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Chapter Seventeen

That night as Frank laid in his new bed, he wondered if Scarlett really was with child. She may have just told him that in order to avoid having relations with him. He would be happy to have a child, but he would not believe Scarlett until she started to show. He wouldn't be the least bit surprised if she lost the baby.

In the middle of April, Frank and Scarlett had attended a soiree at the Merriwethers. Everyone in proper society was there. In her last timeline, Scarlett had not tried to justify her actions to the matrons. She now knew that was a mistake. At the time, she had not wanted anyone to know how bad things were for the O'Haras. She had been too prideful. She had just wanted people to understand what she was doing was for the good of her family while not telling them anything. She was resentful when the matrons criticized her, therefore widening the gulf between them. Of course, the entire time Rhett was encouraging her to tell them all to go to hell instead of negotiating a peace between her and the matrons or at the very least a ceasefire. In Rhett's defense, he was telling her what she wanted to hear.

At the soiree, Mrs. Elsing had said, "Scarlett, is it true you are running a sawmill?"

"Not exactly, Mrs. Elsing. I own a sawmill but before you tell me how unladylike my actions are, give me a chance to explain. I agree completely that I am not behaving properly. The problem is I have no other choice. While Frank makes a fine living from the store which is enough to support everyone at Hamilton House, I have a lot more people depending on me than the residents of Hamilton House. My father has gone crazy, so he is no help. I have no brothers. My uncles live in Savannah, but they cannot help us. I have two aunts who live in Charleston and two sisters who live at Tara. Although Ashley is not a relative, he has agreed to stay at Tara to run the plantation. He is the only person I know who knows anything about actually running a plantation. Ashley is training a man who landed on our front doorstep. He was half dead, and we didn't expect him to survive. Nonetheless we offered him hospitality which is the Southern way. He did survive and to show his gratitude he has stayed at Tara to help make it successful. Mrs. Elsing, I honestly don't know what else to do. Once Tara is profitable again, I will sell the sawmill, of course."

"You poor dear. I can understand your distress. If it weren't for Tommy's income and the boarders, we would have been starving ourselves. If only Hugh could get a job."

"Have him go see Frank about a job. He could be a clerk in Frank's store."

"Thank you, Sweetie. That is so kind of you. Are you still keeping company with Captain Butler?"

Scarlett drew herself up haughtily and said, "Of course not, Mrs. Elsing. I am a married woman."

"Dear, I didn't mean like that. I meant someone saw him calling at Hamilton House."

Scarlett had softened her tone and looked embarrassed. She said, "As you know, Rhett and I were friends during the war. I didn't want to but when no one else would loan me the money to buy the sawmill, I asked Rhett for a loan. I swallowed my pride for the sake of my family."

"There, there, we are all just doing what we have to do to survive."

"Yes, we are. Don't forget to tell Hugh to go by the store to ask Frank for a job."

As Scarlett walked away, she thought, 'I will make sure Frank hires Hugh.'

Scarlett had also told PittyPat to tell everyone how bad off they were. PittyPat had been appalled that Scarlett wanted her to air their dirty laundry. Scarlett had smiled. She said, "Aunt PittyPat, I know what I am doing is improper, but I have to do it to support my extended family. I need everyone to know why I am behaving the way I am behaving."

Hesitantly PittyPat had said, "Alright, Dear."

PittyPat had not enthusiastically defended Scarlett's actions at first but when people talked badly about her niece-in-law she felt honor bound to defend her. The more PittyPat defended Scarlett the more defensive she got when anyone talked badly about Scarlett. PittyPat knew that Frank was supporting her. She also knew Scarlett was making him.

At the end of April in the middle of the night there was a knock on the door to Hamilton House. It was Tony Fontaine. Ashley had sent him to them to give him some help. They got the story out of Tony. One of his former slaves was behaving inappropriately with Sally and Tony had caught him. He had given the slave a beating but when the slave had said that Mr. Wilkerson had said it was alright for freedmen to be with white women, Tony had seen red. He had ridden into Jonesboro and shot Jonas Wilkerson while the man was in a bar. Tony had just ridden back to Mimosa. Ashley had ridden out to Mimosa and told Tony to get to Atlanta. The Yankees were coming to arrest him. That was how Tony had ended up on their doorstep. Scarlett had cursed Ashley again for sending Tony to them. Frank gave Tony twenty dollars. Frank said, "Ride the train as far as ten dollars will get you, then get off the train and start your new life."

The total time Tony was in the house was about fifteen minutes maximum. After Tony had left Scarlett turned on Frank and said, "Are you in the Klan?"

"No, no. Just helping Tony out. There is nothing more to it."

Scarlett knew it was a lie, but she didn't call Frank on it because at this point in her life she had no proof. She wasn't worried about Frank dying. She was worried about the Yankees taking all her stuff because her nincompoop of a husband was in the clan.

For the next two weeks, the Yankees were everywhere. They would randomly enter people's homes and search them. These drop-in visits always upset PittyPat. All the Yankees knew was that they found a horse at the train station. Nobody had come to claim the horse.

At the end of the two weeks the Yankees didn't know anything more than they had in the beginning. There was a rumor that the Fontaines received a postcard from Galveston with only their address on it. It didn't look like Tony's handwriting, so Alex concluded that Tony had gotten someone else to address the postcard.

Just when things were settling down in Atlanta in the middle of May, Scarlett got a letter from her Aunt Eulalie condemning everything Scarlett was doing in Atlanta. There at the end of the letter was the most hypocritical statement. – "Can you send us some money to live on?"

Scarlett's Charleston aunts would never understand why she had done what she had done. She had a great deal of resentment in her for her aunts. Ever since the war had been over in the first timeline, they had done nothing but criticize her then ask her for money. To Scarlett the worst insult was when they had received Rhett in their home just because he had Bonnie with him, then criticized her for not making time for her husband and child. Bitches.

Scarlett wrote to her Aunt Eulalie and told her that Scarlett didn't have any cash money to send her but if she and her sister wanted to move to Tara, the O'Haras would take them in.

Eulalie wrote back that she and her sister would accept her offer to move to Tara, but they didn't even have money for a train ticket.

Scarlett wrote and told them that she would buy their tickets. They just needed to tell her when they would like to travel. She would arrange for there to be tickets waiting for them at the station. No, they could not cash the tickets in. If they didn't use them the money would be returned to Scarlett.

June first, Scarlett was giving Rhett her loan payment of fifty dollars. She had managed to give him fifty dollars every month for the last four months. That was the same as in the first timeline. She mentioned that her aunts were moving to Tara in a few days. They had given their attorney, Will Truman, their power of attorney to clean up their estates. If there was anything left, he would mail it to the sisters at Tara.

With the mention of Scarlett's aunts, Rhett didn't know how to get money to his family. He decided to go to Charleston and try to make peace with his father before his father's death.

Rhett had managed to be allowed to stay in the parlor longer each month. He had done it at first by engaging Frank in a political discussion. Surprising to Rhett, Scarlett was very interested in these discussions. Interested enough to stay in the parlor. It pleased him that she seemed to value his statements more than Frank's statements.

Scarlett knew now that she couldn't hide her head in the sand like a dodo bird. She now knew that politics and what was happening in the North and Europe was of great importance to her. Probably even the Far East but she only had so much time for politics. She had weathered the panic of seventy-three by sheer luck and because she had never been one to have a lot of money tied up in stock. The fact that in the midst of the panic she had gotten a windfall certainly hadn't hurt but she would not be getting a windfall this time. Therefore, she had to listen closely.

Scarlett also knew that Rhett was a wise man as far as money was concerned. A fool as far as personal relations were concerned. Just tell the woman you love her.

As Scarlett stood up to leave the parlor so did Rhett. He said, "Will you walk me to the door, Scarlett?"

Scarlett looked at Frank and he nodded his head. She said, "Of course, although you should know your way out by now."

"I do but it is not proper for me to be wandering around your home unescorted."

Scarlett laughed. She said, "You still know what is and isn't proper. I guess we will never forget even if we choose not to behave properly."

Rhett smiled. He said, "True." He then did something he had never done in his first timeline. At least, not since he had been disowned. He told another person his plans. He said, "I am going to Charleston to try to make peace with my father before he dies."

Scarlett thought that was a very strange statement for Rhett to make. All of it. Him telling her that he was leaving town, him wanting to make peace with his father, and him speaking like he knew his father was going to die any day. Rhett hadn't even told her when he was leaving town when they were married.

Scarlett said, "Good luck."

"Thanks."

Rhett was then out the door.

When Rhett got to Charleston, he got a suite at the John Rutledge Home Inn. Tomorrow he would wait outside the townhouse and hope his family was in town and not at the plantation. If his mother came out first, he would talk to her, but it was his father he really wanted to talk to.

Rhett had a boxed dinner that the Inn had made for him. He couldn't take the chance of being gone from outside the townhouse and his father leaving without Rhett knowing it. He leaned against one of the other townhouses and shook his head. These homes used to be the finest in Charleston. For a moment, Rhett wondered how his father had lost all his money. Most planters' wealth was tied up in the number of slaves they own. A lot of the Butlers' wealth was tied up in slaves, but they had also had a lot of cash money thanks to his grandfather's thievery.

Rhett had often wondered how his father could have stood in judgement of his grandfather because of the way he acquired his money but still spend that money and lay claim to it. Just another hypocrite.