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

Chapter Thirteen

On Rhett's next visit to New York in September, he actually came to call at Scarlett's home. After they were seated in the parlor with Melly. He handed some paper to Scarlett. It was the list of the men from Georgia that were either killed or wounded. He said to Scarlett, "I don't know how much news you get from your parents, but I thought you would want to know if any of your friends were dead."

"Thank you, Rhett. Yes, I would. I will look at them after you leave."

"Very good. Where is Wade?"

"Sleeping. He goes to bed right after supper now."

Melly said, "Ashley wrote an opinion piece on his first few years of living in New York. It was quite popular judging by the amount of mail the paper got regarding it. The editor for Monthly Anthology saw it and contacted Ashley about writing a story. He is working on it right now. I rarely see my husband these days. He has even taken over one of the extra bedrooms."

"You must be so proud of him."

The trio talked about the war and how the people of the Confederacy were doing. Soon, Rhett took his leave. As Scarlett was walking him out, he asked her to supper the next night, to which she said yes to.

Scarlett was happy with her life. Her business was profitable, her living situation was acceptable, and her love life was wonderful. She loved Rhett and she believed he loved her. She would not tell him until he told her, of course. She would not give him any more power than he already had.

The next night after having been out to supper, Rhett started kissing Scarlett in the cab. As things got heated up Rhett said, "Come back to my hotel with me."

"No! I'm not that kind of girl."

"I would be happy to make you that kind of girl."

"No! Get away from me."

"I could treat you so well. I could buy you anything your heart desired. I could get you a fine house."

"No, I don't want to marry again."

Rhett burst out laughing. He said, "I wasn't asking you to marry me. I was asking you to become my mistress."

"Do you know why I will never marry again? It is because I will never endure a man's foolishness again or ever have another child. I certainly don't want a passel of brats."

Rhett burst out laughing. He said, "If you call it foolishness then you certainly haven't been with the right man. I am quite talented in that area."

Scarlett didn't answer Rhett. She was ignoring him. It was all she could do not to start crying. When Rhett realized, she wasn't going to answer him, he added, "After all, the only man you have ever known was a boy."

Scarlett didn't speak the rest of the way to her home until the cab stopped at her home. She turned and looked Rhett in the eyes. She said, "Goodbye, Mr. Butler. Don't ever call on me again. You no longer exist as far as I am concerned. You are right. You are no gentleman."

"And you, Scarlett, are no lady."

"Yes, I know what you think about me."

The cab driver opened the door. As he helped Scarlett out of the cab, she said to him, "The man is not getting out. You can take him back to his hotel."

By the time Scarlett had gotten to the front door, the tears were running down her face. She heard the cab pull away from the curb. Good riddance. She thought, 'I really am a bad judge of who loves me. I was sure Rhett loved me. I guess not.'

Rhett had stayed in the cab because he was going to give her some time to miss him. He knew that once she realized he was really gone she would do anything to get him back.

In the next couple of days, Rhett did not visit Scarlett either at her dress shop or her home. He got all his luxury goods bought and sailed out of New York harbor. He would give her several months to get over her anger. He would return at Christmas with a present. Time and a present would soften her heart towards him.

For the next month, Scarlett was somber. Between Rhett's words and the deaths of so many of her former beaus it was easy to be sad.

When Melly asked Scarlett about her somber mood, she replied, "It seems that Ashley was right. I don't have what it takes to keep a worldly man like Rhett. He will not be calling on me anymore."

"Darling, I'm so sorry."

"It is just as well. I didn't want to get married again anyway. Were there very many names on the list that you recognized?"

"Far too many."

"That is true for me also. Far too many."

After Ashley had read the names on the list, it made him remember those awful three days from his first timeline. He didn't regret leaving the Confederacy. He just regretted losing contact with his family. Neither his father nor his sisters had replied to any of his letters. He guessed his father really had disowned him. It was another thing that he and Mr. Butler had in common.

Ashley thought about Scarlett and Mr. Butler, Melanie had told him that Mr. Butler would not be calling on Scarlett anymore. It surprised Ashley because the man had pursued Scarlett for eight years before they had gotten married. A year and a half of that time while she was married to another man. Maybe Scarlett had just been the girl he couldn't get. In Ashley's opinion Scarlett was better off without Mr. Butler. She could now find someone who would realize what a fabulous woman she was. She really was that was why it had taken him so long to give her up.

A week after Scarlett's final contact with Rhett she spoke directly to Ashley which had surprised both Ashley and Melanie. She said, "Do you think the war is going to be over soon? I mean with the Yankees having complete control of the Mississippi River and all."

"Unfortunately, no. It would be dishonorable to surrender."

"That is sad. I really miss my family."

"I miss mine also but because of my decision to move to New York, I doubt they will ever speak to me again."

"Did you notice the Tarleton boys' names on the list?"

"Yes, poor Mr. and Mrs. Tarleton. They have lost all their sons."

"Mother wrote me that Brent was corresponding with Careen and Stuart was corresponding with India."

"Poor India, she really did love Stuart. Unfortunately for India, Stuart was an immature, young man who was not ready to settle down. If he had been, you would not have been able to steal him away from her."

Ashley's words startled both Scarlett and Melanie. Finally, Scarlett said, "I agree. I would never do something like that now. I was immature also."

"Yes, but you have since grown up."

"Yes, I have. I didn't see Tony or Alex's names, did you?"

"No, they weren't on the list."

"Tell us about your book."

"I am trying to write like Charles Dickens."

"No! You need to write like Ashley Wilkes. You don't want to be a poor imitation of Mr. Dickens. You want to be new and original."

Both Melly and Ashley stared at Scarlett. At last, Melly said, "Scarlett is right. You need to have your own style."

"Thank you. Eat up Wade. It is almost time for you to go to bed."

Ashley later reflected on Scarlett speaking to him again. He thought it was good. She had most certainly grown up since her marriage to Charlie. Maybe she had held on to her belief she loved him because it had been all she had of her former world. He knew he had continued to encourage her belief that she loved him because it was all he had left from his former world. With them living in New York, they had both already lost that world completely.

Scarlett had started speaking to Ashley again because she was hurting too much to continue being at war with him. And he had been right in the library. Not all the ugly things he had said about her but that he and Melly were soul mates. Furthermore, she knew now that he really had wanted a blue stocking for a wife. She also knew now that he wasn't any of the things, she had thought he was. She also knew now that she had been a little bit vain and a little bit self-centered to think that just telling a man one loved them would make him want, no, demand she marry him. She had been so incredibly dense and naïve. Of course, in her defense she had gotten every man she wanted. Not anymore.

When Coco asked Scarlett about her downcast mood, she said, "I found out that a lot of the boys I grew up with were killed at Gettysburg."

Coco knew Scarlett had broken up with Rhett because she had stopped talking about him altogether. Coco was sorry for the young girl but that was the way of love. Romances don't always work out.

Ashley had gotten another raise. He was making enough now to pay for all the expenses of the household. He would not ask Scarlett to move out. Ashley had decided that Melly living with Wade was what was best for her. She could pretend that Wade was her son especially since she took care of him every day while Scarlett worked. The only time Scarlett was home during the day was on Sundays.

All through the fall Scarlett was a woman who was at peace. She wasn't happy but she wasn't terribly sad either. She would occasionally think about Rhett, but not for awfully long. She shut down those thoughts rather quickly. She was glad she hadn't told him that she loved him. That would have made her humiliation so much more degrading. She just kept reminding herself that not only did he not love her, but he did not respect her either.

Scarlett visited with Charlie more often in the fall because it made her feel good to remember how much Charlie had loved her. Scarlett was glad she had told Charlie she loved him too when he was dying. He had been right about leaving the South. She knew from articles in the paper on the war that everyone in the South was suffering because of the war. Yes, Charlie had been a good husband. Scarlett only really had one problem with him. That was that he always wanting to have relations thus ensuring she would be having a child every year. She hadn't wanted to suffer through his foolishness, and she certainly hadn't wanted to have a child every year.

Scarlett, Melanie, and Wade visited Charlie's grave on the second anniversary of his death. Melly said, "I'm sorry things didn't work out with you and Mr. Butler."

"Thanks. It was nice having some male companionship."

"I guess so."

Scarlett would like some male companionship, but her heart and her conceit could not take hearing another man tell her something ugly about herself.

Scarlett had considered giving away her green dress and hat, but she looked too good in them to do that. She had broken protocol and had started wearing color again as soon as her green dress was ready. She had also considered giving away the gold shawl he had given her for her birthday, but she wouldn't do that. It was beautiful. She didn't have a lot of beautiful things anymore. Most of her clothing was what she had brought with her when they had moved North. Her dresses were that of a young girl. She was no longer a foolish young girl. She was now a mature adult with a child to support.

Scarlett, of course, had some new dresses made but she had not been lying to Rhett when she said it took forever to get a new dress made for an employee. Besides, the dresses she had still had a lot of wear in them, therefore she wasn't throwing them away.