Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

I have said this before but one of the hardest things I have to do is make up names for my extra characters. One day I just decided to start using famous names. I am certainly enjoying doing.

Chapter Eight

In April Rhett had started buying a few luxury goods. He had tried to sell his goods in Charleston, but he could not get very much money for them therefore he decided to go to Atlanta to sell them. He needed to check on his investments in the city anyway. Maybe he would run into the fair Miss O'Hara while he was in Atlanta.

Once Rhett got to Atlanta, he went to the hospital to sell the medical supplies that he had. While he was there Dr. Meade had invited him to a bazaar, they were having to raise money for the hospital. Rhett did attend the bazaar, but he soon left. He went to the Painted Lady and spent the night playing cards and drinking. He got his profits and when Belle offered him her wares he accepted. He didn't know what her feelings were for him, but he rarely turned down a free romp in the bed.

After being in Atlanta for a week Rhett returned to Charleston. He decided that in the future he would sell his goods to a wholesaler and not worry about selling them himself. He had wasted ten days going to Atlanta. He could be halfway across the ocean by now. With that thought he decided that he would just buy his luxury goods in New York from now on. He would go to France then on his next trip he would just go to New York.

Scarlett hired some servants once the profit started rolling in. She hired a scullery maid to help the cook and a regular maid to help Melly. Scarlett could no longer help with the housework during the day, and she was tired of having to do housework in the evening after she got home from work. Melly still had to do a lot of housework, though.

Scarlett wore black but, in the North, no one expected her to stay home for a year after Charlie's death. Melanie had questioned it, but Scarlett had said, "I have to support myself and Wade."

Melanie didn't argue because, in truth, Scarlett did have to support herself.

Occasionally Scarlett would wish Charlie hadn't died because she would like some male companionship. She would then remember having to suffer through his foolishness every night. She probably would be with child again by this time. She had finally gotten her shape back although her waist was still an inch larger than before she got with child. No, being a widow was better. Nobody was telling her what to do. Nobody was controlling every aspect of her life. She was far away from her parents, so she didn't have to do what they told her to do either.

If the truth was known Scarlett was happy living in New York City. The rules for proper behavior were a lot laxer in the North than they were in the South. The few friends she and Melly had made didn't think of Scarlett as a man stealing hussy, but they thought of her as a poor young girl who had lost her husband far too soon. The women weren't sitting around gossiping about her or judging her. Scarlett didn't know it but over the last year, she had grown up. Between Charlie controlling every aspect of her life and the responsibility for herself and Wade, she was no longer that empty headed belle.

The other thing that had happened was that Scarlett was becoming better educated. She read books and she read the newspaper. She had started reading Ashley's articles in the newspaper and then she would see a headline that would grab her attention.

After living with Ashley and Melly for a while Scarlett had indeed found out that Ashley did want a blue stocking for his wife. The Wilkeses spent a lot of time discussing books and plays they had read. For their first anniversary, Ashley had splurged and bought the couple tickets to see Hamlet. Much to Scarlett's unhappiness, they had spent the next week talking about the play and their evening out. Ashley and Melly's conversations were usually boring but them talking about their night out was boring to the extreme.

Scarlett had visited Charlie's grave on what would have been their first anniversary. She had taken Wade with her. She had talked to him about Wade, her business, and her living situation. She usually visited Charlie's grave once or twice a month. She did it to continue the charade that she had loved her husband. She would continue doing that as long as she was living with Melly. It made her sister-in-law happy to believe her brother had been loved by his wife.

When Wade turned nine-months old, Scarlett took him for a walk in the park. As she was pushing the stroller, that she had gotten second hand, she smiled at the boy. He smiled back. She loved seeing her son's smile. It was her smile. It made the boy truly hers and not just Charlie's son. She also believed Wade had her jaw line. The jaw line which she had inherited from her father.

Melanie had come with Scarlett and Wade to the park. Melanie was always trying to get Scarlett to leave Wade in her care while Scarlett worked but Scarlett would say, "Maybe after I have weaned him from the breast. Right now, he has to go where I go."

Scarlett had no intentions of leaving Wade with anyone. He was her son, and she would take care of him. Surprisingly to Scarlett she loved the boy. Maybe because he was the only person, she had in her life to give her love to, but she loved the boy very much. She didn't love Melanie, although she was fond of her. She despised Ashley, although they had developed a working relationship. Her family was at Tara and therefore out of reach. She had been so busy making her business a success, she had not had a lot of time to socialize. Besides when there were social events, Melly was always going with Ashley, therefore there wasn't anyone to stay with Wade. Scarlett knew that the social events were practically the only time Melly got to leave the house and Scarlett could not deprive Melly of that outing. Melly had so little in her life. Scarlett was afraid Melly was barren.

That day as the trio was walking in the park, Rhett saw them. He, of course, recognized Scarlett immediately but he didn't recognize the other woman. Judging by the camaraderie between the two women, the other woman was someone who Scarlett was familiar with.

Rhett noticed that Scarlett was wearing black, but the other woman was not so he guessed Scarlett was the one who had lost a loved one.

Rhett couldn't believe his luck. He ran into Scarlett in New York. He had certainly spent a lot of time fantasizing about her. And why not? She was so beautiful and sexually exciting. He was going to have to establish a relationship with her then seduce her into his bed. He wondered if the baby was hers or the other woman's. Judging by the fact that Scarlett was pushing the baby buggy, he was going to assume the baby was hers. That made Rhett smile. That meant she was no longer a virgin.

Rhett saw the direction the women were walking and made sure he crossed their path. When they met, Rhett said, "Is it you Miss O'Hara?"

Scarlett and Melanie stared at Rhett. Neither woman recognized him. In truth, Melly had not met him or talked to him at the barbecue. Scarlett had so many men stare at her in her lifetime that one more didn't stand out. Scarlett said, "I was once Miss O'Hara. I am Mrs. Hamilton now. I don't remember you."

"We met at a barbecue being given at a plantation the day the war started."

Scarlett stared at him then finally said, "I remember you now. You are the man who wouldn't stop staring at me all day."

"Guilty as charged. There is something about your face that kept making me look at you. You were wearing a pretty green dress also."

"What is your name?"

"Rhett Butler from Charleston."

"I remember you now. You are the man who is not received because you wouldn't marry that girl that you compromised."

"I didn't compromise her. I took her on a buggy ride in the afternoon. My buggy wheel broke. We had to walk home. Unfortunately, we got home after dark."

"Why didn't you marry the girl and save your good name?"

"I didn't marry her because I didn't do anything wrong. I have never planned on getting married and I certainly wasn't going to get married over a broken buggy wheel especially not to an ugly ninny."

"The gentry of Charleston thought differently."

"Which is why I am no longer received in Charleston except now I am because I am a war hero."

Melanie said, "A war hero? What did you do?"

"I am a blockade runner. I am bringing in much needed goods into the Confederacy."

"Why are you here in New York?"

"To buy supplies to bring into the South."

"You buy your supplies in the North."

"Why not the merchants don't know what I am doing with my goods. I have business interest in New York, so it is more convenient for me to come here. I usually buy the war supplies in Europe but this trip all I am buying is luxury goods."

Wade started fussing and Scarlett jiggled the buggy. She said, "That is Wade's way of telling me to get the buggy rolling."

"Let me walk with you."

Scarlett looked at Rhett. He was a handsome man, he had an expensive suit on, and he didn't want to get married therefore, he could be an amusing companion. A man who could afford to take her places and buy her presents. She smiled her prettiest smile and said, "Come along, Mr. Butler."

"Is that your son's name? Wade?"

"Yes, my late husband wanted him named after Wade Hampton of South Carolina."

"I have met Mr. Hampton upon occasion when we were younger."

"I bet he won't talk to you now that you are disowned."

"No, he won't. No proper person in the South will talk to me."

Melanie said, "Did I understand you correctly, Mr. Butler, that you were at that barbecue at my husband's plantation?"

"Yes, I was. Mr. Kennedy brought me as his guest."

"Why would Mr. Kennedy bring an unreceived man to a gentry social event?"

"Mr. Kennedy and I had just concluded a deal and he had been in a hurry to leave. I asked where he was going, and he said to a barbecue at a plantation. I think he invited me to be polite expecting me to turn him down. The idea of going to a barbecue appealed to me and I had nothing planned for the afternoon, so I said yes."

"I can't believe my father-in-law received you."

"I think Mr. Wilkes was too gracious to make me sit in the buggy for the entire afternoon or make Mr. Kennedy take me back into town."

"That does sound like Uncle John."

"I believe I had a conversation with your husband in the library that day." Scarlett quickly looked at Rhett. Rhett immediately knew that if he had any chance with Scarlett, she could never know he had heard what Mr. Wilkes had said to her that day. He continued, "We ran into each other in the hallway as I was coming back from the picnic area. I had left my cigars on one of the tables out there. We then went into the library and had a brandy."

The relief that passed across Scarlett's face was plain to see.

"Mr. Butler, this is my sister-in-law, Melanie Wilkes."

"Nice to meet you."

"You too Mrs. Wilkes."

"Why are you in New York?"

"We live here."

Rhett remembered what Mr. Wilkes had said about moving to New York and not fighting in the war. He said, "You abandoned the Confederacy?"

"Our husbands did."

"Your husbands?"

"It is a long story. Mr. Butler, why don't you come to supper, say tomorrow night at six? We will tell you the entire story."

Rhett would have to rearrange some things, but he would make it. He said, "I would love to."

Scarlett gave Rhett their address and then turned the buggy around. She said, "See you tomorrow night."

"See you tomorrow night."

Rhett thought about Scarlett's address. While it wasn't the best address in New York, it certainly wasn't the worst. For the rest of the evening, Rhett pondered how this had come about. Scarlett was living in New York, and she was living with Ashley Wilkes the man Rhett knew she despised. Or did she? Was it possible that vain Scarlett had forgiven Mr. Wilkes for what he had said to her in the library? Not highly likely. He finally dismissed it from his mind by telling himself, 'I will find out everything tomorrow.'