Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.
Chapter Four
Melanie and Charlie had remained at Twelve Oaks for another day after the barbecue was over. They had planned on spending a week, but they had to return to Atlanta to make all the arrangements for the weddings and Melly and Ashley's reception.
Ashley had tried to talk Charlie out of marrying Scarlett but when Charlie had asked him, "Why shouldn't I marry Scarlett?"
Ashley had no answer. He couldn't tell his cousin about his and Scarlett's discussion in the library without all his dirty secrets coming out. All Ashley could answer was, "You don't know each other very well."
Charlie had laughed and said, "We have the next fifty years to get to know each other. Besides, I am not going to give her time to change her mind."
At last, Ashley dropped the subject because Charlie was going to be dead in the next two months. There was no way Charlie would abandon the Confederacy. Ashley would not be able to if he didn't know how awful the next four years had been for him especially his time at Rock Island. Therefore, why not let Charlie's last days be happy days. Besides, he and Melly would be living in New York and Scarlett would be living at Tara.
The day of the barbecue, Rhett had quickly gotten to Atlanta. He found out the next train to Charleston left in an hour. He had got his trunk and carpetbag. He paid his bill at the hotel. He was back at the railway station within thirty minutes. He hadn't even bother to send Belle a note saying he was leaving. A private car was not available, but Rhett managed to get some sleep on the fifteen-hour train trip to Charleston.
Rhett went to the dock upon his arrival in Charleston. He told his captains and his second in command to get the cotton loaded. He then went to a cotton broker in Charleston and made arrangements for him to store the cotton that Frank Kennedy would be shipping to him. He also told the broker he would be buying lots of cotton as long as the war was waging.
All four of Rhett's ships had set sail by the end of the week. As he stood in the wheelhouse as he watched Charleston fade away, Scarlett O'Hara popped into his head. He hoped she survived the war. He would certainly renew their acquaintanceship after the war was over. Rhett decided that acquaintanceship was incorrect. They had not even spoken to each other. After the war was over, he would establish a relationship with her.
Two weeks after the barbecue, Scarlett and Charlie were married an hour before Ashley and Melly had been married. Scarlett had made sure she was married to another man before Ashley married another woman even if it was just minutes before.
Scarlett's relatives left immediately to go to Tara while she and Charlie sat in a pew and watched Ashley and Melanie get married. Scarlett and Charlie then boarded the train to Jonesboro in their wedding clothes.
The reception was genuinely nice. Everyone in the county came. It seemed that every day someone else was getting married. All the single girls in the county had a great time at Scarlett's wedding reception. It was the first time in a long time that they had a chance with any of the men at a social event in the county.
Ellen had talked to Scarlett about her wifely duties. Ellen said, "Make sure Charlie takes his time. It isn't too bad if the man takes his time. It will probably be uncomfortable your first time, but you must do it. It is your duty."
Charlie and Scarlett had gone to her bedroom together. Prissy had helped her get undressed in the changing room. When Scarlett returned to her bedroom, Charlie was already in her bed. She got in the bed.
Afterwards, Scarlett knew she never wanted to do that again but unfortunately, she knew she would. Probably tomorrow night. To Scarlett's horror, Charlie woke her up the next morning and they did it again.
Once Charlie was finished, he got up and got dressed without a hint of modesty. Scarlett had turned over and looked the other way. While she was lying there, she was thinking, 'What have I gotten myself into.'
Before Charlie left the room, Scarlett said, "When do you join General Hampton?"
"I leave in two weeks. This morning Melly and Ashley will be returning to Twelve Oaks. We will go over there this afternoon to visit with them."
"Do we have to?"
"Of course, we have to. Ashley is my best friend."
Scarlett spitefully thought, 'Yeah, Melly and I can compare notes to find out whose wedding night was worse. I'm sure it was hers.'
Scarlett would have been right. Melly's wedding night had been awful. She had been scared and didn't know what to expect. Mrs. Merriwether had taken it upon herself to tell Melly what to expect. The older woman had been vague and had use euphemisms therefore Melly had not understood anything. All Melly hoped was now that she knew what to expect relations would get better. They did get better but they were never something she looked forward to.
Ashley and Melly were on the nine o'clock train to Jonesboro. He had gotten a letter back from John saying that Ashley was more than welcome to come to New York. Yes, John would give him a job as a teller. Furthermore, Ashley and his wife were welcome to stay in their home until they could find a place of their own. Therefore, he was moving forward with his plan.
Ashley and Melly were sitting side by side on the train bench. He turned to her and said, "My dear, I love you."
"I love you, too."
"I am not going to join the Confederate army."
"What?!"
"In fact, we will be moving to New York within the next two weeks."
"No, Ashley, it would be dishonorable to abandon the confederacy."
"No, my dear, it would be dishonorable to abandon the union. Some people might even say treasonous. We should have continued to use our words like civilized men. Not resort to brute force to get our way. Furthermore, you know I don't believe in the practice of slavery. I would have freed the slaves once I inherited Twelve Oaks. I won't inherit it now because Father will disown me."
"I guess we can move to New York then return once the war is over."
"Yes, we will return once the war is over."
Ashley was lying. He would never return to the South that remained after the war was over. It would be several years, if not decades, before the South would return to a center of prosperity.
After Scarlett and Charlie's wedding, the couple had spent a lot of time with Ashley and Melanie, much to Scarlett's unhappiness. Those entire two weeks Charlie and Ashley's family had been trying to talk Ashley out of abandoning the cause and out of moving to New York. Ashley's father had even threatened to disown him if he abandoned the Confederacy.
Scarlett hoped Ashley and Melanie would move to New York. She wanted him and Miss Blue Stocking far, far away. She would be living at Tara. When Charlie returned, she would move to Atlanta.
Unfortunately, for Scarlett Charlie had been trained as a lawyer. The way his brain worked was facts in - best options out. On the day before Ashley and Melly were going to travel to Atlanta and spend a week there then travel on to New York, Charlie decided that he and Scarlett were going to move to New York also. They also were going to abandon the confederacy. Ashley had made some sound logical arguments. Ashley's argument that in truth if they picked up arms against the government, they would be traitors was the most persuasive. Also, Ashley's argument that they should continue using their words instead of brute force had appealed to Charlie. Charlie was a man of words.
Ashley was stunned at Charlie's decision to move with him to New York. The last thing he wanted was for Scarlett to move to New York with him and Melly. Yet, there was nothing he could do about it because it was the decision, he himself had made. Ashley cheered himself up by thinking, 'Maybe Scarlett can talk Charlie into not going to New York, but I doubt it. He has always done what he wanted to do. If he comes to New York with Melly and I, it will save his life.'
Scarlett yelled. Scarlett screamed. Scarlett called Charlie names. In response to all of this, Charlie said, "This is my decision. You are my wife. You will go where I go."
It seemed that Charlie was not as weak willed as Scarlett had thought he was.
Charlie's Uncle Henry had often told the boy that women can get strange ideas in their heads and the best thing to do is control them with a firm hand but not too firm.
Scarlett even went to talk to her parents about staying at Tara. Gerald said, "Although, I don't agree with his decision, he is your husband. You must go where he wants to go."
After speaking to her parents, Scarlett went back to her room and packed her trunk. After her trunk was packed, Scarlett got in the bed and turned her back on Charlie. They did not have relations that night. Even Charlie knew the answer was an emphatic no. In fact, Charlie was quite sure she would have fought him if he had tried.
The next morning Charlie, Scarlett, Ashley, and Melly were on the train to Atlanta. Scarlett was still not speaking to Charlie. He let her brood. He knew this would set the tone for their entire marriage so he could not give in to her anger. If he was going to wear the pants in the family, then he would have to start doing it right now and not give in to Scarlett's display of displeasure.
Upon the group's arrival in Atlanta, Ashley had them stop at the telegraph office so he could send John a telegram asking if there was room for his cousin and his cousin's wife in John's house.
Scarlett met Charlie's Aunt PittyPat and Uncle Henry. Scarlett hoped to never see them again. Charlie's aunt was a nervous, high-strung woman who claimed to be fainting at least four to five times a day. His uncle was a gruff man, who kept trying to tell Charlie what to do. Although Scarlett didn't agree with Charlie's decision, it was his to make. Not, some old man's.
The more Henry berated Charlie for his decision to sit out the war in New York, the madder Scarlett got at the old man. Scarlett thought, 'Charlie is doing what he thinks is best for himself and his family.'
At the family's first supper after their arrival in Atlanta, Henry had said, "If you move to New York, and do not fight for the Confederacy, you will never be received into any decent home in the South."
The next day Ashley received a reply from John saying, 'Yes, there is plenty of room STOP Does your cousin need a job also STOP'
Ashley sent a reply back saying, 'Yes but Charlie is a lawyer STOP Do you know of a lawyer that would hire him STOP'
Melanie and Charlie decided to sell Hamilton House. They went to see Henry about it. The siblings had realized that their Uncle Henry was right. They could never move back to Atlanta once they had abandoned the Confederacy. The good people of Atlanta, in fact, all over the South would label them traitors although in truth everyone who supported the Confederacy were actually the traitors. Therefore, they went about liquidating all of their assets in the city.
Henry had known a man who had always wanted to buy Hamilton House, so the sale was fairly quick. Before the papers were signed selling the house, Henry started trying to get Charlie to change his mind again. Charlie smiled at his uncle and said, "Uncle Henry, I am a grown man. I am twenty-five years old. I am a lawyer. I have a wife and hopefully soon will have a family. I am old enough to make my own decisions. I agree completely with Ashley. It is wrong for us to leave the Union. We should have continued to use our words but in the end, I will not take up arms against the Union. So, please, don't bring the subject up again."
Henry did not say another word. Once the papers were signed everyone walked out to PittyPat's carriage and rode back to Hamilton House. It was time to start packing.
Henry walked home to his boarding house after closing up his office that afternoon. As he walked along, he decided that Charlie indeed was all grown up. He hadn't listened when Henry had told him not to marry Scarlett O'Hara and he wasn't going to listen about not going to live in New York.
As Scarlett watched Charlie stand up to his uncle, she had a sick feeling that she was not going to be able to make him do what she wanted him to do. She was finding out that being a wife was not as good as being a belle. All her suitors had always jumped to do what she wanted. Not only was Charlie not doing what she wanted, he expected her to do what he wanted. It was in that moment Scarlett knew she had made a big mistake marrying Charlie Hamilton.