Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

Chapter Thirty

Scarlett was taking in Rhett's words. It was quite the admission from Rhett that he had done something wrong and that he had regrets about something. She was quiet. Simply because she couldn't think of anything to say.

After an extended silence, Rhett broke the quiet by asking, "How is the store doing?"

"Alright. We have hit some snags though. I have come to find out that Frank didn't pay his suppliers the month before he ran away, therefore I have to pay them now or they won't keep selling me items. I wish the matrons that are talking badly about me running Frank off with my mannish ways knew about that."

"You know it wouldn't make any difference in their opinion of you."

In a rare moment of weakness, Scarlett looked over Rhett's shoulder and quietly said, "They have hated me ever since I became a woman. They always see everything I do as wrong. I don't understand why."

"Because you are the amazing, fabulous Scarlett O'Hara and they are old, fat women with mustaches better than mine." Scarlett laughed. Rhett leaned forward and said gently, "Honey, you are right everything you do is wrong. Just like at the Hospital Bazaar. I spent one hundred and fifty dollars that night to get to dance with you therefore, the hospital got one hundred and fifty dollars in gold to buy their supplies." Rhett paused and Scarlett looked at him. He continued, "I know you were criticized for dancing so shortly after only being out of deep mourning such a short time. I have a bone to pick about that but that will have to wait. My question is this. What if you had done the right thing and turned the dances down? What do you think would have happened?"

"I don't know. I certainly wouldn't have been praised."

"No, you wouldn't have. You would have been criticized for not dancing. After all you could have raised one hundred and fifty dollars for the cause. I can hear it now. She was already out of deep mourning. Charlie would have understood. Just think what we could have bought if Scarlett hadn't been so proper." The last sentence made Scarlett laugh. Rhett said, "True?"

Scarlett smiled and said, "True."

"Accept, Baby, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. I say to hell with them. Do what you want."

"Thank you, Rhett. I will try."

"My other bone to pick is this. If a person is out of something like deep mourning, they are out of it. If it is not alright for someone to do something one week out of their deep mourning, how are they going to know when it is alright. That is why society has set time limits for these things. So, people know how to behave properly."

"True. It is just something to criticize the people they don't like about."

"Yes, it is. Any other news about the store?"

"We got our stock in which is good but there has been a drop in traffic lately because I stopped extending credit. I have run some ads in the newspaper."

"Good idea."

"Traffic has picked up. I don't care if the gentry ever comes back. I so hate having to be proper."

"Let's stop being proper."

"Not yet."

Rhett sighed and said, "What did Careen say?"

"I haven't been to talk to her yet."

"Baby, what is the matter? You are not a woman to procrastinate. You usually make up your mind and then you do it."

"I know. It is just that if she says no then I have no other plan."

Rhett burst out laughing. Finally, he said, "You didn't have that plan until I thought of it. If she says no, we will think of something else. You might have to lower your standards and let a … a .."

"Benteen run it."

"Go tomorrow. If she says no, we will think of something else."

"Alright."

The couple talked for another thirty minutes. Rhett told Scarlett some of the funniest stories about the Scallawags. They were even funnier because she knew who all these people were. After a while, she looked at her watch and said, "I have to go back inside. Please come again next week. You can't come any more often than that are people will talk."

"Let them talk. A week from Friday we will have our first business supper."

"Alright. Who is going to chaperone us?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Powe."

"Your lawyer and his wife?"

"It is appropriate. We are having a business meeting so my lawyer being there fits. He is from the North, but he did marry a Southern girl, Suzanne Sugarbaker. Do you know her?"

"Yes, she has a pretty face, but she is fat."

"Hence the reason she was an unwanted cousin in a household that was barely making ends meet. They met at a bookstore. He asked her out to supper. In spite of him being a Yankee, she accepted his offer. Two weeks later they were married. They are living happily ever after."

For a moment Scarlett stared at Rhett, quietly she said, "Why couldn't we have that?"

"Ah, my dear, you loved another man, and I was insanely jealous. We were also horrible people. You ignored me unless I was mean to you, and I was certainly mean to you because like a spoilt brat I refused to be ignored."

Scarlett smiled and said, "As long as we know why we failed."

"Next time around we will do better."

"I have to get rid of Frank first. I have to wait a year before I can even file the paperwork. I am worried sick that he will return in eleven months and three weeks and six days."

Rhett burst out laughing. He said, "Not to worry. Frank would once again meet an untimely death."

"Did you kill him the first time?"

"Of course not, Scarlett. Do you really think I would kill a man just to get him out of the way because I wanted to have relations with his wife."

"Isn't that what King David did with Bathsheba's husband?"

"You amaze me Scarlett that you know that."

"I guess I remember it because of David and Bathsheba having relations before marriage."

"Add in there that David had her husband killed so he could marry her is quite the titillating story for a young girl."

"Whether you killed Frank or not is immaterial right now. Although last time if you did it, you could have done it where I didn't get blamed for his death."

Rhett burst out laughing. As he got up, he said, "I see you are still selfish and self-centered. Don't worry. I appreciate those traits. Goodbye, my love."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just think about your last statement."

With that Rhett left the porch and he never looked back. As Scarlett walked into the store, she replayed what she had said and started smiling. It was true. She had not been upset that Frank had died just that she was somehow responsible for him having died. And that she was going to hell because of it.

After Rhett had shut the door to his suite, Clarence materialized. He said, "What is your plan?"

"It is quite simple. I am going to get to know my wife. Then I am going to meet her needs. Then as much as possible I am going to put her needs in front of my own. That will not be easy for me but if I ever hope to win her back, she has to be confident I will not return to that hateful man I once was."

"Will you forgo having children just to make her happy?"

"Yes."

"I don't believe you."

"Clarence, this is not just me being self-sacrificing. It nearly killed me when I lost Bonnie. I am not sure I want to put my heart at risk again. I certainly can't do it if Scarlett is against the idea. I would need her by my side every step of the way. We will have Ella and Wade. I will make that be enough. It is a sign of my growing maturity."

"What have you learned about Scarlett O'Hara?"

"She is more fragile than anyone would ever believe. It hurts her a lot when people criticize her, especially when she thinks she is doing the right thing. I hurt her that way a lot and by never giving her credit for the good things she had done." Rhett paused and continued, "That was one of the things Mr. Wilkes gave her. He never criticized her."

"Let's say he rarely criticized her but then he blamed someone else for her actions."

With a smile Rhett said, "Me?"

"Yes, you."

"That makes sense. He did hate me."

"For stealing her affections away from him."

"Interesting. She loves her children more than anyone would guess. She just didn't know how to show that love although I don't know why."

"Her mother didn't show her love either. That is a whole other story. You need to get Scarlett to tell you, so she realizes her mother is not the saint she thinks she is."

"She is extremely loyal. That was part of her problem with Wilkes. She was loyal to him because he was her one true love, so she defended him when people spoke badly about him instead of listening to what the people were telling her."

"Get her to tell you about her conversation with Mrs. Merriwether before you two got married. It will be enlightening for you."

"I am listening to her. Not just her words but her facial expressions and the tension in her body."

Rhett and Clarence were quiet for a few minutes. Finally, Rhett said, "I was a spoilt brat when I met Scarlett. I had not done anything I didn't want to do for years, even before my father disowned me. I had been able to steal, buy, or trick someone into me getting everything that I wanted." There was a long pause while Rhett got his thoughts together. Clarence just waited. Finally, Rhett said, "Except Scarlett. I couldn't buy her or trick her or even steal her into loving me. Therefore, I am going to give of myself. I have been able to put my pride on the back shelf because what is pride worth if one doesn't have a soul." With a laugh Rhett added, "Although a lot of my partners in crime would say I never have had a soul."

Later that night when Rhett was sitting at the poker table he said, "Did you hear the latest about Frank Kennedy?"

"What?"

"Not only did he run away with Scarlett's sister to God knows where and take all their money, but he had gotten his suppliers to wait a month for their money."

"He took it all."

"Yes."

"Poor Scarlett. Frank certainly did her wrong especially after she married an old fart like him."

"True. True. Eights over aces."

"You win again, Rhett. Do you ever lose?"

"I have in the most important contest, but I hope that changes in the near future."

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

The next day, Scarlett sent a note to Hugh that she would not come down to the store until after dinner. She had Big Sam drive her to St. Bethany Convent. The first snag came when she tried to enter the convent and she was not allowed to pass through the gates because she was not a nun or a novice. The second snag came when she asked for her sister to come out and visit with her. She was told by the nun at the gate that if she wanted to visit with Sister Mary Joseph then she would have to make an appointment. Scarlett said, "Fine. I would like to make an appointment for tomorrow?"

"No, ma'am. It will have to be a month from now."

"A month from now!? No, I will see Careen today."

"No, ma'am. We have rules."

"It sounds to me like you are keeping Careen a prisoner. She is still just a novice. Until she takes her final vows, she should still be able to freely visit with her family. I want to see her now."

"Ma'am, today is not a good day to visit with Sister Mary Joseph. She has to do her chores and then her penance."

"Penance. What could Careen have done to require penance? Careen is the best-behaved person I know."

"She has to suffer with Christ."

Those words made Scarlett's blood run cold. She said, "You bring my sister out here right now. She isn't going to suffer with Christ except in an ethereal way."

"No, ma'am she has joined the convent, and she will obey the convent rules."

The thoughts flashing through Scarlett's head were going from bad to worse. When a picture of her sister lying in a heap with her back ripped open by a whip passed through her mind, Scarlett said, "I will be back with my husband. My husband is an extremely important person, and he knows lots of important people. My sister better be standing by the gate and be in one piece when I get back or there will be hell to pay."