Scarlett curled up under Mammy's scrutiny like a pill bug exposed to the light.

'Scarlett,' Rhett said, his voice shaking her from her stupor. 'Why don't you go into the sitting room and inform Suellen and the children of my return? I need to speak with Mammy for a moment.'

Scarlett raised her eyebrows in silent question, surprised Rhett was volunteering to endure Mammy's wrath alone. Their relationship had always been thorny. Mammy had vehemently disapproved of Rhett for years, until his surprisingly deft parenting skills and a certain red petticoat had seen her soften her stance. But as their marriage had collapsed, Mammy's reservations had returned tenfold. When Scarlett had arrived back at Tara without Rhett, her servant had made it abundantly clear that she was better off alone.

Before she could voice her concerns, Rhett leant down and whispered in his ear, 'Trust me.'

Nodding, Scarlett took full advantage of the reprieve and headed for the safety of the sitting room. Once inside, she wasted no time in shutting the door and plastering herself against it, intent on eavesdropping.

'Scarlett?' Suellen called from her seat over by the window. 'What are you doing?'

Pressing her ear tighter to the wood, Scarlett waved her hand in Suellen's general direction to tell her to be quiet.

'Have you gone quite mad?'

Scarlett huffed in irritation. Clearly Suellen had forgotten the hand signals they'd employed as children when listening in on their parents' private conversations.

'Shh, I'm trying to listen!' she hissed, straining to hear Mammy's muffled words.

'Listen to what?' Suellen persisted, her voice taking on that high-pitched, whiny quality that had always made Scarlett's teeth itch.

Scarlett turned round and fixed Suellen with a steely stare. 'If you must know, Rhett's here. Mammy caught us together in the corridor and now she's having it out with him.'

'Why didn't you say so sooner?' Suellen groused, her eyes widening at the news. 'What is she saying?'

'How would I know?' Scarlett cried. 'Every time I try and listen, you interrupt me!'

Rather than looking chastised, Suellen rose quickly from her chair and crossed the room.

'What are you doing?' Scarlett asked when Suellen pressed herself up against the door beside her.

'Shh, I'm trying to listen!' Suellen replied, mimicking her sister's irritated tone so perfectly that Scarlett couldn't help but be impressed.

'Move out of the way,' Scarlett ordered, elbowing Suellen in the ribs. 'You're hogging the entire door!'

'Am not!'

'Are too!'

'Are you playing a game, Mother?'

Glancing down, Scarlett saw to her dismay that their tussle had attracted the notice of Ella and April.

'Yes, precious. It's quite a boring game though, I don't think you'd enjoy it. Would they, Sue?'

Too busy snooping, Suellen didn't answer until Scarlett elbowed her again.

'What? No, darlings. You keep playing with your dolls, they are much more interesting.'

'Please can we play?' Ella asked, walking over and dragging April along behind her. 'We promise to be good.'

Silently rueing her daughter's newfound confidence, Scarlett found herself missing the shy little girl who could barely bring herself to speak.

Seeing no escape, Scarlett relented sourly. 'Fine, but hurry up.'

'What do we have to do, Aunty Scarlett?'

'Each of you has to press one ear against the door and listen really hard to what Mammy's saying on the other side. If you can make out five whole words, you get a prize.'

The girls clapped and giggled at the promise of a present.

'Where should we stand, Mama?' Ella asked.

'If your aunt would be good enough to shove her big behind over a bit, there'd be plenty of room for all of us.'

Sticking out her tongue, Suellen grudgingly obliged. The two sisters stood face to face against the door, their daughters fitting neatly between them.

'I can't hear anything!' April pouted. Scarlett thought she sounded like a perfect miniature of her mother. Poor girl.

'That's because you're not trying hard enough,' Suellen urged. 'You have to be very quiet and listen very closely.'

As blessed silence finally descended, all four women strained to hear what was going on in the corridor. Try as she might, Scarlett couldn't make head nor tail of the conversation. It was all meaningless mumbling to her.

She was surprised when Suellen gasped. 'Ooh, Mammy's really not happy, is she?'

'What? What did she say?' asked Scarlett, pushing Suellen out of the way so she could press herself more fully against the door.

'Move over,' Suellen hissed, slapping at Scarlett's shoulder, 'you know my hearing is better than yours!'

'Only because your ears are bigger than an elephant's!' Scarlett retorted, making the two young girls giggle at their feet.

Torn between missing out on the conversation and admitting Suellen was better in any way, Scarlett stood there stewing.

'Just let me listen,' Suellen wheedled. 'You'd best hurry up though, or they'll have finished talking before you do.'

'Fine!' Scarlett declared, stepping back. 'But you'd better tell me every last word!'

'As you wish,' Suellen promised, her normally dull eyes flashing gold in victory.

'Well?' Scarlett snapped impatiently a few seconds later. 'What are they saying?'

Her sister pressed herself bodily against the door, screwing her eyes closed in concentration.

'Rhett's saying he intends to do right by you this time…and Mammy's just said something about scoundrels spouting good intentions being no better than mules dressing in horses' harnesses…although what on earth that is supposed to mean, I'm sure I don't know. Do you think she's starting to lose it in her old age?'

'Never mind about that now, keep listening!'

'I would if you'd stop snapping at me so! Let me concentrate...Rhett's saying that he might be a mule but he's in love with a lamb...now he's speaking in tongues too! Trust you to marry a madman, Scarlett!'

'I did no such thing!'

'Wait…I can hear footsteps, they must be moving…they sound like they're getting further away…now a door is opening… and shutting…and, um…'

'What do you mean 'um'? What's going on?' Scarlett asked, her voice rising as her patience wore thin.

'I can't hear anything anymore. I think they must have moved into the parlour,' Suellen replied, having the good grace to look shame-faced as she stepped away from the door.

'Well, isn't that just perfect!' Scarlett fumed. 'First you keep me from listening by being so nosey, and now that you decide you want to help, it's too late!'

'It's not too late,' Suellen argued, reaching down to pull off her shoes.

'What on earth are you doing?' Scarlett cried, thinking it was actually Suellen who had gone mad.

'This way we won't make a sound crossing the corridor,' Suellen explained. She eyed her sister with a look of such gleeful cunning that Scarlett considered what a formidable team the pair of them would make if only they could keep from squabbling for more than five minutes.

'Hurry up!' Suellen commanded, her screechy voice instantly reminding Scarlett why they'd never joined forces. No team could have two leaders, and neither she nor her sister would be happy playing second fiddle for long.

Temporarily united by the same mission, they called a rare truce and clutched hands as they opened the door and tiptoed down the corridor to the parlour. Leaning forward, they pressed their ears to the door.

'You didn't see the state that girl was in when she got back here.' Scarlett didn't need Suellen to translate for her anymore. Mammy's irate voice was only too clear. 'And I know it was you that made her that way. It always is.'

Scarett winced, realising she hadn't done such a good job of masking her pain these last few months as she'd thought. She became uncomfortably aware of Suellen standing next to her, drinking in every damning word. She hated to think of her sister discovering her weaknesses.

She made to grab Suellen's arm and usher her away, when Rhett's next words stopped her dead in her tracks.

'I don't deny that I've hurt her. Hell, we've both hurt each other so much it's a miracle we're still standing, but nothing either of us has said or done has come remotely close to the pain we felt when we were apart. I was a terrible husband the first time around, too damn frightened of my own feelings to admit them to her. I resented the power she wielded over me and punished her for caring for another man, when I should have been fighting to win her affection for myself. But everything is different now: I'm no longer scared to say I love her; no longer ashamed to admit that I can't live without her. I understand why you have your misgivings, Lord knows I haven't been the most reliable of men in the past, but all of that is at an end. And - while I fear I'll never quite cut it as a gentleman - you have my word as the finest damn mule this world has ever seen, as long as I live I'll never hurt her again.'

Scarlett didn't hear Mammy's response to Rhett's speech, wasn't even sure if she gave one. Her head was filled with a curious buzzing; a dull, fuzzy sound.

I love her

I can't live without her

I'll never hurt her again

Suellen was right that Scarlett's hearing had never been very good. It must have failed her once again, telling her what she wanted to hear instead of the cold, hard truth.

'Scarlett? Scarlett!' Suellen hissed, pinching Scarlett to get her attention. 'They've stopped talking. I think they're coming out. We need to go back!'

Scarlett was bending down to pick up her skirts when the parlour door flew open to reveal a shocked Mammy and an entertained Rhett.

'My pet, we really do have to stop running into each other like this,' he commented dryly.

The corners of his mouth twitched upwards as he took in her flustered state, developing into a full-blown smirk when he cast his eyes downwards and noticed her bare feet.

'Mrs. Benteen,' he continued smoothly, turning to address a beet red Suellen. 'It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. You're every bit as beautiful as Scarlett described you.'

Scarlett snorted. While she had called Suellen many things over the years, beautiful was not one of them. Suellen seemed to share her derision. Rather than simpering prettily under the compliment, she raised her chin and regarded Rhett coolly.

'She always used to call me a withered old pea-hen. I had no idea you found poultry so attractive, Mr. Butler. I shall have to warn Pork to lock up the chickens.'

Rhett's mouth opened, but no words came out. Scarlett snickered, proud to discover that the ability to render the great Rhett Butler speechless was a family trait.

Rhett threw Scarlett an admonishing glance before regarding Suellen with new, appraising eyes. The poker player in him emerging, Rhett sized her up before adjusting his strategy. The silken tones of the Lothario disappeared, replaced by an earnest, conspiratorial air.

'I must confess, I have heard her refer to you as such, although I could not imagine a more undeserved comparison if I tried. But then Scarlett has always been a jealous creature. You should be flattered that she felt threatened enough by your beauty to cast such unjust aspersions.'

Suellen's stance softened even as her eyes remained narrowed, clearly battling between a head which told her not to fall for his honeyed words and a heart which yearned to believe them. Scarlett appreciated for the first time how hard it must have been growing up in the shadow of a prettier, more popular sibling. She felt almost kindly towards Suellen until her sister opened her mouth and ruined it.

'I can understand why she would want to downplay it to you,' Suellen said, a devious light appearing in her eyes. 'After all, stealing your sister's beau is something of an O'Hara tradition.'

Scarlett's irritation grew when Rhett laughed loud enough to wake the dead. 'I see I'll have to be careful around you,' he said, clasping her hand and bringing it to his lips. 'A man could become muddled when confronted with two such firebrand sisters.'

Scarlett's eyes narrowed into slits as she felt the old, familiar flames of jealousy ripping through her chest.

Behind them, Mammy cleared her throat. 'I expect you'll be wanting to see Miss Ella now, Mister Rhett.'

'Yes, of course,' he demurred, pulling away from Suellen and holding out his arm to Scarlett. 'My dear, would you be kind enough to take me to her?'

Mammy cut in before she could agree. 'Miss Suellen, why don't you take Mister Rhett to the sitting room and introduce him to Miss Ella and Miss April? I want to talk to Miss Scarlett.'

Rhett glanced at Scarlett, ready to intervene, but she shook her head to stop him. 'You go on ahead, I'll be there in a minute.'

Kissing Scarlett's cheek, Rhett offered his arm to Suellen and the pair left the room. Once they had entered the sitting room and Ella's surprised shrieks had died down, Scarlett turned to Mammy.

'Say it.'

'That man is no good,' Mammy stated firmly, her eyes daring Scarlett to disagree.

'Have you only realised that now?' Scarlett asked petulantly, reverting back to her stroppy younger self when faced with Mammy's condemnation. 'It sure took you long enough. I guessed as much within the first five minutes of meeting him.'

'If you'd hush up, you'd know I wasn't finished. That man is no good, but he is good for you.'

Scarlett's shock made her reveal more than she'd meant to. 'Even when he's charming Suellen?'

'He's only fooling, my lamb,' Mammy laughed, her old, weathered face transforming under the strength of her smile. 'You is always taking life so serious, always working so hard, always staying up so late. He just wants to be the one to make you laugh, that's all. That man's a scoundrel if ever I did meet one, but he loves you something fierce and he's not afraid to show it this time.'

'So you're not angry he's back?' Scarlett questioned, reluctantly impressed by how fast Rhett had managed to win Mammy around.

Mammy's eyes softened as she stepped towards Scarlett and stroked her cheek. 'I want you happy, my lamb. And if I know one thing, just one little thing in this big old world, it's that you ain't never going to be happy without him.'

Blinking back the tears brought on by Mammy's heartfelt words, Scarlett buried her cheek deeper into the palm that cupped her face.

'Thank you,' she whispered. 'You really think there's nothing to worry about?'

'Not a single thing,' Mammy whispered back. 'I already told him I'd bury him under Tara's porch if he hurts you again.'

'You didn't?' Scarlett gasped, both horrified and flattered by the lengths Mammy would go to for her.

'I sure did,' Mammy asserted, drawing herself up proudly. 'He won't try anything funny now. He's always been scared of me.'

Laughing hard, the two women reluctantly pulled apart at the pitter patter of approaching feet.

'Mama!' Scarlett heard, before something small and surprisingly strong slammed into the back of her legs.

Turning, she found herself looking down into Ella's joyful face.

'Uncle Rhett is back! Uncle Rhett is back!' she sang, hugging Scarlett's knees, her former reserve around her mother completely forgotten.

Glancing up, Scarlett saw Rhett enter the room just as Mammy was leaving it. The two of them shared a nod and a smile as they passed. It struck Scarlett how similar they were in their approach to her. Both outwardly tough and unsentimental people, Rhett and Mammy were exceedingly protective and endlessly caring when it came to Scarlett. She didn't know what she'd done to inspire such devotion. Over the years, she'd committed enough sins to make any rational person run for the hills, and yet here they still were, every bit as steadfast as they had been at the very start.

'He is,' Scarlett smiled at Ella, reaching down to lift her into her arms. 'Are you happy?'

'Yes, Mama,' Ella said shyly, hiding her face away in Scarlett's neck.

Drawing alongside them, Rhett stroked Ella's hair. 'You're not the only one, sweetheart.'

Scarlett glanced at him. 'Isn't she?'

'No,' he said, capturing her mouth in a kiss. Pulling back, he stroked her cheek in the same place Mammy had minutes earlier. 'It's good to be home.'

Scarlett smiled. For once they were in perfect agreement.