Part 2
Rhett Butler was very determined indeed, Scarlett observed, as she quietly sat on the plush settee, staring idly through the open window at the passing carriages and people, her legs comfortably crossed underneath her.
An odd sense of reminiscence flashed through Scarlett’s mind. She was a widow once again; longing for the things she could not have. Just like the many times before, when she had looked out the same widow, longing for freedom when Charles had died, leaving her a widow and pregnant. How old was Wade now? He was at least four years old. And she was only twenty-one years old, too young to be widowed twice and left with two small children.
Rhett was right, she was jealous, she had no desire to be but she was just the same. It seemed the mysterious ex- blockade-runner, who had considered himself at one time an eligible bachelor, was now pursuing many women. She had just heard last night, from Aunt Pitty, that Rhett was seen taking Emma Wright to his room at the National Hotel. Her blood boiled every time she thought about it. And just four days after proposing to her!
Ella’s cry sounded throughout the quite house, breaking Scarlett out of her thoughts. But she didn’t make any move to go to her crying daughter. Melanie, Mammy or one of the mindless servants would tend to her, they always did. But after minutes and no sign that Ella’s crying was going to cease, Scarlett grudging rose, walking across the hall to the nursery.
Once entering the nursery, she noticed Ella was red with fever. She was squalling, her dark hair plastered to her small apelike face. Nimbly, Scarlett picked her daughter up, trying to soothe her. It worked but Ella was still very hot and the room was stifling.
She started off towards the door, Ella still in her arms; she looked around the dim lit house. There was no sign that another person was present. The only sound in the house was Ella’s soft gurgling noises and the swift patter across the hall of her shoes. Carefully, Scarlett descended the stairs and stepped out onto the side porch and sat down in a rocking chair, shielded by a cool shade.
She quietly sat there, humming and smoothing Ella’s ruffled hair. Ella happily gurgled in response and Scarlett laughed in spite of herself. All though she thought all children were nuisances, Ella was still a very happy baby and couldn’t help but make those around her smile.
As she sat rocking Ella and humming softly to herself, she heard the sound of hooves coming up the side street and, peering cautiously through the tangle of dead vines on the porch, she saw Rhett Butler riding towards the house.
She hadn’t seen him in four days, and yet it seemed to be a lifetime. All of the old anger came flooding back to her. He thought so little of her to run off with the first woman he could find. That Emma Wright had accompanied him to his hotel room. She didn’t need his words of denial or the truth from his lips, she knew.
He came up the walkway, with a smile planted on his lips, his eyes seemed to see through her black mourning dress and she held Ella tighter to her, until Ella began to fuss and whine.
“Hello, my pet,” he said in greeting. His eyes weren’t mocking but very sober and there was sadness in them. Briefly, Scarlett wondered if she was the cause of his sadness, a deep feminine feeling washed over her; angrily she pushed that thought away.
“What are you doing here?” She crossly asked him, clutching Ella closer to her bosom. He didn’t answer but sat next to her, words of protest arose to her lips but she didn’t say anything, knowing it was useless.
“To see my betrothed of course,” he replied, a grim smile on his face. Before she could oppose to his statement, he asked: “Where are Miss Hamilton and Melanie?”
“They’re not here,” she replied briskly, without thinking. The second the words came from her lips, she berated herself yet again. Surely Rhett wouldn’t try to take advantage of her? If he did, she knew she would be powerless to stop him.
A grin touched his face as he leaned over towards her, her eyes immediately fluttering closed without warning. But she didn’t receive a kiss from him, Rhett took Ella out of her arms and he sat her securely on his lap, as if he had handled babies’ everyday of his life.
She stared at him confusedly, shouldn’t he be trying to kiss her or even seduce her into accepting his proposal? But no, he sat there quietly, little Ella resting on his broad chest. She finally came to the conclusion it was one of his nasty jokes, like the many times before when he had asked her in uncertain terms to be his mistress. Before she could catch herself, a sigh of relief escaped her lips. She could tell Rhett had noticed her relief because he chuckled.
“Don’t worry, Scarlett, I’m not going to kiss you. There will be plenty time for that, once we are married.”
“I told you I would never marry you!” She yelled in a strangled voice, not caring if the Meade’s down the street heard her. Rhett didn’t reply, he only stroked Ella’s small back with gentle fingers.
“Never say never, my pet,” he whispered in a husky voice. He was staring at her as if he wanted to devour her and she quickly rose to her feet, snatching Ella out of his arms. Immediately Ella began to cry at the rough treatment and Scarlett quickly started off for the door, not giving him a second glance.
She entered the house angrily. Roughly she grabbed the brass door knob with her free hand, intending to slam the door shut in his face but Rhett’s booted heel stopped the door from closing. He pushed himself into the house with ease and grinned down at her.
“You can’t keep a wolf out of the house he intends to enter, Scarlett.” Easily he scooped Ella out of her arms and started up the stairs, Scarlett angrily trailing behind him. In a futile effort she tried to stop him, grabbing onto his arm. But that proved to be ineffective, for he entered the nursery and laid Ella gently down in her crib.
“If you don’t get out of my house I’ll…”
“You’ll what, Scarlett, bodily throw me out? Or will you call the honorable Ashley Wilkes and have him do it for you? I dare say he couldn’t throw a mouse, much less me out of your dearly departed husband’s home.”
“I’ll…” Before she could finish her sentence, Rhett easily pulled her into his arms as if he had held her many times before. His warm breath caressed her face and lips. A forbidding shiver of pleasure ran down her spine and for once, she was the one to close the distance between them.
She was surprised by her body’s own torturous response. Rhett kept the kiss light, almost as if savoring it, letting her take the lead. She knew she should pull away but couldn’t find the will to do so. She had gone too long without a man’s kisses. She pulled Rhett closer to her, until she felt her breasts come in contact with his solid chest.
“Scarlett…” He groaned against her mouth and she felt excitement well in her chest. Taking even more of a bold move, she stood on her tiptoes, pushing up against him and kissing his neck.
Finally, she came to reality as she felt Rhett’s fingers unbuttoning the front of her gown, placing heated kisses on her neck as he had four days earlier. Hastily, she pulled away from him, but he caught her easily and began to kiss her again.
“Rhett, stop…” He didn’t listen to her plead and his kisses became more deeper. With what little strength she had, she pushed him away from her with a cry of anger and disappointment.
His harsh breathing and hers sounded throughout the stifling room, sounding the passionate moment they had just shared. Shakily, Scarlett dashed out of the nursery, knowing Rhett was following not far behind her. How could she have been such a fool? She had succumbed to Rhett and now he thought her no better than a Belle Watling. Her anger was not at Rhett but at her own body’s torturous response. Yet she wasn’t the only one to blame. He had come only to seduce her and it had worked, for only awhile. Once reaching the front door she turned towards him, their eyes meeting, hers flashing in anger and frustration and his with triumphant.
“Leave now! And I mean it this time. Never come back, Rhett, I will not accept you. You treat me no better than a whore and I won’t stand for it. Not even your kisses would be persuasive enough for me to marry a man like you. If you ever come back, don’t expect to see me in need of you; I will not be waiting for you. I’ll never come to you… Never!”
Still, Rhett didn’t speak. Prompting Scarlett to finish, “Well? You do understand, don’t you? I shan’t marry you, Rhett, and nothing you say will change my mind.”
“You’ve made that perfectly clear,” he said in a neutral tone.
She eyed him in suspicion. “So you won’t pursue this any further?”
“No.”
She seemed startled by his easy acquiescence. “Well… then you won’t ask me again? We’ll forget this ever happened?”
“No. I don’t think I can forget as easily as you can, my pet. As you can see, I need a wife. And your apt view of me, including the society of Atlanta, wouldn’t hardly qualify me as er- shall we say suitable for a woman of good breeding.”
“It’s not my fault you have a mistress!”
“Even if Belle were my mistress, which she isn’t,” he said evenly, “it was you that had told people that she was.” Scarlett’s face became pale with furry.
“I did not!” She denied, her eyes flashing angrily.
He was undaunted by her denial. “Well, you do believe she is my mistress, do you not?” His eyes glittered triumphantly as he stared down at her.
“Well, yes, but…”
“Yes?”
“Gods nightgown! What do you want from me? I can’t marry you, Rhett!”
“You made that perfectly clear. Yet I still need a wife.” He rubbed his chin, casting her a speculative glance. “So why don’t you provide me with a replacement for yourself.”
Clearly he had startled her and she was irritated beyond words. “Whatever do you mean?”
“You know many young women, and you have the ear for society. I’m sure you could find me a woman to become Mrs. Rhett Butler.”
“Find you a wife!” The panic in her expression pleased him inordinately. “Don’t be ridiculous! I- I wouldn’t know who or how or…”
“Then you plan to leave me in this situation?”
“Yes. No! I- I mean…” She broke off, her eyes narrowing. “You act as if you must marry right away. Surely you could pay off one of your mistresses or go to Charleston… Yes! Go to Charleston.”
“I can’t,” he bit out.
“Why not?”
He sighed. “I am not received in Charleston, you know that as well as I. No woman would ever marry the likes of me there.”
Placing her hands on her hips, she said sarcastically, “And you think here they would?”
“Yes, with your help of course.”
“But,” she cried like a child. “I am not the one that showed them your key!”
“If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have had to reveal it.”
Scarlett gasped, feeling as if he had stabbed her in the chest. Yes, she knew that much was true. If she hadn’t been riding out at the mill alone, she wouldn’t have been attacked. Then Frank wouldn’t have been dead and Rhett wouldn’t have had to rescue Ashley.
“Melanie would never tell anyone, Rhett.” She wished her eyes wouldn’t have been so doubtful; she was sure that Mrs. Meade had already told all of society, including Mrs. Merriwether. She probably already knew, with all the gossip going around.
“Of course not. But all of Atlanta knows,” he silkily replied.
“Damn you!” Scarlett cried, clenching her fists angrily. “Why must you decide now, that you need a wife? You never wanted one before.”
He shrugged. “I never needed one before.”
Scarlett sighed, all ready feeling cornered. She would have to help Rhett, there was no other way that he would leave her alone. She began to pace, her delicately arched brows knitted in thought. In one last attempt she raised cold eyes to his. “I am a widow as you can see, Rhett, how do you expect me to be in society when I am to be sitting home, ‘mourning for my husband’?
“You can still keep up with society with Melanie’s aid, I’m sure. And of course you have Miss Hamilton. She does have an ear for gossip. Any woman would be suitable.”
Meeting his gaze archly she said, “Somehow I doubt that.”
He grinned. “You see? You all ready know me so well.” Teasingly he walked over to her and pinched her cheek. “You all ready have the knack of knowing which women would suit my tastes.”
Her gaze went to his. “Fiddle- dee- dee, I don’t know you one bit, but I suppose that list includes the notorious ladies of town?”
“No, Scarlett, they may be notorious but they aren’t ladies.” He put some distance between them, seeing that hunted look in her eyes. At a slow steady pace he started off towards the parlor doors. He heard the slight sway of her petticoats from behind him and smelt the scent of lilac, which she wore everyday.
Sitting down on the champagne colored settee, he observed her with alert black eyes. She was wringing her small hands in frustration and then finally proceeded to sit down across from him. He had sat there many times before during the war, when he had come calling on her. Bringing her many trinkets from the blockades, in hopes of having her fall for him so that he could have her for his mistress.
He had acknowledged she would have made an appealing mistress to any man, from her elegant body, to her delightful never ending temper. But now, more than wanting her for his mistress, he wanted her as his wife. He knew that her honor and pride had kept her from becoming his mistress and he admired her. Admired her much more than any woman he had ever known.
He marveled that she didn’t realize herself how unwilling she was to marry him off elsewhere. Stubborn woman. Her pride kept herself from accepting him. And her jealousy, no matter what she protested.
Well, he’d use that jealousy against her. He would make her see that watching him court someone else was much worse than having to endure the never ending gossip that Belle was his mistress. And if he had to dance with ten thousand women, so be it.
Scarlett cast a quick look up to the ceiling as if hoping for advice; to get her out of this unwanted promise. Then she lowered her gaze to his. “All right. I’ll do what I can.”
Rhett could barely keep the look of triumphant from crossing his eyes. With a satisfied grin playing across his face, he rose and walked across the room towards Scarlett. He sat next to her. Her eyes were filled with wariness and suspicion as she scooted to the furthest corner of the settee.
“Thank you,” Rhett said in a hushed tone. When he saw the surprised look on her face, he added, “And don’t think I won’t hold you to your promise tomorrow. Tomorrow we will have a picnic by the creek, where we won’t be disturbed.”
Coming from anyone else, Scarlett would have felt at ease, but not from Rhett. The way he was watching her unsettled her and stirred deep feelings within her. She could have used her widowhood as an excuse to not join him tomorrow, but it was futile. He would corner her until she gave in and it was better to get it over with.
“Very well.” Surprisingly, her voice wasn’t shaky but calm and resolute. For that much she was grateful as she stared up at him. Surprise flickered in his dark, bold, arresting eyes but he nodded and made no move to leave.
“Well, aren’t you leaving? Or is there something else of great importance you would wish to discuss?” She hoped her mocking words would arise any anger in him and he would leave but they did neither.
“No, I’ll leave the rest of our conversation for tomorrow. Then I gather you’ll be ready tomorrow to begin your efforts on my behalf.” He couldn’t resist adding, “Of course, if you change your mind about my proposal…”
“I shan’t,” she retorted, though he noticed her words lacked conviction this time.
“Very well. Until tomorrow.” He gave a slight bow, and then headed out the door. Scarlett watched him through the window in awe as the sun silhouetted his brilliant figure. Gracefully, like no other man she had seen, he mounted his black stallion in ease, his booted feet spurring the horse forward. She stood there, until the sound of the galloping horse’s hooves didn’t reach her ears.
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