True to his word, Rhett promised to take care of certain arrangements for the funeral. Rhett's offer to help, as surprising and unexpected as it was, made her list of things to do decidedly more manageable, affording her the luxury of going to Melanie and Ashley's house for a few moments before embarking on cross-town errands. Scarlett drove the short distance to the Wilkes' residence with a grief-stricken Wade and Ella in tow. As they alighted from the carriage, Scarlett turned to her children. "Darlings, "she said, "this is so hard for you, I know, but Beau needs you. Take care of him, won't you? It will help him so much to have you here." Wade nodded mutely while Ella could only manage a sniffle.
The front door was slightly ajar, and Scarlett pushed it open with an unsteady hand. Stepping inside, she motioned to Wade and Ella to go and find Beau. India drifted into the corridor as silent as a ghost, and greeted Scarlett in a subdued voice as if there had never been any animosity or resentment between them. Scarlett responded in kind, removing her gloves. The house was ominously quiet despite the presence of the family. "Is Scarlett here?" she heard Aunt Pitty's quavering voice say. Scarlett knew she should go in and make her presence known, but she could not bring herself to face anyone just yet. Instead she slipped into the darkened parlor where Melanie's body lay in repose.
A few candles had been lit, and an unearthly deathly stillness pervaded the air. Scarlett came over to where Melanie's body lay. Her throat constricted painfully, and for a moment her legs felt too weak to bear her own weight. What little comfort she had derived from Melanie's visitation a few hours earlier had vanished entirely. A sob caught in her throat as she took the white handkerchief from her reticule and slipped it into Melanie's little hand.
"Here you go, Melly. Look, darling. I've embroidered your initials on it. Isn't it lovely?" Scarlett gently smoothed out Melanie's dress and brushed a stray hair off of Melanie's pale face. For a few moments, Scarlett gazed at Melanie in silence. Her heart was full, but she was at a loss as to what to say.
"I love you, Melanie Wilkes; I love you so much," she finally said, her voice breaking. You are the truest person I've ever known, the best friend and sister God could have ever blessed me with. I'm going to miss you so much. Darling, how am I going to get through life without you?"
Scarlett lowered her voice to a whisper. "I'm going to talk to Rhett in a few days. Oh Melly, he doesn't love me, but I will try...just like you said. And darling, don't you worry a thing about Ashley and Beau. I'll take care of them like my own. Goodnight, Melly." Scarlett leaned over and lightly kissed the cold pale cheek.
Scarlett squared her shoulders and took a deep breath as she left the parlor. There was much she needed to do to get the house in order before she left to run her errands. Assuming a business-like air that she was far from feeling, she briskly instructed servants who had been sent from her own home beforehand to decorate the doorways with black mourning wreaths and drape the windows in black and the outside of the house with black crepe. She sent a weeping Uncle Peter back to her house in the carriage to pick up baskets of food that the kitchen had been preparing. Bracing herself, she entered the sitting room and embraced a distraught Aunt Pitty whose plump little body shook with inconsolable sobs in Scarlett's arms. "Oh Scarlett, thank goodness you are here! Scarlett, what are we going to do...how will we go on now that...now that Melly is ..."
"Oh Auntie, I know—I know how hard this is. Please darling...Melly... Melly would want us to be strong for Ashley and little Beau. Of course I want to stay right here with you too, but I have to leave to make a few arrangements. Just for a little while, darling, then I'll be back before you know it." With many such assurances, Scarlett gently extricated herself from Aunt Pitty's grasp and made her way to the front hall, unable to endure Aunt Pitty's laments one minute longer.
"Scarlett," a dazed voice half-whispered. Turning she saw the ghost-like figure of Ashley. She was horrified at the stunned unfocused look in his eyes. "He looks just like Pa did that dreadful night I came home to Tara!" she thought to herself. "Oh, will the same thing that happened to Pa happen to Ashley too?"
Without a word, she embraced him, and he wept brokenly in her arms. "Oh, Ashley, I'm so sorry," she murmured. "We all loved her so much...but darling, you need to be strong for Beau. What will it do to him to see you like this? Melly would want you to be brave. Please Ashley, pull yourself together. I can't bear to see you so...so..." Scarlett found herself at a complete loss for words, her own resolve starting to break.
"I've got to get out of here...I've got to get out of here before I scream and go mad," she thought to herself. "Ashley, darling, I've got to go and get things ready for...for the funeral. I know it's hard, but do try, for Auntie's sake and for little Beau..." Scarlett voice trailed off when she realized the extent of his incapacitation. She could not bring herself to say anymore. Instead she patted him gently on the arm as she would a child.
"Yes, Scarlett, yes, you're right," Ashley barely whispered, drawing a deep breath in an effort to compose himself.
"Darling, we'll get through this," Scarlett said. "You'll see...but Ashley, do please try!" He smiled wanly, bent down, and kissed Scarlett lightly on the cheek.
Scarlett stepped outside, feeling as if she couldn't get out of the house fast enough. "What a difference a single night makes in a person's life!" she thought to herself. Was it possible that for so many years, she had felt such longing and passion for Ashley; had her happiness really depended so much on him? Just yesterday, she had felt this way. But the course of a single night had changed everything, had overturned her world as she knew it. Today at this moment she felt nothing for him, nothing at all but pity and remorse. Melanie's death would surely break him, she thought grimly, and she was not sure that he would ever recover.