on our agenda for this visit, Frank?" Rhett asked with a bland face.

"I'd like us to meet with Mr. O'Hara this evening. It is my wish that he'll invite us to stay for supper. I'd certainly like a moment or two with Miss Suellen," he snickered shyly.

"Ah, yes, young love…" Rhett sighed with a hint of sarcasm that went soaring over Frank's head.

"Then, we'll head back to Jonesboro. It will probably be a late night and an even earlier morning. You just have to accompany me to the barbeque at Twelve Oaks tomorrow. We'll head back here in the morning. Twelve Oaks' hospitality is renowned throughout the state and John Wilkes will welcome us with open arms. The plantation is just up the road from Tara. We can wrap up any unfinished business then."

Rhett's heart sank at the thought. It was his hope to meet with Mr. O'Hara this evening and head back to Jonesboro tonight. Then, catch the first train out of Jonesboro to Atlanta in the morning. By his watch, he could easily be back in Charleston by late tomorrow night. Damn, he knew he never should have agreed to travel with Kennedy. He should have insisted on his own carriage, which would have meant he could have left at his discretion. Now, he was stuck. Stuck in rural Georgia sitting through an evening amid a family he had no desire to meet, followed by an arduous trip back to the hotel, only to return to an insufferable barbeque the next day with more and more insipid talk from people who placed all of their hopes on the Southland and refused to acknowledge the impending disaster that lay ahead. He felt like he was condemned to attend a two-day circus sideshow.

They found the turn to Tara and alighted from the carriage just in time to see the twins elbowing each other as they ran up the porch steps, apparently amusing themselves with a story they were telling about someone named Honey who had a rather large posterior. Rhett shook his head in disgust. He was in for quite an evening.

Tara was a rambling whitewashed home with green shutters, awkward in its layout and design, but with a singular charm, thought Rhett. Inside, the house was immaculate and tastefully furnished. It wasn't long before Mr. O'Hara had been summoned to the front foyer.

Gerald ushered the pair into his office, just off the foyer, where they immersed themselves in business for the next couple of hours. There, they discussed the price of cotton with Frank occasionally chiming in here and there; his contributions to the negotiation going largely unnoticed by Gerald and Rhett, who argued back and forth until both were satisfied with the deal.

"You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Butler, but I wouldn't respect ye if ye didn't," said Gerald, extending his hand in a hearty handshake that sealed the deal.

"Likewise, Mr. O'Hara," Rhett said solemnly.

"You know," Gerald waved his hand so that Rhett had to lean in to hear him. "I've taken a liking to you, me lad. Frank here has taken a fancy to my middle daughter, Suellen. Perhaps…hmmm," he said, stroking his chin. "Listen, I don't mind sayin' that I've got myself a handful in me eldest and…"

Rhett knew where the conversation was going. He heard enough proud fathers extol the virtues of their daughters, like a street vendor hawking a mule, to know that Gerald O'Hara was looking for a suitor for his eldest daughter, Scarlett. It was custom that daughters would marry off in order of their age. Therefore, Suellen couldn't really marry Frank until the oldest was spoken for and so forth. Immediately, Rhett's eyes darted for the door and a possible escape route. "Damn Frank and this meeting nonsense," he thought not for the first time that day. "Why did we have to end up in this back woods plantation anyway?" Rhett knew he had just made a very lucrative deal but at the same time, he would have traded a sizeable percentage of the profit he was sure to make on the sale of this cotton when the war was over if he could only escape his current predicament. He would hate for the evening to end in a duel that took some poor simpleton's life because he refused to court this Irishman's daughter.

Rhett Butler wasn't a marrying man. Oh, he liked the ladies, to be sure, but he was not a man who had ever desired a wife or a family. Instead, he preferred to sample life's delicacies and when he tired of a particular dish, he could move down the buffet and chose something else. Blondes, redheads, brunettes, women with fair skin, women with olive skin; Rhett Butler had enjoyed them all with no ties, no bonds, no vows. He had been born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina and knew what it was like to cultivate roots that ran deep. As Rhett was frequently heard saying, he had been there, knew what it was like to live steeped in tradition and he wanted none of it. He wanted roots that would tie him down no more than a fish desired wings; the idea was simply foreign to him. Rhett was awoken from his reverie when Gerald cleared his throat and looked at him expectantly. The last thing Rhett heard was his remarking about what a handful his eldest daughter was; of that, Rhett was sure he was not stretching the truth.

"I'm sure she is a delight, Mr. O'Hara, but as you can see, I'm quite a nomad. I'm the last man you'd ever want for your daughter," he said dismissively.

"Ah, you'll change your mind when you meet my puss. I'll tell you that! Why, my Katie Scarlett is the belle of the county and she has turned the head of every man for miles around. Now, that's true isn't it, Mr. Kennedy?"

"Oh, yes….yes. Turned every man's head, she did," echoed Frank, who was shaken to be invited into the conversation, which until this point had excluded him.

"Yes, sir, I'm sure she could," agreed Rhett with a smug smile that he pasted onto his face. "I'm also sure that she could make every man for hills as well once they got a whiff of her," he added to himself.

At that precise moment, there was a hesitant knock on the office door. "Come in," shouted Gerald as he slapped his knee, signaling a conclusion to their meeting. The door opened and a girl with pale skin and pale blonde hair poked her head in. She blushed and then batted her lashes as she first addressed her father and then Frank. "Good evening, Pa. Hello, Mr. Kennedy. Pa, Mother says that supper is nearly ready if you'd like to bring our guests to the dining room."

"Ah, yes, yes!" bellowed Gerald. "Of course! Come in here lass. Suellen, I'd like you to meet Mr. Rhett Butler, a business associate of mine. Mr. Kennedy, you already know," he added playfully, pinching her cheek.

"Oh, Pa…" replied Suellen, extending her hand a moment later to Rhett.

He took it as society dictated and murmured a polite greeting.

"Now, gentlemen, you'll stay for dinner, I insist. Come now, follow me," Gerald said, ushering their way out of the small office.

"Christ," thought Rhett. "If only I could escape somehow." He dreaded the long evening that lay before him and rolled his eyes as Frank, who didn't even notice as he was murmuring something to Suellen O'Hara as they strolled out of the office. Rhett followed like a tardy schoolboy, dragging his feet, dreading the punishment that was to come. Suellen was a comely girl, not nearly as unattractive as he expected. However, having said that, she was far from a beauty either. After meeting Scarlett, the flamboyant tomboy earlier in the day, he didn't hold out much hope for Suellen. Nevertheless, she surprised him. She was blonde and pale with blue eyes that she must have inherited from her father. However, they weren't the bright sparkly blue eyes of Gerald O'Hara, but the pale washed out blue of a sky obscured with threatening clouds.

Upstairs, Scarlett enlisted Rosa to help her clean up. She bathed, washed her hair and scrubbed her face with a soap that was a mixture of lavender and lemon verbena.

"Who is downstairs with my father, Rosa?"

"I saw Mist' Kennedy and another gempman," Rosa told her.

"Do you know if they are staying for dinner?"

"Yas'm, Miss Scarlett. I hear Mist' Gerald ask us to set extra plates for 'em."

"That stranger wid Mist' Gerald is de most handsomest man ever!" noted Rosa.

Scarlett couldn't disagree. "He is as handsome as the devil, isn't he," she remarked.

Scarlett desperately wanted to don her green sprigged water silk gown that she intended to wear for the barbeque tomorrow, but decided instead to put her white ruffled dress back on to avoid any suspicion on the part of her mother and Mammy. If Mammy ever learned that she went out riding astride, leaving the Tarleton boys on the front porch, they would skin her alive. Her mother wouldn't be too happy either. If she went riding at all, they insisted she wear her proper riding attire and ride her horse astride as society dictated, but that was no fun. Scarlett liked riding free, just the ways her Pa and the County boys did. So, she had begun sneaking out when she could and if truth be told, deceiving her mother and Mammy gave the adventure an added thrill. But it would do no good to get caught. And, so she had to put on the white ruffled dress again no matter how much she'd prefer to wear something more alluring, something that would catch the eye of the man from Charleston. But it wouldn't look right if Mammy or Mother noticed that she had changed her attire in the middle of the day. Scarlett's hair was still slightly damp and she urged Rosa to take her time arranging it and when she was finished, Scarlett pinched her cheeks to bring, which brought a rosy bloom to them, brightening her green eyes, and she bit her lips lightly so that they appeared more red and plump than usual.

Once Gerald, Frank, Rhett and Suellen stepped outside the office, they were met with Mrs. O'Hara, who made it her job to quickly greet her husband's guests. She extended a warm welcome to Frank and then turned to Rhett.

"Of course, Mr. Butler…from Charleston, isn't it? I remember meeting you once at my sister's home. Do you recall Eulalie Robillard?"

"Of course, Mrs. O'Hara. Mr. Kennedy told me you were from Savannah and your maiden name rang a bell, but I couldn't place it. How forgetful of me! Of course, I remember. Your other sister is Pauline, isn't that right? Yes, of course. Both Miss Eulalie and Miss Pauline are good friends of my mother."

"Eleanor Butler is such a wonderful lady. I remember her quite well," replied Ellen. "It is a pleasure to extend our hospitality to her son for she often extended hers to me."

Ellen O'Hara was quite a handsome woman. Her dark hair was perfectly coiffed and her brown eyes were warm and inviting. Her smile was serene, but she lacked a spark, Rhett noted. She was undeniably a bright spot in the evening. This wasn't the back woods hovel that he had envisioned. Of course, Gerald O'Hara was friendly and companionable; he was also sharp and had a lot of common sense. What bothered Rhett about Gerald was the prospect of their business transaction being turned into a negotiation that hinged on him offering matrimony to the man's eldest daughter. He didn't think that Ellen Robillard O'Hara would approve of such a proposition and relief flooded through him. She was one of the Robillards of Savannah. She was well bred, educated and of French descent. He wondered how Gerald O'Hara, who was more than twice her age, ended up winning her heart, if in fact, he ever did.

There was a certain amount of commotion around the dining room table as the servants made their final preparations. Rhett cringed again at the prospect of it all. When traveling he always did his best to avoid family fetes, instead preferring the impersonal atmosphere, albeit a luxurious one traditionally afforded by a city's best hotel where a weary traveler could dine and enjoy a glass of wine and a cigar in relative anonymity without having to make small talk with relative strangers.

"Oh, Careen, would you please see if your sister is ready?" Ellen called to a girl that Rhett presumed to be the youngest of the three daughters. Now, here was another surprise. This girl was a duplicate of her mother. She was no more than twelve or thirteen years old but already looked to be a mirror image of her mother with her dark hair, white skin and dark brown eyes.

"Yes, Mother," she said obediently and skipped out of the room.

"Please, Mr. Butler, would you like to have a seat? You may sit here," indicated Ellen, pointing to a chair toward the head of the table on Gerald's right. Frank and Suellen took their seats next; Frank to Gerald's left and Suellen next to him.

"Scarlett is on her way down," Careen told her mother breathlessly as she ran into the room and smoothed her skirts as she took the seat at her mother's left hand.

There was a slight ruckus in the hall as the boisterous Tarleton twins apparently found Scarlett and had resumed their conversation with her. All eyes at the table looked up to the doorway expectantly.

"Look, Scarlett. About tomorrow," said Brent, as he backed into the dining room. "Just because we've been away and didn't know about the barbecue and the ball, that's no reason why we shouldn't get plenty of dances tomorrow night. You haven't promised them all, have you?"

"Well, I have! How did I know you all would be home? I couldn't risk being a wallflower just waiting on you two."

"You a wallflower!" The boys laughed uproariously.

"Ahem!" Gerald cleared his throat loudly enough for everyone throughout the house to hear. Everyone sat quietly at the table as Brent turned around, surprise written all over his face as he surveyed the entire family, servants as well as Frank and Rhett, all of which were sitting looking at him. Stuart followed and nearly bumped into Brent, who had stopped dead in his tracks as he looked at four stern faces that met his eyes—Gerald, Ellen, Mammy and Frank. Rhett was the only one whose eyes held no admonishment, only expectation. Like a cascading row of dominoes, Brent, then Stuart faced the firing squad of eyes that shot reprimands at them that said, "Get into your seats. Now!" They obediently followed suit, Brent taking the seat between Careen and Rhett, Stuart sitting next to Suellen, without saying another word.

In the days, weeks, months and years later, Rhett would forever remember detail for detail what happened next. In retrospect, Rhett acknowledged his life was never the same after Brent and Stuart stumbled into the dining room. From this moment forward, his life would be inextricably linked with the O'Haras, try as he might to change destiny, his future was foretold. Just as Brent and Stuart silently settled into their chairs, Scarlett O'Hara entered the dining room and Rhett Butler, man among men, a man who fed off of life's buffet like it was his for the taking, consuming what he wanted and throwing the leftovers to the beggars, was shaken to his very core and for a split second, sat gaping with raw hunger at the figure before him. For in the doorway stood the most captivating girl he had ever laid his eyes upon. He shook his head as if he could try to shake away the vision or hallucination like he usually did one brought on by an overindulgence in whiskey. No, the tomboy that he met earlier in the day on the road couldn't possibly be the vision that stood before him. This girl had white skin and dark hair that curled naturally down her shoulders, at which point it was captured by a red ribbon and brought back up to her crown. She was petite and small boned with a waist so small Rhett could have easily spanned it with his two hands and his fingers would have still overlapped. She wore a virginal white ruffled gown with short puffy sleeves. A cameo was fastened at her neck and she tiny waist was accentuated by a belt of red velvet.

However, most striking was her eyes. They were green without a touch of hazel. They were cat-like and made Rhett wonder just what she would do if he took her in his arms. And, her cheeks were pink and her lips were red, moist, full and kissable and Rhett imagined what it would feel like to press his lips to hers, part her lips and—. A loud crash in the kitchen startled Rhett out of his musing and he came back to his senses only to find himself fully aroused by this young woman while sitting at her family's dining table. The unexpected sound from the kitchen was like a doctor tapping below his knee to check his reflexes and he subconsciously hit his knee on the table. He twisted uncomfortably in his chair as Scarlett, the boy turned enchantress, took a seat at the opposite end of the table and he draped a linen napkin over his lap to conceal his discomfiture.

"Mr. Butler," injected Gerald, standing at the head of the table. "I'd like you to meet my eldest daughter, Katie Scarlett."

Scarlett's eyes fell upon Rhett and she nodded.

"Yes, Pa. We met earlier," she acknowledged, "but it is nice to see you again Mr. Butler."

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss O'Hara." Scarlett cast him a quick, knowing smile and Rhett returned it with a wink.

Supper with ham, sweet potatoes, asparagus, and biscuits laden with butter or honey weighed down the table and for a moment, everyone was quiet as they filled their plates.

"Mr. Butler, you've been up north I hear…" said Gerald.

"Well, yes that's true, Mr. O'Hara."

"And what preparations were they making? Surely not enough to take on our brave lads in gray," Gerald boasted.

"Well, while I was there I made note of all the cannon factories, turning out munitions day after day after day. The Northerners are also enlisting immigrants coming in by the boatload and some of the wealthy are even buying their way out of service by hiring the poor to fill their military boots," stated Rhett.

"And what does that mean to a gentleman?" asked Brent.

"I'm afraid that it will mean a great deal to a great number of gentlemen, sir," replied Rhett with a voice that was nothing if not polite, but it was too glib to be interpreted as sincere. "There's not a cannon factory in the whole south—"

"What do we need with a canon factory?" Stuart asked.

"Well, sir, it does help you know when you can manufacture your own munitions." Rhett hesitated saying more and looked to his plate for diversion and indulged in the ham and sweet potatoes that he found there. This is exactly the kind of exchange he had wanted to avoid: raising the ire of these Confederate loyalists when they had no idea what they were talking about. He didn't want to be turned out from this table. Twenty minutes ago, he wouldn't have cared if he had been thrown out, but now, something held him and he didn't want to make himself persona non grata at Tara.

"This is a wonderful dinner, Mrs. O'Hara. As someone who doesn't get many home cooked meals, this is a real treat for me," Rhett said, deftly changing the subject.

"But you didn't answer my question," Stuart cut in, refusing to let the conversation drop. Rhett turned his eyes back to the young, redheaded boy and could feel his blood boiling beneath the surface. How silly these people were. What utter fools. Didn't they know that the South was doomed to lose any war that it might venture into? Along with the conversation, Stuart refused to let Rhett's gaze drop and he held his eyes like a rabid dog until Rhett feared that with the next word he spoke, the entire table would erupt in mayhem.

Then a soft voice sliced the conversation in two. "Stuart, what did you mother say about you and Brent being expelled from the university again?" Scarlett posed the question innocently enough, but to Rhett it was clear that she changed the subject on purpose.

"You boys have been expelled again?" asked Gerald. The sheepish nod both boys gave as they hung their heads gave him and everyone else at the table their answer to the question. "Now, I can't imagine your mother being too happy about that," he chuckled, "but then again, I suppose you're not the type to take to book learning."

"No, sir. That's true," Stuart answered with what Rhett could only define as misplaced pride.

"I know you two don't care about being expelled, or Tom either," Scarlett continued. "But what about Boyd? He's kind of set on getting an education, and you two have pulled him out of the University of Virginia and Alabama and South Carolina and now Georgia. He'll never get finished at this rate."

"Oh, he can read law in Judge Parmalee's office over in Fayetteville," answered Brent carelessly. "Besides, it don't matter much. We'd have had to come home before the term was out anyway."

"Why?" asked Scarlett with a curious look on her face.

"The war!" said Brent.

"The war is bound to start any day," added Stuart.

With the subject of the war back on the table like a fresh pitcher of water, Scarlett once again jumped it to remove it. "So Pa, how are they all over at Twelve Oaks?"

"Oh, in the stew you'd expect with the barbeque tomorrow," answered Gerald.

"Was anybody there?" Scarlett asked, looking to draw Gerald further into the conversation, while she cast a sidelong look at Rhett, who had been staring at her appreciatively throughout the discourse.

"Oh, Ashley, India and Honey, of course, and their cousins Charles and Melanie Hamilton of Atlanta."

"Oh, Scarlett! Haven't you heard?" interjected Suellen. "Ashley's engagement to Melanie is to be announced tomorrow. What do you think about that?"

Rhett's eyes, which had traveled to Suellen and Frank, rebounded to Scarlett with that statement. Did she have a fancy for this Ashley fellow?

"Why, Suellen? What would that matter to me?" asked Scarlett, drilling her eyes right through Suellen.

"Oh, you've been sweet on Ashley for months and he isn't returning your affection. He's sweet on Melanie, so there!"

"That's enough, Suellen," admonished Mrs. O'Hara. "Behave yourself and act like the young lady you are. We have guests."

Suellen wiggled in her chair and wrinkled her nose at Scarlett before sticking out her tongue at her sister. Scarlett dismissed her sister with her eyes and simply raised her goblet of water to her lips while looking around the table with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Well, Mr. Butler, Mr. Kennedy, you must accompany us to the barbeque at the Wilkes' plantation, Twelve Oaks, tomorrow. You'll stay overnight here. Mammy will you see to their rooms?" Gerald raised his eyes to Mammy, who stood by the kitchen door. She nodded and excused herself from the room to carry out his request. There was no question implied in his request. It was assumed that both men would agree to the invitation and that would be that.

"Thank you, Mr. O'Hara…Thank you," stammered Frank.

"Yes, by all means. Thank you, Mr. O'Hara. But our things—" started Rhett.

"I'll send a boy to Jonesboro to pick up your things. There! Now 'tis settled," finished Gerald.

Rhett added smoothly. "Your hospitality is sincerely appreciated."

When dinner was finished, Gerald invited Frank and Rhett into the parlor for whiskey and cigars. Rhett trudged into the parlor with leaden feet after noticing Scarlett start for the front door with a shawl over her shoulders. He thought Frank wanted time with Suellen. And, now, he wanted some time with this charming girl. When would they get their moment, he wondered.

"Going somewhere, Miss O'Hara?" Rhett asked as she passed him, leaving behind a faint scent of lavender.

"I thought I'd take a stroll," she replied, turning her green eyes to his black ones as she stood at the front door, opening it wide. "It is a lovely evening, don't you think?"

"Oh, to be sure, Miss O'Hara." He took a few steps toward the door. "In fact, you make a walk sound so appealing that I thought—"

"Mr. Butler! Mr. Butler!" shouted Gerald, his face ruddy and his voice ragged. He was clearly out of breath as he entered the foyer where Scarlett and Rhett stood. "Ah, there you are! I found me a bottle of twenty-five-year old Irish whiskey from the cellar. We'll open this tonight, my lad, and we'll see what kind of constitution ye have." Gerald winked at Rhett and waved him into the parlor where Frank was already waiting.

Rhett turned to look at him, then back again at Scarlett, before finally turning to Gerald and giving him a nod. "I'll be right there, sir."

"It's a shame, no? Men always gather for whiskey and cigars, leaving the women to their own devices when there is really so much to be shared, don't you think, Mr. Butler?" Scarlett asked. She threw him a dazzling smile, deepening her dimples, and stepped onto the front porch. There, she was bathed in the last visage of the day's sunlight. Rhett thought he had never seen anyone look so beautiful or sound so suggestive and innocent at the same time. Once again, he felt a familiar stirring in his lower region.

"I couldn't agree more, Miss O'Hara. However, all may not be lost. Perhaps I see you again tonight?"

"Perhaps. But in case I don't, I'll bid you a good night now, sir."

"Well, thank you, but if you don't mind, I'll save my good night for later. Until then." Rhett watched Scarlett O'Hara walk across the porch and skip lightly down the front steps, and then he turned and strode into the parlor where Gerald, Frank and a bottle of Irish whiskey awaited.

A/N – Thank you, thank you for all your enthusiastic reviews. I'll be away from the computer next week so I wanted to get this update to you before I leave. Then, give me a week or so for the next update. Chapter 3 will probably the first week of August.