Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.

Chapter Forty-Three

By supper time, everyone was bathed and in clean clothes. The clothes they had worn for the last month were in a big pile in the motel's fire pit. Their fire pit was not for roasting a pig but for burning their trash. Nobody in the group ever wanted to put those clothes back on.

Gerald asked the owner where they could find a restaurant to eat supper at. The owner recommended Floyd's Café which was right down the street. There was quite a choice of foods on the menu, and it was reasonably priced. There was fried chicken, there was pork chops, there were ribs, there was roast beef, and there was something called crawfish that nobody had heard of before. For their first meal in New Orleans, they settled on foods that they were familiar with. Everyone was far too hungry to order something they were not sure they would like.

Scarlett ordered Wade a bowl of macaroni and cheese. She chose the pork chops while Rhett chose the fried chicken. When she looked at him questioningly because they had eaten a lot of chicken in the last thirty days, he said, "What? I like chicken."

Scarlett smiled at him. As it turned out Rhett was the only person to get chicken. Scarlett guessed everyone else like her was tired of chicken.

Melanie said, "Scarlett, thank you for talking me into investing with Rhett. If you hadn't, we wouldn't have any money."

"There was no talking you into it. All I said was do you want to invest with Rhett and you said yes, we need all the money we can get after the war."

Melly laughed and said, "And I was right."

Everyone laughed.

Rhett said, "I sent a note to my friend this afternoon. My friend's name is Orson Welles. Anyway, Orson invited me to move in with him. I sent a note back telling him that it wasn't just me. It was me, my wife, my son, my in-laws, our friends, and of course, our servants."

Scarlett said, "What did he say?"

"He said he had plenty of room for all of us. We won't stay with him very long before we get our own place. We need to start thinking about where we eventually want to end up."

Ashley said, "Could we stay here?"

"I guess."

Gerald said, "Maybe I can start a store like James and Andrew did."

"That would be nice, Gerald."

Careen and Suellen looked at each other. They didn't want their father to be a shop owner but if he was they would get to live in the city which would be much better than living in the country.

The rest of the meal was pleasant with everyone talking about where they would like to live. Rhett mentioned Mexico City. Scarlett laughed and said, "No, Dear. I don't speak Spanish."

Rhett laughed and said, "Wasn't that our original destination?"

"Yes, but I hope to talk you into going somewhere else like Paris or London."

"I don't suppose you speak French either." With the shake of Scarlett's head, Rhett said, "I guess it would have been London."

The group brought food back to the hotel for Mammy and Albert. When Scarlett gave Mammy her supper, Mammy said, "Bring Master Wade and he can sleep in here with me."

"Thank you, Mammy."

"Of course, Child."

Within thirty minutes Wade was in Mammy's room and in her bed. He would soon be asleep because with all the excitement he had not taken a nap that afternoon.

Scarlett had hurried back to hers and Rhett's room. Five minutes later she was naked and in the bed with Rhett. He had already been naked and in the bed. They were more excited than they had been on their second night together. There was not a lot of foreplay. Neither person could wait that long. Although both people were sexually satisfied before their first love-making session was over.

Rhett and Scarlett didn't go to sleep although both were tempted. They laid in the bed and ran their hands all over the other person's body. Scarlett said, "I just want to look at you."

"I always want to look at you."

Soon Rhett and Scarlett were making love again. Again, they couldn't wait to be one again. After that session they did go to sleep. As Rhett felt Scarlett relax against him, he knew he would soon be following her into sleep. His last thought was, 'I am so glad I quit smoking.'

The next morning, Rhett woke Scarlett up. They had to make up for lost time. Scarlett didn't object but she had never objected when he woke her up in the morning. This time was much slower with a lot more foreplay. Scarlett as always wished it could last longer but as always, she knew better than to mention that.

Soon Rhett and Scarlett got up and got dressed. The night before it had been arranged that everyone would be ready to go to Orson's at ten o'clock. What little food stocks they still had were eaten for breakfast. It had just been vegetables.

Rhett had informed his friend how many people would be arriving for dinner so there would be enough food available.

Orson's house was in the Garden District. As the wagons pulled up in front of Rhett's friend's house Scarlett saw that it was a huge house. It was a mansion. It was even bigger than Twelve Oaks. Scarlett said, "I suddenly feel under dressed."

"Me too, Baby. We will only be here for a week at most. Once we get our own house, it will be better. I will need to go to a bank and check up on my investments."

"Alright."

"Come on. Let me introduce you to my friend."

Soon everyone was in the parlor except Mammy and Albert. They were in the kitchen. The butler went to tell Orson that his friend was waiting for him in the parlor. Soon the group was joined by a man Rhett's age and a woman probably in her thirties. The man was handsome with blonde hair and very blue eyes. The woman was an attractive redhead with dark brown eyes. They were a striking couple.

Orson said, "Rhett, how did you get here? I didn't think the trains were leaving the Confederacy."

"You aren't going to believe this, but we walked the entire way from Jonesboro, Georgia."

"Where?"

"Jonesboro. It is a small town outside of Atlanta. Scarlett's family has a plantation there."

"Scarlett?"

"This is my wife, Scarlett. Her parents Gerald and Ellen O'Hara. Her sisters Careen and Suellen. Her best friend, Melanie Wilkes. Melanie's husband, Ashley. And last but certainly not least Scarlett's son, Wade."

"So, everyone is related to Scarlett."

"Me too because I'm married to Scarlett."

"I can't believe you got married again. You swore to never get married again."

"Scarlett made me change my mind about all that."

"Elise made me change my mind about getting married also." Orson extended his arm towards the woman and said, "This is my wife, Elise."

"It is a pleasure to meet you. Let me show you to your rooms. Walk this way." Elise turned to walk out of the room when she stopped and said to Scarlett, "Where is your nursemaid?"

"My mammy is in the kitchen getting a drink of water I believe. I will get her after we are shown our rooms. We will just be staying until Rhett rents us a house."

"You can stay as long as you want. It will be nice to have the company." As they were walking up the stairs Elise continued, "How old is your little boy?"

"Wade is two and a half."

"Our son, Homer, is three."

"I will put Wade in the nursery with Homer."

"That would be nice."

The ladies continued to chat while Orson and Rhett chatted at the other end of the group.

Orson said, "You have come at the right time. We are just getting over a yellow fever epidemic. It happens in New Orleans so often that it has earned the city the nickname of Necropolis – City of the Dead.

"Really."

"It is so bad. That to have survived yellow fever is a badge of honor. Companies will not hire one if one can't prove one has survived the disease. There are a lot of women that will not marry a man if he hasn't survived the disease."

Ashley said, "That is amazing."

"If you too plan to stay in New Orleans, you will have to contract yellow fever then survive it."

Rhett said, "Good to know. Have you contracted the disease?"

"Both Elise and myself. Her first husband died from the disease. She inherited his entire fortune and this house."

"She was fortunate that her late husband left her well-provided for."

"I had fancied her for a while, but she never gave me the time of day while she was married to Herman."

Rhett and Ashley made eye contact, and both knew they would not be staying in New Orleans after the war was over. They might be able to survive yellow fever, but Melly would not. Rhett wondered who else would die? Wade? Scarlett? Her parents? Her sisters?

No, as soon as the war was over the group would move on. Maybe to Texas but definitely not back to Georgia or anywhere the war had left a devastating mark on the people and the landscape. As a passing thought, Rhett wondered when he would ever see his family again. Maybe he could get them to move to where he and Scarlett were moving to.

As Rhett walked up the stairs, he looked at the décor of the home. He thought it was tastefully decorated. Rhett got to the room Elise was giving to them. He smiled. He like the décor in this room also. As Rhett and Scarlett were freshening up, he said, "I like the décor in this house."

"It is boring. It is the same decor that is in every other house in the South."

"So? What is wrong with that?"

"I want our home to be unique."

"Do you mean out of step with the rest of society?"

"No, I mean new and innovative."

Rhett knew that when they bought their home, he would have to monitor Scarlett's decorating choices closely.

Dinner was very good. While there was plenty of food on the table there wasn't an excess amount of it. After everyone had been seated at the table, Scarlett said, "Rhett, after dinner we need to go out and send telegrams to your family and India."

Ashley said, "I will need to send one to Honey and Aunt PittyPat."

"Of course."

"We will take care of that for you Ashley."

"Thank you."

Melly said, "The food is very good."

Elise said, "Thank you."

Orson said, "We have not really suffered like most of the confederacy. At least after we got rid of the Beast."

Scarlett said, "Who?"

Orson said, "Major General Benjamin Butler."

Rhett said, "No relation."

Scarlett smiled at Rhett.

Orson said, "I understand he was a political hack. I guess he had an axe to grind with the people of the Confederacy. As soon as he took over control of New Orleans in May of sixty-two, he began making life awful for the inhabitants. He soon subjected the people of New Orleans to a rigorous martial law. It made things so much worse than they had to be. He stole $800,000 from the Dutch consul."

Gerald said, "God's nightgown. That is a lot of money."

"He acquired the nickname of 'Spoons Butler' because his troops looted silverware from local homes. Fortunately, not ours. Butler ordered the inscription "The Union Must and Shall Be Preserved" to be carved into the base of the statue of General Andrew Jackson."

Ellen said, "Oh no!"

"The most notorious thing he did was General Order # 28: if any woman should insult or show contempt for any Federal officer or soldier, she shall be regarded and shall be held liable to be treated as a 'woman of the town plying her avocation."

All the women reacted in horror. Melly said, "She would be treated like a common…."

"Yes. That order provoked storms of protests both in the North as well as abroad, particularly in England and France. It eventually led to him being replaced by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks. Under Banks, relationships between the Yankees and the New Orleanians improved greatly. Although not cordial, it was and has been a workable situation.

Rhett said, "President Lincoln could not tolerate that sort of international furor. At the time he was desperately trying to keep England and France from joining the war on the Confederate's side."

"The only good thing I can say about Butler was his massive cleanup efforts made New Orleans a lot safer place to live health wise."

Everyone at the table was quiet for a few minutes. Finally, Rhett said, "Where is the closest Western Union?"

"Just go on down Washington Ave until you get to South Carrollton then turn left. It is a couple of blocks down on the right."

"Thank you. Scarlett, shall we go?"

"Of course. Mama, would you take Wade to Mammy so she can put him down for his nap."

"Sure."