Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

This is the last chapter. It is also longer than my chapters usually are. There is the epilogue. I have written two other endings to this story. They are what if stories. What if Marvin had not offered Rhett a chance to win Scarlett's heart? And what if Marvin had sent Rhett and Scarlett back to the night Melanie died?

Chapter Seventy-Five

It was May of seventy-seven. The girls were old enough that Scarlett was ready to start running a charitable foundation. She and Rhett needed to find someone to interact with the former sex workers. That was too much to ask of any lady, even one who wasn't much of a lady like Scarlett.

Furthermore, Rhett wanted to do something nice for his last companion. She had taken care of him. She had pretended to be another woman for over five years. She had never complained about anything. If he had not returned in time, she would have had a good life with the money he had given her, but he had returned in time.

Scarlett knew the woman had helped Rhett in his darkest moments. She was almost a fictional character. A whore with a heart of gold.

Rhett and Scarlett were in New York. No matter what the woman said they would be returning to Boston the next morning. The girls got upset if both of them were gone for very long. Even Wade got upset although he tried so hard not to show it.

Charlotte started to get into the carriage, but stopped when she saw Scarlett. She said, "No thanks, Mister. I don't do that."

Rhett had smiled and said, "Neither would she. Get in and have a seat over there. Let me explain."

Once everyone was seated, Rhett said, "We want to start a philanthropic foundation to help women who are former sex trade workers obtain a better life.

When Scarlett saw Charlotte's confused expression, she said, "Charity group and whores."

Charlotte's face cleared and she said, "Really?! You are going to help me get out of the business?"

Rhett said, "Yes. And with your help we are going to help lots of over the hill workers."

"Why me?"

Rhett said, "I just know you are a good person."

"You don't know me at all."

Scarlett said, "Humor him. He thinks he can read minds."

Scarlett and Rhett laughed, and Charlotte laughed nervously. He said, "I know I can't read minds. Do you want to get out of the business? Do you want to help us out?"

Scarlett said, "Just so you know, we live in Boston so you will have to move there with us."

"What would I do?"

Rhett said, "Cull the wheat from the shaft."

Scarlett smiled at Charlotte's confused expression. She was sure that was what her face had looked like most of her time with Rhett in the first timeline.

Scarlett said, "We are going to teach you all how to read, write, and do your sums. We are going to teach you how to behave properly. We are going to help you find jobs and maybe even help you start businesses. All the women will be free to leave if they want to for whatever reason and whenever they want to leave. This life may not be for them, or they might want to get married. They may choose to go back to being sex trade workers. We need someone who can see through the former workers' lies. We need someone who can recognize who really wants this chance and who is just trying to take advantage of our kindness."

Rhett laughed. He said, "Not that we have very much kindness."

"A lot more than we once did."

"Which isn't saying much."

Rhett and Scarlett laughed.

Charlotte was thinking. She didn't know these people from Adam. Although they were both well-dressed and attractive, they didn't look very nice. There was a hardness about them. Yet, she thought she could trust them. If it turned out bad, she would just run away. But Boston? It didn't matter. The streets were the streets and she had lived on them before. She had no real ties to New York.

Besides, she knew the madame was about to let her go. She wasn't young enough anymore. She wondered if the man would want her to service him. If he did that would be all right. He was handsome and had a good body and at least it would just be one man.

As if reading her mind, Rhett said, "You don't have to be intimate with anyone you don't want to be intimate with. And I don't want to be intimate with anyone, but Scarlett."

"Who?"

Scarlett smiled and said, "How rude of us. We didn't introduce ourselves. I am Scarlett Butler and the man with the extensive vocabulary is my husband, Rhett." Scarlett smiled at her husband and said, "You don't have to laugh at his jokes. I am the only one who has to bear that cross."

Rhett just sat there smiling.

Charlotte said, "Yes. I will help you with your philath…. With your charity work.

Scarlett said, "What is your name?"

Rhett said, "Your real name."

Charlotte smiled at Rhett and said, "Charlotte Webb."

"Charlotte, your new life has begun. Do you need to get anything from this … this…"

"Establishment."

"Yes, my clothes."

Scarlett said, "Hurry and go get them."

Rhett said, "Don't tell anyone what you are doing. Just get your clothes and walk out the door. You don't owe the madame anything. Next month, when she let you go, she wouldn't do anything for you."

Charlotte stared at Rhett and finally said, "That is true."

As Charlotte was getting out of the carriage, she paused and said, "How will the girls be chosen?"

"That will be part of your responsibility. To choose the women who will get this chance. You will probably have to go into brothels and recruit them."

"I can do that. I'll be right back."

After Charlotte had left the carriage, Scarlett said, "She reminded you of me?!"

"Not the way you mean. The only qualifications she needed was green eyes and black hair. Did you know that only two percent of the world population has green eyes? Most of them are in Ireland….."

As Scarlett listened to Rhett drone on about such a trivial subject she thought, 'How can he be fascinated by the most boring subjects?' Rhett would never know that Scarlett wasn't listening to every word he was saying. She could nod and smile at the right times. She had been doing it since she was fourteen.

Charlotte had learned to read and write. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Butler had been the ones to teach her. The person teaching her had been a Black man. His name had been Elijah McCoy. The man had told Charlotte that he was an inventor, but he had not invented an item that was going to make him rich and famous, yet.

At first, Charlotte had been uncomfortable with receiving tutoring from a Black man. She had complained to Mrs. Butler. She had said, "It is beneath me to be taught to read by a…"

Mrs. Butler had cut her off by saying, "You do know that you were once a whore, don't you?"

Charlotte had blushed. She had muttered, "Yes ma'am."

The women had been in the parlor. Charlotte had started to stand up, when Mrs. Butler said, "It doesn't feel good to be judge by a label, does it?"

Charlotte had sat down in the chair. She blushed and said, "No ma'am."

"I know you are not going to believe me, but I have been unfairly judged by people. It was after the end of the war when everyone was starving. I was supporting everyone from Atlanta to Charleston by running a sawmill. The matrons were all talking about me. Not about what a wonderful thing I was doing by supporting all those people. No! They were saying that I was acting like a man by running that business." With a smile, Mrs. Butler had added, "Luckily Mr. Butler didn't think I was acting like a man."

The woman had then preened and Charlotte had smiled.

Mrs. Butler then said, "It is called the Golden Rule. Basically, it is 'Treat others how you would like them to treat you.' If you want all the history, you will have to ask Mr. Butler about it. I would advise you to use the WC before you do. The man can be exceedingly long winded."

Charlotte had smiled. She had already found that to be true. She stood up and said, "Thank you ma'am. You are right."

A month later, Charlotte was reading simple primers and writing simple sentences. She also had to admit to herself that Mr. McCoy was a great teacher.

Charlotte had been living in the servants' quarters, but her only job was to learn to read, write, and do her sums. No that wasn't right. She had learned from Mrs. Butler how to behave like a lady. Mrs. Butler had taken her to the dress shop and bought her clothing appropriate for a lady.

One day Charlotte had said, "Thank you, Mrs. Butler. You are really kind to help me change my life."

"Don't think anything of it. If I wasn't working with you, Rhett would be making me play with those prima donnas commonly referred to as my daughters."

Charlotte knew Mrs. Butlers words were not completely valid. Charlotte had seen her interacting with her daughters, and it was clear that she loved all of them very much. After one time when the girls had invaded their training session, Mrs. Butler had said, "There are a lot of orphans out there who would love someone to love them. You would be perfect because you would not expect them to be perfect."

Charlotte later would wonder why she had shared so much with the older woman, but she had said, "I got rid of an unwanted child. After that I never had any problem with getting with child again."

"Perfect. They want a mother. You want a child. Perfect."

The simplicity of the statement made Charlotte smile.

It had been six months since that night in the carriage and Mr. Butler had said, "I have to go to New York on business. Let's go get your first candidate."

"What?"

"I could tell that night you said yes that you had a friend at the brothel that you wanted to ask to come with us. Let's go get her. I have bought a house with four bedrooms. There will be two women in each room. So, that means you will be training seven women at one time to become part of proper life. That is a lot for one woman. Let's go get you an assistant."

"Just you and me?"

Mr. Butler laughed and laughed. He said, "Although I have never given Mrs. Butler any rationale to doubt my fidelity, she does not have any confidence in me. Therefore, the three of us will be going. I will tend to my business. You will recruit your friend and Scarlett will sit around doing nothing. Just as she does here in Boston."

Mrs. Butler walked into the room and said, "You want to try to do without me, Sweetheart?"

"No, I do not."

Mrs. Butler turned to Charlotte and said, "I don't trust him. Look at that face, would you trust him?" Just as both women turned to look at Mr. Butler, he had smiled his most charming smile. Mrs. Butler continued, "I thought not. Therefore, I will be going with you two. The children will stay here. We will only be gone one night at the most. The children don't do well if we are both gone for more than a night. I don't do well if he travels without me, therefore he doesn't travel very often.

"When are we leaving?"

"Day after tomorrow. It is an eight-hour trip therefore we will be leaving on the six AM train. Rhett will take you to pick up your friend."

"Very well, Ma'am."

Two nights later, Rhett and Charlotte were back at the brothel they had met at all those years ago. Once they were there, Rhett said, "Go on in. If you need me, come back, and get me."

"Yes, Mr. Butler."

Charlotte was going to give her friend a chance to get out of the life. She hoped Flo wanted to start a new life. Flo was the only woman Charlotte would say was her friend. All the girls were friendly, but only Flo had honestly been her friend. They had often talked about the life they wish they could have lived.

Charlotte walked into the brothel. She did receive some looks, but she ignored them. A woman customer was a rarity, but there were a few women who were honest about their wants and desires.

When Flo saw Charlotte, she smiled at her friend. Flo said, "Let me take care of my customer, then we can talk. You need to tell me where you have been."

"Wait. Before you go upstairs. Leave with me. You never have to get fucked by someone ever again."

"What are you talking about Char? If I leave with you the madame would be so mad."

"So what? You are free. I can show you a better life. A life where you can choose who you are intimate with. If you don't like it, you can return to this life."

"What would I have to do?"

"Learn how to read, write, and your sums. Get a regular job. Go home at night. Eat good food. Not worry about the next man giving you a disease."

"I don't know, Char."

"You could live with me. I need your help." Boldly Charlotte added, "We could be together."

"Together together?"

"We would have to be prudent."

"Yes, we would. What have I got to lose? The madame is going to fire me any day any way because I am getting too old.'

"You will never be too old to me."

"Let me get my clothes. Thank God I don't have to service this last man. He looked mean."

"He looked fat and ugly."

"I just know the madame gave him to me, because if I quit, it was not a big deal to her."

"We are just a piece of meat to her."

"Aged meat at that."

The women laughed.

With Flo's clothing in hand, the women got back in the cab. After they were seated, Rhett said, "Scarlett can never find out."

Charlotte said, "Find out what?"

"I am fairly world-weary and jaded, but luckily for you my best friend was naïve and innocent. He always saw the best in people. My wife thinks she is jaded and cynical, but she is not." With a smile Rhett said, "She has a child-like way of looking at the world."

Leerily Charlotte said, "Yes."

"I suspected when you wanted to come all the way back to New York to get one woman just because she was your friend. I don't care if you like each other in that way. Just don't ever let my wife or my daughters find out. If any of them do, you will be gone."

Charlotte gulped and said, "Yes, Mr. Butler."

"Now introduce me to your first candidate."

About halfway back to the hotel, Charlotte said, "What gave us away?"

"One your immediate denial that you wouldn't have sex with my wife. All whores do that. It is just part of the job. Of course, usually it is with another whore. And the way you look at each other. It is with love."

Flo and Charlotte said "Oh."

"It is not a problem just keep it under wraps."

"Yes, sir."

"It will be easier next week when you have your own house."

"Thank you, Mr. Butler."

"I have found that you can't tell the heart who to love. My life would be easier if I didn't love Scarlett, but I know I am the luckiest man in the world that she loves me back."

After everyone was settled in the hotel suite, Rhett got into the bed with Scarlett. She said, "Was I right?"

"Yes, my not very naïve wife. Charlotte and Flo love each other."

"Good. If they are happy, they will continue working for the charity."

Rhett smiled. There was his selfish Scarlett. He hoped the woman never changed.

"Maybe I can get some pointers from them on how to pleasure a woman."

Scarlett rolled over so she was facing Rhett and said in between kisses, "They could get some pointers from you. Just no demonstrations."

Rhett burst out laughing. Once he was sober, he started kissing his wife. Afterwards, Scarlett thought, 'Yes, they could learn a lot from my Rhett. Too bad they will never get the chance to learn.'

Rhett was thinking, 'I know her body better than I know my own. Of course, it has been so long since I have pleasured myself that I probably wouldn't do a very good job at it.'

As the day in April of eighty-two approached that Patrick was hit by lightning, Scarlett knew Patrick was not the one in danger, but Rhett. Patrick was struck by lightning right outside their home. He was not ten feet from their front door. Therefore, to avoid the danger, she made Rhett take her and the children to the shore for the entire week. When they got back, everyone was talking about the bolt of lightning the landed outside their brownstone.

It was April of eighty-three, Rhett and Scarlett had gone out to celebrate their anniversary. They had exchanged presents, eaten good food, drank champagne, danced until their feet were hurting, then went home and made love one more time. To both of them it was like the first time in this timeline. There were whispered words of love and of promise.

Rhett and Scarlett both knew they were on their own now, but they weren't worried. They had each other and that was all they needed.