Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

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

I changed the rating back to K+ because people couldn't find the story.

Chapter Ten

After a couple of hours on the train as the couple was eating the sandwiches the cook had fixed for them, Scarlett said, "Who is going to run your shipping line that you are buying from Mr. du Pont?"

"Mr. du Pont." At Scarlett's questioning expression, Rhett added, "We are only buying fifty-one percent of the shipping line. Mr. du Pont has fallen on some hard times. He just needed an infusion of cash. My business with Mr. du Pont will take two days at most. We will spend the other seven days playing."

"Do you have the money?"

"Yes, I do. I am starting to get dividend checks from Mr. Vanderbilt."

"Wonderful."

Rhett had been right. His business with Mr. du Pont had only taken a couple of days to conclude. Mr. du Pont invited them to a ball, but it was not a costume ball. All one had to wear was a mask. There was going to be dancing, so Rhett and Scarlett were going. They drove around the city in an open carriage. Rhett showed her the Mississippi River. She said, "I never knew it was so large."

The couple stopped at Jackson Square. Rhett said, "President Jackson was born in South Carolina. He had a great hatred for the British. He believed they were directly responsible for the death of his mother and sisters. He moved to Nashville where he met the great love of his life. Rachel Robards. She left her husband and moved to Nashville. She thought she was divorced therefore when Mr. Jackson asked her to marry him, she accepted."

"She wasn't divorced."

"No, she and Mr. Jackson were openly living together. She finally obtained a divorce, and they legally married in 1794. All through Mr. Jackson's political career there was a lot of mud thrown at Mrs. Jackson. During his campaign for president, it was vicious. She was not a healthy woman at the time and all the mudslinging took its toll on her. She died three months before he became president. He blamed his political opponents for her death."

"How sad."

"Yes, it is."

As Scarlett and Rhett walked away from Jackson Square, they saw a street vendor selling some kind of pastry. She said, "That looks good."

"Let me buy us each one."

Rhett said to the vendor, "We will each have one."

"I will fry it up right now. It will just take a minute."

"What are they called?"

"Beignets."

The vendor had been correct. In no time at all he was offering both Scarlett and Rhett a fried piece of pastry with powdered sugar on top of it. After Rhett and Scarlett had let the pastry cool, they took a bite.

Scarlett said, "That is delicious."

The vendor said, "Would you like another one?"

"Yes."

Rhett said, "Not for me."

Scarlett ate her beignets. She enjoyed every bite. As Rhett and she walked away from the vendor, she said, "Tell me what you know about New Orleans."

"Not much. Everything I know I learned from our guidebook. You have read the guidebook also, so you know as much as I do. We can ask Mr. du Pont about it when we have supper with him on Thursday."

"We probably will not get a chance to speak to him privately. It will be him and fifty of his closest friends."

Rhett laughed and said, "Probably."

"I have been reading the Times Picayune every morning after you are finished reading it as you know. Rhett, it is like New Orleans is another planet also."

"Yes, it is."

For the next few days, Rhett and Scarlett visited the landmarks listed in their guidebook. They ate at the restaurants recommended by the guidebook and were not disappointed. They used the map in the guidebook to get around the city. They used the guidebook to be able to attend all the Mardi Gras festivities. Rhett quipped, "Buying that guidebook was money well spent."

"Yours or your father's?"

"Mine actually."

On Thursday Rhett suggested they rest that day because they knew they were going to be out late. Scarlett agreed. He went and got them breakfast which they ate in bed. He made love to her one more time. While she was styling her hair, she turned and looked at him. She said, "Why bother. You are going to take all these pins out this afternoon." He gave her a cocky smile. She said, "Come over here and braid my hair in one long plait in the back."

"Gladly."

As Rhett stood there braiding his wife's hair, he knew he loved her. He knew he had loved her from the moment he saw her. He knew that was why he had married her. He knew that was why relations with her were still so exciting. He knew that was why he wanted to take her everywhere with him. He knew that was why after six months of marriage he still couldn't get enough of her.

Suddenly, Rhett heard her calling him. He said, "What, Sweetheart?"

"My braid is finished. Hand it to me."

"Of course."

Rhett watched while Scarlett wrapped a rubber band around the tail and then a ribbon. She smiled at him through the mirror. She said, "You are so knowledgeable. I never even knew there was such a thing as a rubber band."

"I read about them in one of my periodicals."

Scarlett turned to face him and said, "Tell me more."

Rhett was grateful for the distraction. He had been about to blurt out that he loved her. That would never do. Scarlett was a woman who would take every advantage she could. Just like with rewarding him by sucking on his cock. He knew what she was doing, but nonetheless it still worked. He still did things to make her happy so she would do it again. That and because he just wanted to make her happy, but the reward made him more eagerly do them. He would ponder what he thought she felt for him later.

Rhett said, "Rubber bands were invented by a man named Perry."

"First or last name."

"Last name. I think his first name was Stephen. He invented them to hold papers together. People, of course, immediately saw other uses for them. When I saw you struggling to hold your hair together and tie a ribbon around it. It just snapped. She could use a rubber band for that."

"Then you went out and bought me some."

"With my father's money."

Rhett laughed and Scarlett giggled.

The couple walked to a restaurant they had tried before and had dinner. It was as good as before. After dinner they walked around some more and finally returned to their hotel room. They made love then laid in the bed the rest of the day. Around four Rhett said, "Let's go get some food."

"We are going to a supper party tonight."

"A supper party where the food won't be served until eight if we are lucky. More likely nine or ten. Come on."

"You make very good sense, Mr. Butler."

"Thank you, Mrs. Butler."

Scarlett kissed him. Rhett kissed her back then pushed her away. He said, "Food."

The couple found a place in their guidebook that served Cajun food. They decided to try it. As they got in the cab Rhett said, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

"What?"

"Do as the locals do."

"Alright."

The food was a little bit spicier than Rhett and Scarlett were used to, but both people enjoyed it. They had wine with the meal. Soon they were returning to their hotel to change clothes in order to attend the du Pont's supper party. Rhett had been right. The meal was not served until nine. Rhett and Scarlett were seated separately as was the custom of the time, but at least this time her name card said: Scarlett Butler. Again, Rhett helped his wife find her name card. The grateful look she gave him thrilled him to no end.

This time Scarlett was able to follow the conversation. She didn't contribute to the discussion, but at least she knew what they were talking about. Nonetheless, when the men joined the ladies in the parlor, she was extremely happy her husband had sat down next to her. Soon Madeleine, Eleuthere's wife asked everyone to move into the ballroom.

As Rhett and Scarlett were dancing, she said, "How can Mr. du Pont afford to host such a lavish party?"

"Mrs. du Pont has money."

"Oh."

"Don't think of that. Just enjoy dancing with me."

"I certainly am."

Soon the couple was returning to Charleston, although they had gotten some food to take with them, Rhett still had to buy food after about six hours when the train took on water. Scarlett was so proud of Rhett for pushing his way to the head of the line. They slept together just like they had on the way to and from New York. It was just as uncomfortable for the couple as it had been on the trip to New York. Nonetheless, Rhett would not even consider Scarlett sleeping somewhere else.

After Scarlett had returned from New Orleans, Felicia had everyone to tea. A lot of the same women that attended Rachel's tea attended Felicia's tea. Charleston may not lower their standards for anyone, but these ladies no longer cared. They now had a group of friends and acquaintances.

On March the first Scarlett said to Rhett, "The seventeenth is my birthday."

"Really? How old are you going to be? Seventeen or eighteen?"

"Seventeen."

"What do you want to do?"

"Is there anywhere we could go dancing?"

"I don't think so. How about supper and a walk in the park?"

"Alright. If it is chilly, we can just come home."

"What do you want to eat?"

"I don't know if I want Frogmore Stew or Deviled Crabs or Crab Rice."

"What about shrimp and grits?"

"I don't like grits."

"In order for me to choose a restaurant, you need to make up your mind."

As it turned out, Elizabeth served crab rice one evening, so that narrowed the list down to the stew or the crabs.

Rhett took Scarlett to Magnolia's Restaurant. She solved her dilemma of what to order by having Blue Crab Bisque as her appetizer and the Frogmore Stew as her entree. Rhett had fried green tomatoes as his appetizer and She-Crab Soup as his entrée. They had a bottle of white wine with their meal.

Scarlett said, "Where did you learn about wines?"

"From my father."

"It appears to me that you and your father get along fairly well."

"We do now."

"Go on."

"Once he accepted that I was not going to take over management of Middleton Acres, we have gotten along fairly well."

"Is he paying for this meal, or are you?"

Rhett flashed her a smile. He said, "He is. As long as he lets me spend his money, I am going to continue spending it. Speaking of which, we are going to have dessert. Chocolate cake. Isn't that your favorite?"

"Yes, it is."

"I thought I remembered correctly."

"You have an excellent memory. I told you that on our buggy ride."

"Yes, I do."

"I thought your father was going to be very formal with me."

"No, that is just when he is out in public."

"Your mother is very formal with me."

"Formal and distant. She is with me also. She is with all of her children. Although I think Robert is her favorite."

"Why do you think that?"

"He is her child that is most like her."

"For a long time, I was an only child because my parents lost two baby boys between Suellen and me. I was incredibly special to my parents for the first five years of my life, then Suellen was born. She has been jealous of me her entire life and I don't know why."

"That is sad. Weren't your parents excited that she was born?"

"Yes, and they have doted on her all her life also. After Careen was born, they had another baby boy, but he died also. Each one of us girls is special to my parents. I wondered how they stopped having children because my mother was still a young woman."

"She still is a young woman."

Scarlett flashed him a smile and said, "Yes, she is. She was only fifteen when she married Pa."

"Are you telling me that your mother is only thirty-two?"

"No, she is thirty-three. She turned sixteen before I was born. How old is your mother?"

"Hell, if I know. When we asked her age when we were growing up, she would say, 'It is impolite to ask a woman her age."

Scarlett burst out laughing. When she sobered, she said, "Well, it is."

"Being impolite has never stopped me from doing something."

"I figured that out when you forced your way to the front of the line at those train stations to get our food."

Rhett smiled and said, "I didn't want them to run out of food before I got there."

"That would have been horrible."

"Yes, it would have been. To wait in line all that time then there not be any food to buy."

"How is your soup?"

"Delicious as always. And your stew?"

"Just what I was craving."

After the couple stepped out of the restaurant, Scarlett said, "It is too chilly to go for a walk. Let's just go home. Then you can shower me with presents. "

"Bought with my father's money."

Scarlett laughed as Rhett hailed down a cab.