Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.
Chapter Four
While on the train to New York on the second of March, Rhett reflected on his time in Charleston. He had some fun going to the opera and the museums. He had hired a woman to attend these events with him. He had bought her some proper, stylish clothing and had let her wear some jewelry he had purchased for the event. He had not let her keep the jewelry. It had just been a prop to make the woman look proper. He had not allowed her to speak to another person, not even him while they were in public. Her speech would have given away that she was not anything close to a lady. She was just a whore Rhett had hired for the night. She was just a visible example of how he was over Scarlett. He knew Scarlett's aunts would write and tell her of all of his activities.
The young lady had been bored on these outings, but it had been easy money, so she played the part Mr. Butler wanted her to play.
Rhett had spent a lot of time sailing his rented sailboat in the harbor while he was in Charleston. He had missed living by the water. In a petty way, Rhett had thought, 'Scarlett never appreciated everything I did for her.' It was true that Scarlett had never appreciated a lot of the subtle things Rhett had done for her. She had never even noticed. The sad thing was Scarlett had been so selfish at the time that if someone had pointed out these kind things Rhett had done for her, she would not have truly appreciated his efforts. She would have taken his efforts as her due.
Most of Rhett's time in Charleston had been painful to him. He was snubbed everywhere he went. He would remember the places he had taken Bonnie while they had visited that April before they had gone to New Orleans. It hurt to remember Bonnie but it also hurt to remember how much his daughter had wanted to return to her mother, her siblings, and her mammy and he had denied her that desire. How much he had wanted to return to his wife but instead he had hurt her that much more instead.
After Rhett got to New York he had immediately boarded a ship heading to London. London made him think of Scarlett. It was another time he had run away from her. He hadn't had to go to London, but he had needed to put some distance between him and her before he told her how much he loved her.
Scarlett's birthday was in March. The seventeenth to be exact. After his arrival in London, he had telegraphed his attorney on the eighteenth telling Mr. Powe what to offer Scarlett and what to tell her. Rhett had offered her a half a million dollars plus everything else he had been offering her. He had not been worried about her accepting his offer. If she accepted his offer, it would ruin the last of her reputation. Her reputation - that had always been so important to her except when it was an inconvenience. Rhett had instructed his attorney to tell her that one way or another he was going to obtain a divorce. He just wanted his freedom back. He had Mr. Powe tell her that their bargain had been a really bad bargain for him. And now he just wanted to wash his hands of the entire arrangement. He had his attorney tell her that he didn't care how much it cost him he just wanted to be rid of her which in truth was the last thing he wanted.
Once Rhett got to London, he had gone to Paris, then on to Milan, then to Florence, then to Rome. Occasionally he would meet people he had once known but they were the same as him. Just old men who nobody cared about.
Three months after Rhett had set sail for London while in Berlin, he decided to contact Mr. Powe again. He would offer Scarlett a million dollars to tempt her morality. Mr. Powe had telegraphed back that there was no need to offer Mrs. Butler more money. She had accepted his last offer. The papers had been filed at the courthouse and now it was just a matter of time before he was legally divorced. Rhett in a desperate move telegraphed back: Can the divorce be halted STOP
Mr. Powe telegraphed back: No. STOP Do not worry. STOP There is nothing Mrs. Butler can do now to stop the divorce. STOP Once she signed the papers it was practically a done deal. STOP The only thing that would stop it was if I had made a mistake in the paperwork. STOP You will be happy to know I do not make mistakes. STOP You need to get your investments straightened up so you can write Mrs. Butler the settlement check of a half a million dollars. STOP
Rhett was filled with despair. He had once again made a disastrous mistake. He had once again not correctly judged what Scarlett would do. Maybe he didn't know her as well as he thought he knew her. He briefly wondered how many times his suppositions in regard to Scarlett had been wrong. He had thought she would never grant him a divorce. He knew why she had given him a divorce it was so she could marry Mr. Wilkes. Rhett paused in his thinking and realized that Mr. Wilkes would never marry a divorced woman. It just wasn't the honorable thing to do. Why had she granted him the divorce then. He spent the rest of the night thinking about it while drinking. He had finally passed out. In his drunkenness a thought passed through Rhett's head. The thought was, 'Maybe she agreed to the divorce just to be rid of me. The worst thing that had ever happened to her.' Because he was drunk the thought did not stay in his brain and was quickly forgotten.
The next morning Rhett was no wiser as to why Scarlett had agreed to the divorce, but he suddenly felt like a ship that had lost its anchor. He had thought Scarlett would always be waiting for him to return. He had always thought she would never allow him to divorce her. He had been wrong. He guessed her greediness had proved stronger than her need to be proper.
Rhett was tired of traveling. He was not a young man anymore. Rhett was checking out of the hotel in Berlin. As he was writing the check, he had asked the desk clerk, "What is today's date?"
"June twenty-first."
Rhett's hand stopped before signing the check. Yesterday had been the one-year anniversary of Bonnie's death and he hadn't even known it. He told the desk clerk, "I have decided to stay one more night."
"Very good, Mr. Butler."
With that Rhett had walked across the lobby to the restaurant and bought a bottle of whiskey. He returned to his room. He was filled with shame. Shame that he had not even known it was the anniversary of his baby's death. Guilt that he had let her make that jump. Regret that he had ever offered Scarlett a divorce in the first place. As he drank, more and more despair filled him as he remembered all the mistakes of his life.
The next day a sober, Rhett checked out of the hotel. He returned to New York. He had chosen New York to settle down in. There was the opera, acclaimed performers like Jenny Lind, museums, the harbor, and numerous other activities in the city.
In addition to all that, in New York he was not the infamous Rhett Butler. In truth except for his business contacts nobody knew him. He was famous for his wealth in the business world but outside it he was unknown.
Rhett visited the menagerie at Central Park quite often. The first time he had visited he had thought how much Bonnie would have enjoyed visiting the zoo. Every time he visited the menagerie, he thought of his daughter but for once thinking of his daughter didn't bring him pain. It made him remember her wonderful spirit. The spirit that she had inherited from her amazing mother. Unfortunately, visiting the menagerie also made him think of Wade and Ella and that did bring him pain. They would have enjoyed seeing the wild animals also. With a smile he thought, 'Ella would have been frightened but she would have stuck it out.' He realized just then how brave his stepchildren had been. They had taken the blows of life and had rolled with them.
Wade and Ella, the children Rhett had once loved. He guessed he still did but he had treated them almost as badly as he had treated their mother. He would remember how shy and timid both of them had been. He would sadly remember how he had abandoned them to their uncaring mother. They didn't even have Mammy or Miss Melly anymore.
Thinking of Miss Melly filled Rhett with shame. He hadn't even stayed to attend her funeral. A woman who had always treated him as a gentleman not the horse's behind he actually was. When he once again had walked out on Scarlett when she had needed him the most. When he had finally gotten what he had desperately wanted for over twelve years then walked away from it.
Rhett continued to visit the menagerie. He never brought anyone with him. The other person would have just intruded on his memories.
In New York, Rhett had spent time with amusing companions but that was all they were amusing companions. He had met lots of socially acceptable widows who would be happy to show him an enjoyable time in exchange for him taking them out to supper. He took them out to supper, but he did not partake of their favors. He told himself it was all too sordid which always made him laugh at his attitude towards free sex. After a few more years he had just hired a companion sort of. A woman who lived with him and pretended to be Scarlett. It was easier. Cleaner. Everyone knew their role.
Rhett had spent time with businessmen and their wives. It spoke to how important Rhett was financially that these men never objected when he brought his mistress to these events. Of course, everyone pretended that the woman with Rhett was a proper woman who he was going to take home at the end of the night. A woman he was going to kiss chastely at her door and then go on his way. That was partly true. He would not leave her at her door, but he would kiss her chastely before they went to sleep in the same bed.
In the wives' defense Rhett's mistress had been dressed and behaved as properly as the wives had. He had made sure she had behaved just as properly as Scarlett would have. She had to behave like Scarlett to complete the fantasy.
Rhett smiled to himself. To the outside world he was a successful entrepreneur who was living a fabulous life. He had a beautiful large home, a beautiful woman as his mistress, he was seen at all the most exclusive social events, he was friends with the most important people in New York, and he was always traveling somewhere. The truth was the complete opposite except for the successful entrepreneur part. He did have a lot of money. For all the good it did him.
Rhett looked across the room at the woman that shared his life. No, that wasn't right. The woman that coexisted with him. He had never shared his life with anyone. He had kept a wall up even between him and Scarlett. Especially Scarlett. He had never allowed them to ever really be husband and wife. They had always just been two people who lived in the same house. He had never told her of his love or showed her his love because he was afraid, she was going to use it against him like a whip. What a bunch of crock that was? The truth was he had been a coward. He had told himself that he didn't tell her because he didn't want to appear weak and vulnerable in front of her. If she had tried to use his love against him, he could have just walked out the door with his baby.
Rhett looked again at the woman and thought what was her name? Emma, Emily, Emmy? Who cared? She was just a Scarlett substitute. Someone who he could pretend was Scarlett. He never called her by her name. He called her Scarlett or my pet or occasionally my dear. In fact, when he introduced her to people, he introduced her as Scarlett O'Hara. He could pretend she was Scarlett. Yet, he knew there was only one Scarlett and he had let her go. Let her go when she had finally wanted him. When she had finally loved him.
