Dear readers, hello everyone!
Before I post a new chapter, I thought I'd clarify a couple things:)
The first is Peter and Scarlett meeting in Savannah. Yes, they talked about it back in Charleston and at the train station. I think they kept the subject alive in correspondence, discussing dates. But then Scarlett had a breakdown over the gossip and the Wade situation, and the plans changed dramatically, but of course she decided not to let Peter know. He's part of the Butler family, and she's cutting ties (temporarily) with them too. So, once they're settled with the children, the correspondence can also continue, but through a confidant friend of Colum.
And second, no-no, Rhett thought about asking her out to dinner, yes, it was an impulse, but he stopped himself and decided it would be later. When HE was confident, etc. (well, well, Rhett, of course,lol:))))).
So, no dinners or anything for now, and not in time. By the way, this chapter will give you a better understanding of how they felt during and after their meeting:)
Long preface:)
Enjoy reading, friends:)
I own nothing in regard to GWTW.
Chapter 13.
Scarlett watched the shore got further and further away from her. Fear gripped her heart, despite the determination she'd shown in wanting to leave.
She kept repeating to herself that she was doing it for the children. That if she saw a bruise on Wade's face one more time, she would go home to the people who were spreading dirty rumors about her.
"Lucky Colum was around then," she thought.
She remembered how he'd gone to talk to the principal at school, how he'd calmed her down that day. And what she would have done without him...
She was grateful to fate and heaven for her newly acquired relative.
Colum quietly walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"My cousin is sad, am I right?"
"More like afraid. And sad, yes. This is my homeland, I grew up here, my children were born here. And because of this whole situation, I have to run away. Like a fallen woman," Scarlett spoke without turning round and looked at the water.
Colum frowned.
"Scarlett, I don't want to hear any more comparisons like that."
"I'm sorry. Will I ever see this land again, Colum?" asked she with sorrow.
"Of course, Darling. In a couple of years, the rumors will pass and you'll visit your friends and family. And then it'll be time for Wade to go to university. You know it's not forever," he said calmly.
"No one knows, Colum."
"And that's right, Dear. God only knows how and what will happen. Look on the bright side - you're going to your father's homeland. You're going to see it. It's a happy event."
"Yes."
She fell silent.
"Will I ever see him?" she said quietly.
"I hope not," he thought.
"Who knows, "he said
"I lied to him, Colum. I knew we were leaving, but I didn't tell him. I feel sorry for him because of the children."
"Darling, he left to an unknown destination, with no concern for the children's feelings, "Colum said angrily.
"I don't know, Colum...I feel like I'm betraying him. Even though we have nothing in common. He showed up at my store out of the blue, you know? Colum, I don't even remember what we talked about, I was trying to keep my face. I haven't seen him since November, almost six months..." she stopped talking, and Colum frowned again.
Scarlett continued,
"I'm glad he hadn't seen you or the children..."
"I'm glad of that too, Scarlett," Colum replied seriously. "I don't like that man, though it is sinful to say so."
It was as if Scarlett hadn't heard Colum and was trying to pull some memories from her mind of their last conversation with Rhett.
"Colum, he said something about being friends again, for the children, for us..." said Scarlett uncertainly.
"For God's sake, Scarlett, you don't mean that, do you?" pleaded Colum.
"No, no, darling. I'm just trying to remember the conversation. There can't be friendship between us, not even for the sake of the children. They can see and keep in touch with him later, in the future. But I don't. It hurts too much, Colum," Scarlett sighed and continued, "He used to call himself my 'friend' and he loved me the same time, and he kept quiet and pretended. I don't want to pretend and I won't. It will be so painful." , she wiped away her tears and turned to her cousin.
Colum's face was serious and sad. He squeezed his arm around Scarlett's shoulder a little harder and said, "Come on, Dear Cousin, the children are waiting for us in the cabin. Oh, and there are strong winds here, I don't want you to catch cold..."
"Fiddle-dee-dee, Cousin, I hardly ever get sick," grinned Scarlett, amused by his concern.
"Nevertheless, Scarlett, I do care for you," he said with a soft smile and they headed towards the children.
And then, finally, they saw it! Ireland! With its green hills and bright blue skies, its brilliant sunshine and blowing throw winds!
Scarlett realized that they were lucky that their move coincided with the summer season; autumn and winter would be unusual for her and the children, who had known only mild winters in Georgia.
Colum and Scarlett and the children arrived in Dublin in mid-May. Colum was to have theology classes at the local college, and his good friend (as Colum called him), James O'Neil, was also working there. It was he whom Colum had recommended to Scarlett as a teacher for the children, mostly for Wade; for Ella it was decided to find a girl who would share her love of painting.
"Of course, he's young, a little younger than you, Scarlett, he's 26, but he's very intelligent, educated and he knows how to get along with children," was how Colum described the future educator and Scarlett found this description sufficient.
She decided not to buy a house because her life was so unstable, so they decided to rent one of the brick houses on Grafton Street.
After staying at the hotel for the first few days, Scarlett asked Colum for one more favour. While the children were washing and changing their clothes, Colum came into their room, Scarlett was just sitting pensively on a chair by the window, watching the people passing through the streets.
"Colum," she began, "I wanted to ask you a favour. It would be easier for me and the children if I would introduce myself as a widow..."
Colum looked at her and frowned, and she continued, "well it wouldn't even be a lie on the part of the children, since their fathers were dead. It would be my lie. As they say for a woman " it's better to be widow than divorced". She said all this with confidence, then added quietly, "I don't want gossip, Colum."
He thought for a moment, then nodded to her in agreement.
They found a suitable house quickly, within a couple of days, the clothes from the hotel were moved in the same evening. The house was two storeys, parlour, dining room, study, kitchen on the first floor, bedrooms for the children, for Colum, her bedroom and one empty bedroom on the second floor. The house was furnished, Scarlett only wanted to buy some cosy little things.
After not waiting for Ella, who had been reading that day, then had a long time to choose a dress and a ribbon for her hair, then suddenly saw the bouquet of wildflowers on the table (which Colum had brought the day before as a surprise) and decided to sit down to paint,
Scarlett sighed softly, stroked her daughter's hair affectionately and decided to go down the street to a shop that was rumoured to have beautiful dishes.
Colum was at home, he and Wade were playing chess and waiting for his future teacher, they had an appointment to meet in the afternoon for introductions.
Once in the shop, Scarlett's eyes went wide, she loved the exquisite dishes, or the brightly coloured aprons and towels so much.
She didn't realize how she had found herself on the street with a dozen paper bags and was practically juggling them.
One bag of towels fell and while she was wondering how to pick it up without dropping the others, golden-haired, almost red-headed young man came up to her and reached down and picked up her bag and looked at her.
Scarlett saw in front of her a man of about 25, with adorable freckles on his nose, hair almost the same color as Ella's, and a mischievous smile. She smiled back at him, and he said, "Excuse me, Miss, I think you need some help, and I have a pair of free hands," he joked.
Scarlett nodded at him and handing over some of the bags of dishes said, "Thank you for your help, Sir, I live down the street, it's only a couple minutes walk. I came to the shop, but I overestimated my strength."," she joked back.
"Allow me to introduce myself, to you, James O'Neil and I'm just heading that way as well. I have a meeting with a friend and a new ward. As a matter of fact, my friend is a priest, brought his matron relative from America, a widow with two children and they need a teacher," here he interrupted his rapid speech and smiled. "I don't know why I'm telling you all this," he added embarrassedly.
When the young man introduced himself, Scarlett knew he was her children's new educator. But as he spoke, she became a little angry and wrinkled her nose. So, since she was a widow and had children, she was an elderly matron at once. "Well, no, James O'Neil, we'll see who's a 'matron' yet."
A forgotten sense of competition and joking, she'd hardly felt it the last several years. And flirting, God, she loved flirting so much! And here, no one knew her and she could play a little .
Scarlett smiled, inwardly glad she was wearing a simple white dress and an emerald cape on top.Her hair was loose at the sides, just a little gathered at the top with a elegant crest. She was hatless, wearing dainty white shoes and white lace gloves. She looked very young.
Scarlett smiled once more, looked at James, fluttered her long eyelashes and spoke in an affectionate voice, "Mr. O'Neil, I'm so glad I've met you! So you're a teacher, what do you teach? You're so young and already a teacher, you must have studied a lot?"
Scarlett rattled off questions, imitated her Irish accent a bit and smiled charmingly.
James talked a little about himself, how much and where he studied and then asked, "So how did such a charming Miss was alone, and with bags?"
Scarlett smiled and replied, "My beautiful little partner was so into art today that I had to go shopping alone," here she frowned a little and James asked,
"You don't like art, Miss?"
"I'm afraid I don't always understand it," Scarlett began, looking down.
"But, Miss, it's just that no one has explained it to you! We're having an exhibition of paintings by local artists at the college right now! Come, I'd love to show and tell you all about it! Miss, you'll see, you'll love it!" James' eyes were full of excitement as he looked into Scarlett's green eyes and was sure that this was the beginning of a wonderful acquaintance.
They had already approached the right house and Scarlett almost laughed.
They stopped at the porch near the white bench.
"Well Miss, tomorrow morning, let's go at 9 o'clock? Will you come with me to the exhibition?" asked James eagerly.
"Do you really want me to go? "asked Scarlett, smiling radiantly.
"Very much, but only if you'll tell me who you are?" he asked affectionately.
Just then the door of their house opened and Colum stepped out, looking at both of them in surprise.
"Scarlett," he exclaimed!
"Scarlett," repeated James cheerfully, and then waking up said, "Colum? What are you here...?"
"Scarlett," Colum continued, " have you had a chance to meet James yet? But how?" he asked in surprise.
Scarlett was silent and smiled, James was very surprised and didn't seem to understand what was going on.
Scarlett smiled charmingly and said, "Thank you for your help, Mr O'Neil, please give the bags to my cousin."
James looked back and forth at Colum and Scarlett and she smiled again, flirtatiously fluttered her eyelashes and said, "I need to find the children, thank you."
She turned, quietly rustled her skirts and went into the house. James, came to his senses and tried to call out to her, "Excuse me... Miss... I mean,Scarlett, just a minute..."
Colum grinned at his friend, and told him in a serious tone, "James, no."
James looked at him in surprise and then started to speak, "Colum, I don't know what you mean, I just..."
"James, I'm saying no," Colum repeated smiling, with a firm intonation, and then added in a friendly tone, "Come into our house, I'll introduce you to the children," and then muttered to himself, "I guess you've already met their mother."
Indeed, James got along with Wade and Ella, his lessons were always interesting, and he knew how to get his pupils involved.
Scarlett went to the exhibition, with Ella, much to Colum's delight. James stopped by each painting, explained what it was about, why it was painted in a certain technique. Ella was fascinated and listened with her mouth open. And Scarlett just walked from one painting to another, looking. Some landscapes or still lifes evoked emotions in her, it could be the color of the earth in the painting, like in the spring in Tara, or a string of pearls in a still life that looked like the one Rhett had given her and she had lost somewhere, or the bay depicted in the painting reminded her so much of the bay in Charleston.
Asking her after visiting the exhibition if she liked it, Scarlett said a short "yes" and began to ponder what, exactly, she liked about those very different works. Not the technique, nor what the painting was painted with. No, she liked those works that evoked such strong emotions that it made her heart squeeze. She came to the conclusion that from now she would evaluate art in this way, through her heart.
Time passed, summer came - June was filled with household arrangements, children's activities, and walkings.
To Colum's delight and relief, she immediately explained to him that she and James were in different "age" categories and that "a matron like me is too old for him."
Colum knew that she was not only running away from gossip, but to lick her wounds like a wounded animal. So he jealously guarded her peace, he knew her heart still ached for foolish husband number three.
Scarlett met July with tension and anxiety, for she realized that news of her departure must have reached, or had already reached, Peter and then the whole Butler family. And to him.
She had promised Wade and Ella that they would continue correspondence with Peter and Rosemary in the autumn, once things had calmed down. She hoped they wouldn't ask constant questions about their whereabouts. "Well, what does it matter in general," she pondered, "whether the children write from Atlanta or Dublin. It's all about communication."
She didn't know how any of this would work, she was just looking for peace. And here, across the ocean, she was finding it. No one looked at her or the children, no one raised their eyebrows or pressed their lips together when they saw her. She just lived here, and it suited her.
She thought, somewhere out there, across the ocean, today, on the 7th of July, another case that she had not been able to finish personally would be completed. She closed her eyes and mentally wished that everything would go well.
It had been two and a half months since Rhett Butler had left Atlanta in a hurry in mid-April after meeting Scarlett.
He spent his time mostly at Dunmore Landing, with occasional visits to the mansion. He wanted to be alone, thinking and planning.
He was very pleased with himself and their meeting. Scarlett hadn't made a scene, hadn't thrown herself at him, had been polite,true she had been a little strange, talking, answering him, but it was as if she was far away in thought. But he'd even felt like taking her out to dinner that afternoon. "And, good thing I stopped myself then," he reflected. "She's agreed to try being friends again, I won't give her too much hope," he grinned, but then he remembered the dreams he'd had after that fleeting kiss on the cheek goodbye, how he'd dreamt of her scent for a week afterwards. "No," he thought, "I'd better not get my hopes up either. We'll be good friends with her, for the sake of the children. And then, well maybe a couple of dinners in each other's company, we always had something to talk about, she loved my stories. Though if she's open enough to suggest something more than friendship, maybe some 'fun' together," Rhett interrupted his thoughts as images from the past and his dreams came into his head, he felt a tension below the belt and tried to shift his attention. "I should go to the river and swim," he thought.
He thought about going back to the mansion for dinner tonight, talking to Peter. It was early July, so he'd probably leave for Savannah soon to meet Scarlett and the children.
He'll explain to him that he and Scarlett have come to an agreement, so, he'll join them in a few days, too. "I guess," he thought as he was swimming in the river, "she's already written Peter all about us herself, I'll just have to let him know."
Rhett grinned, and dived down and then appeared at the surface of the river, with a satisfied smile on his lips.
While Rhett was swimming, walking and planning his "fictional" future, an unfamiliar but polite visitor came to the Butler mansion. He introduced himself as a church servant from Savannah and said he had come on Miss O'Hara's errand.
Only Rosemary, Penelope and Peter were in the house that morning. The girls were in the garden, drinking tea in the fresh air, sitting in the shade of a large magnolia tree. Peter, having learnt of the stranger from the maid, and also having learnt on whose errand this man had come, frowned. His correspondence with Scarlett and the children had broken off abruptly, the last letter had come to him at the beginning of May, and then two months of silence. At first he hadn't worried, citing postal problems. But, at the end of June, he got nervous and decided that he would go to Atlanta the other day to see if everything was all right, if everyone was healthy. And if all was well, they could drive to Savannah together from there.
Peter came out to the visitor with a serious face and politely asked him what was the matter.
"You see, sir, I'm here on the errand of Miss O'Hara. Before she left, she asked me to deliver this package for Mrs Butler, which is to be handed to her personally, or to be given only to her nephew Peter to give to his aunt. Can you help me, sir?" he finished his speech politely.
Peter nodded, his thoughts confused and he only mumbled, "Yes, I'm Peter, I can take the package from you. But... But, I'm sorry, what kind of departure is Miss O'Hara referring to? She's away on business somewhere, for a long time, has something happened?And how are the children?" Peter rattled off the questions.
The man, handing him the packet, replied politely, "I'm sorry sir, I don't have the details. Please excuse me, I have to go. Have a good day." he nodded and quickly left their house.
The deed was done.
When Mrs Butler arrived at the
dinner, and Rhett returned from the plantation at the same time, a bewildered and sad Peter handed her silently the package.
"From Scarlett," he said briefly.
Miss Eleanor looked at him in surprise, at Rhett, who was beside her, then carefully opened the package, which contained a black velvet box. Opening it, Mrs. Butler found a note addressed to her and her mother's family jewellery.
Handing the box of jewellery to Rhett, who began to examine it, she took the note, stepped back to the window and read:
"Dear Mrs Butler, I'm sorry for this gesture, it probably won't seem very polite to you, but I have no other choice. I feel it is not right for me to keep and wear this family heirloom, because I'm no longer a part of your family. I'm sorry that things turned out the way they did, that Rhett and I couldn't make each other happy. I won't say we tried particularly hard with him, perhaps we met at the wrong time and place.
Thank you for your kindness to me and my children during our visit. I really wish I could return the favour and call you "mother" but unfortunately that is not possible.
Please, be well, Dear Miss Eleanor. Scarlett."