Chapter IV
In after years when she thought of those last days of April 1861, Scarlett could never quite remember details...
... If pressed, Rhett would later admit that he remembered every detail of every one of the days leading up to their marriage. He would forever remember his first entrance to Tara, when he had arrived as mistrusted stranger and left as cherished son-in-law to be.
He had sat in the driveway to Tara, just out of sight of the great house, desperately trying to talk himself out of what he was about to do. He had decided many years ago that he was not a marrying man, that he should never marry, never shackle himself to any one woman, for he had never seen the need. Women came to him easy enough, whether through desire or pecuniary reward and he could hardly imagine spending the rest of his life in only one bed.
If he could achieve it with any woman though, it would be with Scarlett O'Hara. He'd never met a woman so fiercely passionate, so completely irreverent, so utterly like him. And her response to his kisses... Rhett groaned and shifted uncomfortably from his place atop his frisky, black stallion. Her response to her kisses left him with no doubt that he would be very comfortable remaining in her bed for the remainder of his days.
She was beautiful, utterly beguiling and the most enchanting bit, to Rhett at least, was that she knew it. She had none of the innocence that he had long since come to expect of Southern belles and he had meant it when he had said she was not a lady. Her true nature was hidden behind a carefully placed mask of ladylike deportment and he couldn't wait to strip her bare of it, and unveil the bold woman who was awaiting him underneath.
He hadn't intended to propose, not truly. He'd hardly had time to decide his attentions since that faithful meeting in the Library. But she had been so distraught, so utterly mortified, that he had been afraid that she might just accept poor Charlie Hamilton out of spite, and so she had forced his hand.
The business with Ashley Wilkes was somewhat disturbing, but didn't bother him overly so. For he did not believe that Scarlett loved him, not truly, and, if her response to him in the window seat at Twelve Oaks proved anything to him, it was that he would have no trouble turning her head in the direction of her husband, particularly once they were let alone.
Marriage to Scarlett O'Hara truly was a promising prospect.
Smirking at the thought, Rhett nudged his mount forward, brining into full view the great house, Tara.
Dismounting and throwing his reigns to a waiting stable lad, Rhett strode to the front door of the great house and awaited admittance. To his surprise, Ellen O'Hara, who he had only briefly been introduced to the day before, awaited his entrance.
"Hello, Mr. Butler, welcome to Tara," she intoned softly.
"Thank you Mrs. O'Hara," Rhett bowed smartly, and resisted the urge to shift uncomfortably. Mrs. O'Hara reminded him of his own mother, despite the fact that he imagined himself to be of an age with her. There was no doubt in his mind that Ellen O'Hara was a very great lady indeed and he wondered wryly how she could have borne a daughter such as Scarlett.
"Mr. O'Hara is upstairs in his study, please come this way," she indicated gently, her tone leaving no clue as to her true thoughts about his presence there that day. Surely Mr. O'Hara had informed his wife of the nature of their guests visit. It was years of practice and generations of good breeding the kept her from displaying her true thoughts to him.
"Your mother is well, I hope?" She enquired, bringing Rhett up short. Surely she knew his reputation and could guess that he had not seen his mother for nigh on two years now.
"I believe so, yes," Rhett replied courteously. "Are you acquainted with my mother Mrs. O'Hara."
"I am, Mr. Butler. My sisters Eulalie and Pauline are rather close with her, as I'm sure you know and I have been introduced to her on my occasional visits to Charleston."
"Forgive me, I had not realized the connection," Rhett was left wondering how such a placid woman could be related to those two pea-hens Eulalie and Pauline.
"Please do remember me in your next letter to your mother Mr. Butler," Ellen requested. "Mr. O'Hara will see you now."
Gerald O'Hara's study was not what Rhett would have expected. In his experience, most good County landowners studies were used strictly for escaping the ladies of the house to engage in the more masculine of indoor pursuits; usually smoking cheroots and drinking. Gerald O'Hara himself, on the other hand, was exactly what Rhett had come to expect after their first encounter yesterday. He was every inch the Southern gentleman, but as baldy and brassy as his Irish accent promised him to be.
Once Gerald had poured good quality whisky and offered cheroots and they were seated beside an empty fireplace, the interrogation begun.
"So you're thinkin' of marrying my Katie Scarlett are you Mister Butler?" Gerald asked.
"I am, sir," Rhett responded, smiling to himself at the knowledge of his intendeds previously unknown first name. It suited her, he mused, her Irish ancestors crowding behind her, jockeying for her, despite what Rhett was sure had been her mother and her Mammy's best efforts to stamp them out.
"And what makes you think you deserve her?"
"Why, nothing at all Mr. O'Hara. However, Miss O'Hara has accepted me, and I would hope you would honour her word."
"Hmph!" Gerald grumbled. "Girl don't know what's good for her any more than a sheep would."
"It is my belief Mr. O'Hara, that Scarlett and I are very alike in many ways. And I agree with you, Scarlett is not the best judge of what's good for her. But I could be, I intend to be."
"You do, do you?" Gerald harrumphed again. "And how do you intend to support my girl Mr. Butler? I've been askin' round you know, I know you ain't got no claim to your fathers property, and no honourable profession to speak of."
"I have investments in many ventures, Mr. O'Hara, Scarlett will be very well provided for as my wife. I am happy to lay these papers before you at your leisure. Also, sir," Rhett paused here, clearing his throat, for he knew what he was about to say would be unpopular. "I believe it would be wise for you to consider the upcoming war. It is my intention to take Scarlett to Paris for a wedding trip, where we may remain, at her leisure, for the foreseeable future. With the fighting coming..."
"Our Southern boys will have them Yankees licked within a week!" Gerald cried. "There ain't no need to leave the country over it!"
"Here, sir, I must respectfully disagree," Rhett said courteously. "The facts remain. Paris is our intended destination and, should the war... ah... stretch beyond your expectations, your eldest daughter shall be safely and comfortably ensconced away from Southern shores. Yourself, your wife and your other daughters would, of course, be welcome to join us at any time."
"You speak mighty prettily for a man who made his own fortune," Gerald sighed. "Very well, take her! My favorite Puss! You leave me quite bereft Butler!"
"I am indeed, in your debt sir," Rhett tossed back the last of his whisky, stubbed out his cheroot and stood. "With your permission sir, I should like to see Scarlett now."
"Go on with you!" Gerald cried, waving a lazy hand, shaking his head at the violence of young lovers. "She'll be on the back porch, you mark my word!"
There, Rhett found her. Sitting on her own, pretty as a picture in a sky blue morning gown, the largest and most extravagant of bonnets perched jauntily on her head.
"Well, my dear," he said as he approached. "You are officially engaged. What say you to that?"
Indeed, Scarlett said nothing to that, for her lips were too agreeably occupied.
"Mr. Butler, I insist you stop! Why, someone might see us!" She cried, breaking free of his arms and looking around furtively.
"My dear, don't you know? Now that we are affianced, we may do whatever we please," his eyes darkening he pulled her back towards his body. "Well, almost whatever we please."
"Mr. Butler!" She exclaimed and he chuckled at her blush.
"Do call me Rhett again, dear one," he advised, pinching her cheek fondly. "Mr. Butler is so very formal it always makes me look round for my father."
"My mother has never once in her life called my father 'Gerald,'" Scarlett insisted primly.
"Well I'd wager she has," Rhett grinned roguishly. "Most likely in the privacy of their chambers."
"Mr. Butler!" Scarlett exclaimed, her blush deepening.
"Do drop the coquette act Scarlett, there's a good girl. You've snagged me now, I've no need for your airs."
"Yesterday you told me you'd make love to me forever and flirt with me in our dotage," Scarlett pouted prettily.
"And so I shall, my dear, but truly, don't ever again all me Mr. Butler," Rhett absentmindedly wound his finger around a lock that had escaped her bonnet.
"Oh very well, Rhett," her tongue caressed the word, turning it into an endearment that sent his heart racing like a green schoolboy's. "Tell me, when shall we marry?"
"As soon as possible I think," Rhett replied to her surprise. "I've need to travel to Atlanta to settle some business, but immediately upon my return I should think. You needn't worry about a trousseau, aside from what you already have of course, for we'll see to it all on our wedding trip. I'd like to leave immediately after the wedding."
"Oh, Rhett, where shall we go?" Scarlett asked eagerly.
"I promised you Paris yesterday my dear, and to Paris we shall go... unless, you'd rather go to England or Scotland?"
"Oh, no! Let's go to Paris! Rhett you are wonderful!" She exclaimed, bestowing on him her most brilliant smile. "Let's get married as soon as we may, I cannot wait any longer than need be to make it to Paris!"
Accordingly, a month passed and then they were married. A day after Ashley Wilkes wed Melanie Hamilton and a full week after Charles Hamilton married Honey Wilkes. Both newly wed couples postponed their wedding trips in order to attend the wedding of Katie Scarlett O'Hara to Rhett Butler from Charleston. Following that, Ashley and Charles were to travel together to join the Troop when it was called into service, for both new brides had begged their grooms to join together, so that they might look after one another in Virginia. Wade Hampton's regiment was forgotten in favour of his bride's happiness and Charlie considered himself one of the luckiest men on the planet as he stood with his new wife on his arm.
Clad in Ellen's wedding gown and veil, Scarlett descended the grand staircase of Tara on her father's arm, barely seeing the house full of guests, the hundreds of burning candles and the garlands and garlands of flowers. Her mother prayed, her father boomed and Rhett smiled, not his usual, sardonic smile, but a softer one, gentler, that made his already handsome face all the more appealing. It was with very real pleasure that Scarlett declared 'I do.'
The newly weds left Tara shortly after the conclusion of the ceremony, for Rhett had declared that 'there was no way in Hell' he'd be spending his first night as a married man under the roof of his new father-in-law. To Atlanta they were to go then, and from Atlanta, Charleston, then Paris awaited.
End Part I