Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

Chapter Seventeen

Two weeks later Rhett and Scarlett said their vows in the parlor of Hamilton House. He was thinking about the last time they had gotten married. That had been in the Hamilton House parlor also, but that time they had gotten a judge to marry them. It was their only choice. Scarlett had remained Catholic, and a priest would not marry them because Rhett was not Catholic. If he had been willing to convert at a later date the priest would have married them, but he had not been. Besides, last lifetime Scarlett had rarely attended Mass. She didn't even know what the priest's name was.

Scarlett noticed that Rhett was being unusually quiet, and she said, "What are you thinking about?"

"I was wondering why you had converted to Baptist upon your marriage to Charlie?"

"That is a strange thing for you to be thinking about?"

"Strange or not why did you?"

"I actually didn't do it at first. It was after I moved to Atlanta to help with the war effort. Melanie and Aunt PittyPat attended First Baptist, so it was easier to just attend the same church as them. We only had one horse and buggy after all. I had to go to get out of the house. In my first year in Atlanta, I was only allowed to go out in public to go to the church and the hospital."

"No where else?"

"I got to go to a bazaar once. It was great to be out of the house, but it was awful to have to watch all those other people get to dance."

"Don't despair. They were probably lousy dancers. After all, your favorite dancing partner, me, wasn't there." Scarlett laughed. Rhett continued, "We will visit a bunch of other churches then not go to any of them."

Scarlett giggled and said, "We have to go often enough for the children to learn about God and Jesus Christ."

"I guess. Was your life boring during the war?"

"Yes, especially at the end of it. I think that is one of the reasons I took Melanie to Mammy and Mother despite Dr. Meade telling me that she should stay in Atlanta because the delivery was going to be difficult. It was, but Dilcey was experienced enough to get Melly through it." Scarlett lowered her voice and added, "But nonetheless she was damaged and can't have any more children."

"That is sad."

"It really is. She wanted to have a lot of children."

"I want to have at least one."

With a sigh, Scarlett said, "We will probably have a lot of them."

"I will tell you a secret later, but hopefully we will only have one. Then with a pause Rhett said, "Or two or three."

Scarlett smiled at Rhett. She said, "Alright, Dear. Let's mingle."

"Alright."

"I'm sorry your mother chose not to attend."

"It is alright. She said it was too long of a trip, and she didn't have anyone to travel with her."

"Couldn't your brother or sister travel with her?"

"I guess not. It is just as well. As I told you they are all terrible bores." Rhett looked at Ashley and Melanie and continued, "We already have enough bores already here."

Scarlett giggled and said, "You didn't invite anyone else?"

"I don't have any friends. I just have business acquaintances. Right now, they are all Yankees and Republicans, so I thought it best not to invite any of them."

"It probably was. I'm not close to anyone either."

"Except Mrs. Wilkes."

"There is only so much I can take of Melly. She is so boring. She is almost as boring as her husband."

Rhett laughed. He said, "That would be pretty boring."

"I usually take her to dinner every two months or so. By the time dinner is over, I always swear I am never going to do that again. But I do."

"Now that you have sold your sawmills, you will have time to call on other ladies."

"They are all boring. Proper, boring, and always talking about the past."

"I can introduce you to some of my business acquaintances' wives. Then you can call on them. They certainly aren't proper, but they may be boring."

"I will give it a try when we get back from New Orleans."

"Alright. Let's go talk to Mr. and Mrs. Graham."

The couple spent the next hour visiting with everyone. Finally, it was time for them to leave. Scarlett picked Ella up and squatted down in front of Wade. She said, "Remember I told you that Dad and I are going on a little trip. You will be staying with Aunt Melly. Mercy will be there also."

Ella said, "No!"

"Yes. I am sorry you are upset, but this is the way it is going to be. I'm going to New Orleans with Dad and you two are spending that time with Aunt Melly."

Scarlett stood up and walked over to Melly. Melly took the crying child from Scarlett and said, "She will be fine. Just go and have a good time."

"Alright. Let's go Rhett."

"Let me grab your trunk. We can take a cab to the hotel."

Everyone came out on the front porch to see the couple off. Rhett and Scarlett walked to the cab stand. He looked at his wife and saw she was close to tears. He said, "You aren't supposed to cry on your wedding day."

"It is the first time I am leaving her for any length of time. And only the second time I have left Wade."

"They will be fine. We can't take them with us. I want you all to myself for a little while."

"We don't have to stay three weeks."

"I will tell you what if you aren't having a wonderful time in New Orleans then we can return in two weeks."

Scarlett smiled and said, "Thank you."

Once the couple got to the Hotel, Rhett said, "Let me get my trunk then we can go to the train station."

Scarlett sat in the cab and tried not to think about her children. She decided that they would be fine, and she was going to have an incredibly good time in New Orleans. It was about time she had an enjoyable time. Especially after all the bad years she had endured since the war started. For three weeks she was just going to be Scarlett. Not a mother or a business owner. She wasn't going to think about anything but having fun with Rhett.

Before long Rhett was back in the cab and the couple was heading to the train station. He said while they were enroute, "I was able to get us a private car."

"A private car?"

"It is a car that is ours alone. It also has bedrooms, so we will be able to have our wedding night."

Scarlett blushed and said, "I have never been on a train that long before except when we went to Sarasota. Pa got us sleepers, but it was kind of scary. Being around all those strangers. The only other place I have ever been was Charleston. How long is the trip?"

"Twenty-four hours. You have been to Charleston?"

"It was right after Wade was born. I stayed with my aunts. After a month I returned to Tara. It was boring."

"Yes, it is, but I find all proper society boring. Nonetheless, we will stay received for our children's sake."

"Of course, we will stay received. What a silly idea to become unreceived."

"Indeed. We are here."

Rhett paid the cab driver then got a porter. In no time at all the couple was in their private car. Scarlett said, "This is amazing. We have the whole car to ourselves?"

"Yes, we do. One can hire a cook and thus one never has to rub shoulders with the masses, but I want us to be completely alone therefore we will eat in the dining car. The food isn't great, but it is good enough. Once we get to New Orleans, I will take you to all the finest restaurants. Your taste buds won't know what hit them."

"That sounds great."

"I will introduce you to some of my business acquaintances. Hopefully, there will be a ball or two we can attend. We will go to a whist party."

"I don't know how to play whist."

"I will teach you. You will love playing. When you get back to Atlanta, you will be able to play it with the wives."

"How do you know they play it?"

"I am just assuming they play it. Maybe they don't. I'm sure they do fun things that you will enjoy doing."

"I'm hungry."

"Let's go get supper. When we get back to the car, I will begin teaching you how to play whist then I will teach you how to have fun in your marital bed."

"Rhett! You aren't supposed to speak of those things."

"That is just puritan shit. I will speak about it and so will you. You are going to have a very, very, very enjoyable time."

"Rhett, ladies don't enjoy relations."

"More puritan shit. You should enjoy them. You will enjoy them. I will make sure you do. It is the least I can do for you since you are the one that has to go through the pain and discomfort of carrying a child. Not to mention labor and delivery. Now come along let's go eat."

There were only three choices on the menu for supper. They were fried chicken, fried fish, and rabbit stew. Scarlett got the stew and Rhett the fried fish. After tasting her stew, she said, "You are right. It's not great, but certainly edible."

Once the couple was back in their private car, Rhett got a deck of cards from his trunk. They sat at the table, and he shuffled the cards. As Scarlett watched him, she said, "You have done that a lot."

Rhett flashed her a smile and said, "More than you would believe if I told you. What card games do you know how to play?"

"Beggar My Neighbor and poker."

"You know how to play poker?"

"Yes. Pa taught us. We played it in the winter when it was too cold to go outside."

"We will have to play strip poker."

"No, we won't. I don't think I want to play anything that involves stripping."

"Alright."

"Just because I am curious, how does one play."

"Each time you lose a hand you must give up an article of clothing. The final loser is the first person to run out of clothing.

"Go on with teaching me to play whist."

Rhett smiled and said, "It is a game for four people. Usually, people are partners, and you sit across from one another. Everyone is dealt thirteen cards with the last card being turned face up by the dealer. The suit then becomes the trump suit."

"What?"

"I will explain later. Everyone looks at their cards. The player to the left of the dealer starts by laying down any card of their choosing. Everyone has to follow suit if they can. If a player doesn't have a card of that suit, then he can play a trump card. A trump card wins the trick no matter what. Only a larger trump card can win the trick after a trump is put down."

"Alright. Is what beats what the same as in poker with the Ace being the highest and the two being the lowest?"

"Yes."

"How does one win?"

"By counting the number of tricks, they have won over six. The first partnership to five wins."

"Tricks?"

"It is a round of cards. All four of the cards played."

"Alright."

"Let's play a little bit. We will both play two hands."

"Alright."

The couple played the game for about an hour. As Rhett remembered from their first honeymoon, Scarlett caught on to the game fairly quickly. She smiled and said, "This is fun."

"Great. That is enough for tonight. Let's go to bed."

A look of horror passed over Scarlett's face, but she knew she had to do it. It was her duty. She squared her shoulders and said, "Alright."