Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

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

Chapter Seven

Later that day Scarlett asked the front desk clerk, Travis Kelce, where she could get some dinner. He offered to walk with her to the deli down the street on Box St. She accepted his offer. She got a roast beef sandwich on wheat bread. When Travis offered to pay for her sandwich, she knew Rhett would never allow that. Therefore, she insisted on paying for her own meal. After they got back to the hotel, Scarlett thanked Travis and hurried up to her room.

As soon as Rhett got home that afternoon, Scarlett said, "I know this probably wasn't right, but I was afraid to leave the hotel by myself therefore, when Mr. Kelce offered to escort me to a delicatessen, I allowed him to." She saw the storm clouds appear on Rhett's face and added, "I won't do it again, it was just that I was scared. I have never been in a city this big before."

"You are damn right that you will never do that again!"

"Yes, Rhett."

"You will never be alone with another man again!"

"Yes, Rhett."

"You are a married woman now and you must think of not only your reputation, but mine also!"

"I didn't do anything wrong! I was never alone with the man! There were always other people around! I was thinking of my reputation!"

"Nonetheless, you are going to have to learn to control your impulsive nature."

"Impulsive nature?! What do you mean by that?"

"That you have a tendency to act without thinking."

"I do not!"

"We wouldn't be married if you had thought about the consequences of going on a buggy ride with me alone."

Scarlett stared at Rhett dumbfounded. She screamed at him, "How dare you blame me for the entire episode? You are the one that talked me into it. You are also the one that drove right into that hole thus busting the wheel.

Rhett took a deep breath. He knew he had overreacted to hearing that Scarlett had allowed herself to be alone with another man. She was right. She was safer with a male escort than wandering the streets alone. He would not want her to get lost or be taken advantage of by a crook. He forced himself to smile his most charming smile and said, "Yes, I did and I'm glad I did. So far, you have been a wonderful wife. Now, do you think you can get to the deli by yourself tomorrow or would you like me to come back to the hotel for dinner tomorrow?"

Scarlett was still angry that Rhett had dared to blame her for their circumstances, but he had accepted his fair share of the blame, so she was going to move on. She said, "I can find my way back to the deli by myself, but I would rather you come back to the hotel and have dinner with me."

"I will try. If I am not back by noon, you go on and go to the deli."

"Alright."

By the time Rhett and Scarlett retired, neither party was angry anymore although the words that had been said had not been forgotten. Rhett had just held her while they tried to go to sleep. This surprised her. It was the first time they had not had relations since their marriage except the time on the train and when she was having her monthly, of course. She wondered what his penis felt like when it wasn't hard. She slid her hand down his body only to discover his penis was very much erect. She caressed him. She whispered, "Don't you know that you are supposed to kiss and make up after a fight."

Rhett said, "That is a very good idea. He rolled over and kissed her. Soon the couple wase having a very exciting time.

Rhett had bought Scarlett chocolates the day after their fight, and she decided that was his way of saying he was sorry. She would take it. She knew she was not going to get the actual words.

Rhett had managed to return to the hotel the next three days in time to take Scarlett to dinner. The big smile she gave him each time made all his effort worthwhile. He had to remember she was not a sophisticated woman, but a young, naïve, innocent girl.

Rhett and Scarlett had attended some plays while in New York City. One of the plays was Romeo and Juliet. She had smiled when she heard the line Rhett had stolen to impress her. He had been right. She had been impressed. She had remembered it because of 'parting is such sweet sorrow' part.

Scarlett was pleased she had heeded Rhett's advice and had brought a couple of shawls. It did get cool in the evening.

Rhett had not only taken Scarlett to a French restaurant, but an Italian, Spanish, German, and even a Greek restaurant. She liked the French food and the Italian food. She was neutral on the Spanish and the Greek food, but she had not like the German food.

Soon it was time to return to Charleston. Rhett took Scarlett to the bookstore and bought her two books. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe. He hoped she enjoyed them.

Careen O'Hara had finally moved her clothes into Scarlett's old bedroom which was now her bedroom. She liked Suellen well enough, but as far back as Careen could remember Suellen was extremely jealous of their older sister. She was always talking badly about their older sister. Careen could not understand it, for Scarlett had always been kind to both of them.

Since the family had gotten back from Charleston Suellen was constantly talking and laughing about Scarlett having to get married. It had been a bit much for Careen to handle.

Careen remembered how last Christmas Scarlett had gotten a rabbit fur muff and Suellen had been mad for the next week that she hadn't gotten one too.

Finally, Ellen had sat Suellen down and said, "Scarlett's gifts are appropriate for her age. Remember she is five years older than you. It would be silly for Pa and me to give you such an expensive gift when you have no place to wear it to. When you are fifteen, almost sixteen, you will get expensive gifts also. Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am."

When Ellen got to the door she added, "As long as you have proven you can take care of your possessions."

Two days later, Scarlett's new rabbit fur muff was found in the barn covered in horse manure. It was ruined. She had stared hateful looks at Suellen over the supper table, but Suellen ignored them.

Later Ellen visited Suellen and said, "That was a very despicable thing you did to Scarlett. She loved that muff."

"It isn't my fault she can't take care of her belongings."

"Yes, it is. Because of your spiteful actions Scarlett lost one of her Christmas gifts. Pa and I will, of course, buy her another one, but when it comes time for you to get an expensive muff, you will not get it. Neither Pa nor I will forget this incident."

Despite the fact that everyone knew what Suellen had done, she continued to proclaim her innocence until Gerald had told her to never say another word about the damn muff.

When the train heading to Charleston made its first water stop, Rhett got off the train to get them some food. He also bought Scarlett, one of those horrid dime novels. It was called The Liberty Boys Running the Blockade by Harry Moore. As he knew she would she loved the book. She loved it because it was exciting, and she didn't have to remember anything. It was definitely not great literature. Nonetheless, it had made her happy.

Rhett figured Scarlett reading anything was a plus. If he was going to take her with him when he traveled, she was going to have to find ways to entertain herself.

Rhett said, "Scarlett, what did you do with your time while on your plantation?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know you didn't have to do many chores because you had slaves for that. So, what did you do with your time?"

"I had a lot of callers. I was the belle of five counties."

"Impressive. What did you do when you didn't have callers? I know you didn't spend time with your sisters because they are so much younger than you."

"I did embroidery. I helped my mother with mending the clothes. I made clothes for the people on the grounds. I took walks. My mother taught me how to do the books for the plantation. My mother was also teaching me how to nurse sick people."

"Very well. I still want you to try to finish the other two books."

"I will. I like them both. They are just hard for me to read especially the poetry."

"Very good."

As Scarlett was lying on top of Rhett that night in their sleeper, she said in a whisper, "Do you have any control over that thing?"

"Not a bit, especially with you lying on top of me."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not. It will go away after I go to sleep."

"It didn't last time."

"Yes, it did. It just came back in the morning."

"Oh."

"Now let's stop talking so I can try to think of something else."

Rhett thought about their time in New York. Mr. Vanderbilt let Rhett invest two hundred dollars in his railroad lines. The older man had said, "Things are really going to change in the next several years in the railroad industry. You are getting in on the ground floor."

"Thank you for letting me in."

Rhett pondered if the nation went to war would there be some way, he could profit from it. He spent some time thinking about that until he fell asleep.

When Rhett and Scarlett got back from New York there were two large crates in their room. Scarlett looked at the return address and said, "They are from my mother."

"I will get Benson to open them up for you tomorrow."

"Thank you, Rhett."

The next day Scarlett was going through the crates. Rhett came to their room and said, "I'm going to check on the bank and the shipping line. I'm going to tell Rudy about the new customers we have."

"And get your money."

Rhett smiled and said, "And get my money."

After Rhett checked on his businesses, he visited his friend Hugh. Hugh's father was training him to be a lawyer. Hugh's father had a nice law practice that Hugh would inherit someday. Rhett dropped by the law office and luckily Hugh wasn't busy. Rhett sat down in his friend's office after shutting the door. Hugh said, "Did you just get back from New York?"

"Yesterday. How can I prevent Scarlett from getting with child?"

"A condom."

"No, thank you."

"The pull-out method."

"No, thank you."

"I'm not real sure about the other two. One the woman douches herself with vinegar and hot water afterwards."

"How quickly afterwards?"

"Pretty quickly I think."

"And the other one?"

"Something with iron sulfate on a piece of cloth."

"Can you find out more about that one?"

"Yes, I will ask Jennie tonight."

"Is that your current favorite whore?"

"Yes. I will drop by your townhouse tomorrow."

"No, send me a note. I don't want my parents hearing about this. You know it isn't proper to not want children."

"Doesn't Scarlett want them?"

"No, she doesn't. We will have children just not this soon. She is too young. I think she is only sixteen. I also want to amass more wealth before we move into our own home. As long as I live at home Father pays for everything.

Hugh laughed and said, "You always do figure all the angles."

The men shook hands and Rhett left the law office.

When Rhett got back to the townhouse, there were dresses all over his room. He saw a couple of them were far too young for his wife. He said, "Get rid of this, this, this, and this. They are far too young for you."

"I will get rid of the other three, but I am keeping the green dress. It looks totally different on than on the bed."

"Let me see."

"Unbutton my dress."

Rhett did. As Scarlett shimmied out of her dress and she was just in her corset and pantalets, he had carnal thoughts. He pushed them down. He wanted to see her in the dress. After she put it on and adjusted everything. He said, "You are right. It looks a lot better on. Now take it off."

"Rhett?"

"You know what I want."

"Yes, I do."

"You do too."

"I will never admit that."

Later in the throes of passion, Rhett made Scarlett admit she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

After supper, Rhett said, "I'm going to go play poker. You need to have our room cleaned up before I get back."

"Yes, Dear."

Scarlett packed most of the items back in the crates. Her mother had not packed any of the gifts her suitors had given her. She would ask her mother about them in her next letter. As she thought about her gifts, she realized that Ashley had never given her a gift. Not flowers or a box of chocolates. All he had done was read stupid poetry to her which had bored her to tears at the time.

Scarlett also knew as a lady she shouldn't enjoy relations as much as she did. She just felt herself to be blessed that she was able to enjoy relations as much as she did. She also knew she was a lucky woman that her husband cared about her pleasure.