Author's Note: And I'm back! Woohoo! I'm changing schools, so I have nothing to do this afternoon, and my works on were calling to my mind……...so I went back and read the reviews………and now I am here! Anyways, on with the chappy. prays that I haven't lost my touch… It's been sooo long, after all

Scarlett woke up the next afternoon in the guest bedroom of Pitty's house, the brilliant sunlight streaming in through her window. She sighed contently, then blinked her eyes open and saw Rhett standing a few feet away, his back to her, looking down on the street below. His shoulders were slumped and his head hung low. He looked so helpless, and Scarlett started to feel sorry for him, then she remembered just why she had swooned at the train station, and her eyes snapped with anger. How dare he be standing in this room with her feeling sorry for himself, when it was his fault that it had happened to her in the first place? She sat up and glowered at his back.

"Get out of here, Rhett Butler, I never want to see or hear you again! I hate you!"

At the sound of Scarlett's voice, Rhett turned, and at her words, he gathered his poise about him.

"Oh calm yourself, Scarlett. It's not worth putting on airs in order to try and make me sympathize for you. You should have been in Atlanta weeks ago. Didn't you say in many letters that you'd await my return and be in Atlanta for me when I got back, my pet? No, don't even start acting as childish as we both know you are. It won't work."

Tears stung Scarlett's eyes at his words, and her green eyes spat fire at him.

"I'm your wife, Rhett. Just because I'm not in town when you got here, which, by the way, was because you promised to write me a week in advance and you never did, sir, doesn't mean that I don't deserve your loyalty."

At this point, Pitty had been walking by, and her eyes widened as she waddled into the room, her babyish face shocked, almost to the point of mortification.

"Scarlett, dear, you shouldn't say things like that."

"You stay out of this, Pitty, this isn't any of your business at all," Scarlett shouted, her anger turning to Pitty as the unfortunate old lady interrupted the couple's argument.

"Scarlett, shut your mouth. Miss Pitty, dear, please forgive Scarlett. She doesn't know who she's talking to. You see, she just woke up and she did hit her head rather hard."
"Oh………oh………of course………Captain, did you tell her the good news yet?"

"No, not yet, Miss Pitty. I was going to when she woke up, but………" Rhett's voice trailed off, and he smirked at Scarlett.

Scarlett held her gaze to Rhett's, glowering darkly at him. She hated him right now, down to the bottom of her soul, and he'd hear about it later, oh would he ever hear about it.

When Pitty left the room, Rhett came to the side of the bed and said softly, "Scarlett, you weren't pregnant………the bleeding was a result of too much stress on your part, according to Dr. Meade."

At this, Scarlett calmed down and sighed a little, then realized he was winning and scowled again. "That still doesn't give you any right to do what you did to me."

"I know Scarlett, and I apologize. Now, what do you say to getting ready for the bazzar tonight?"

"Am I strong enough to dance," Scarlett asked, her brows raising a little.

"Scarlett, you swooned. Yes, you can dance."

That night, Scarlett and Rhett were dressed in their finest red silks and linens, and their carriage pulled up to the bazaar as it got fully underweigh. Stepping out of the carriage, Rhett turned and whispered, "Scarlett, your beloved is here."

"What do you mean Rhett?"

"Mr. Wilkes has made an appearance, it seems. He's with Miss Melanie right now, but I'm sure he'll make time for you."

"Oh Rhett, stop being stupid. You know that I'm not in love with Ashley any more than you're in love with Melly."

"You could have fooled me, my dear."

Scarlett smiled all too sweetly at Rhett as they climbed out of the carriage together. Rhett returned the smile rather wryly, his eyes telling her he knew exactly what she was thinking, and that he had her right where he needed her. She got momentarily angry at herself for letting him corner her into such a bizarre situation, and then covered it and greeted the ladies of Atlanta as the rushed to compliment her and her husband.

After they walked in the door, Scarlett and Rhett were the ideal couple. Even the matrons, whispering in their corners, were nodding in approval at the way Rhett was taking care of Scarlett now. Everybody had, after all, heard of the events of the train station from Pitty herself, and they were all curious as to how they would present themselves in public. Right now, their liking for Rhett was at an all time low, but Scarlett was their doll, their little girl, and they couldn't disrespect her husband. It just wouldn't be right, no matter how they personally felt about him. Furthermore, they whispered among themselves, their husbands looked up to Captain Butler, though Lord only knew why. Men were such odd creatures at times. Rhett was an irrespectable scoundrel, and they knew it, but they wouldn't question their menfolk for the world. After all, it wasn't their place to question the men. It was a man's world, and without their menfolk, where would the South be?

As the basket for collecting donations came around, Scarlett hid behind a booth and busied herself. She'd be damned if she'd donate anything to the fool men who were making her precious fineries harder and harder to obtain, even with Rhett's skilled blockading. Why couldn't the damned men just let the Yankees have their way? It'd be so much easier than this. Besides, not only had the war ruined her wardrobe selection, even before it started, the war had ruined her social life, because that's all everybody was concerned about. When would the war start? Who would secede from the Union next? What was Mr. Lincoln going to do about it? When would Mr. Jackson actually engage the Yankees in combat? Would there be a war at all? For weeks and weeks that was all anybody spoke of. Gerald would have people over just to talk about it, and invite them to supper, then end up not eating at all because they were shouting about the war that hadn't been started yet. As the collection basket neared her, she spotted Melanie coming behind her, and then looked at the basket carrier. It was Ashley. She pondered if her luck could be any worse, then Melanie's tiny arms slipped around Scarlett's waist, and Melanie squeezed imploringly.

"Scarlett, dear, won't you please donate to the Cause? You know that it'd help Ashley's troop. And I could understand if it was a troop of boys that we didn't but these are our own Clayton County boys………please help them, Scarlett, dear!"

At Melanie's plea, Scarlett only sighed and looked at what she had on. She reluctantly took off the diamond-studded gold brooch she was wearing and set it on top of the pile, not meeting Ashley's eyes as she did so. Of course, she wasn't looking behind Ashley, either. Before she knew it, Rhett had stepped around Ashley and was scolding her for being so uptight about her things. He took all her jewelry off of her and placed it on the basket, saving only the wedding ring he had bought her. This enraged Scarlett, and she opened her mouth to speak sharp words to Rhett, but the look on Melly's face kept Scarlett silent. She didn't want to make herself seem unpatriotic or hurt Melly in any way. So, she smiled and all-too-sweetly thanked Rhett for helping her with the removal of her jewelry. Rhett's eyes mocked her even as he responded with a warm "You're welcome, Scarlett."

After the basket had made it all the way around the room, Dr. Meade stood in front of everybody and started his speech about how they should be donating to the cause, how no amount of money would go unappreciated. And then he announced that, to raise money for the cause, the men had to bid to dance with the woman of their choice. This caused immediate buzzing of girlish voices, and the matrons all looked at Mrs. Meade as though she were in some way the one who had said it.

Suddenly, cries of names and amounts of money were being cried out. Scarlett glanced over at Rhett and decided that she didn't like the look on his face at all. He approached the platform Dr. Meade was on and called out over everybody "Fifty dollars in gold for a dance with my wife."

This confused everybody there, but then was taken up by applause and cheers at Rhett's generosity. Soon, the music started up and a waltz was played. As they danced, Rhett held Scarlett close, almost too close for public decency. Scarlett was blushing like mad, but enjoying the dance, so she kept up a light-hearted chit-chat. As the dance ended, Rhett went back to the stage and a silence swept over the crowd and all eyes were on him, everybody waiting to hear what was next from Rhett.

"One-hundred and fifty dollars. In gold."

"For what lady, Sir?" Asked the doctor.

"For Mrs. Ashley Wilkes."

There was a stunned silence and everybody's eyes averted to Melanie, who had turned bright pink from embarrassment, and Ashley was staring at Rhett with cool contempt, but he was hiding it very well.

"But Mr. Butler, Mrs. Wilkes' husband is home, and she………"

"Dr. Meade………I said Mrs. Ashley Wilkes."

"She won't even begin to consider it, Rhett."

At that moment, Melanie ran forward through the crowd and spoke clearly, above everybody, "I will do it. It's a great amount of money, and it could later help bring my Ashley home safely, to me, when the war is over. So I will do it."

Everybody was shocked. Melanie had never stood up for herself or disobeyed her elders in any way. So this was a completely unexpected change of events. Up on the balcony, Pitty had fainted, and now Mrs. Meade, Mrs. Elsing, and Mrs. Merriweather were doing all that they could to bring the old lady back to at least a slouched sitting position.

Sensing the tension in the room, Levi and his band started the Virginia Reel, and everybody started dancing. Except Scarlett. She left the party then and headed home, tears of insult and hurt streaming down her face as she walked the empty streets of Atlanta, Rhett's bid for a dance with Melly and the music of the Virginia Reel echoing in her mind.

Hope you enjoyed this Chapter…I should hope to have a new one up ASAP, sooner than a year, I promise…