«Charles Hamilton, you’re very handsome today! Have you come here from Atlanta just to break my poor heart?»
Charles almost stuttered with excitement. Charles was not excited over the prospect of marrying her. And here was Scarlett O’Hara teasing him about breaking her heart! It was too good to be true.
«Now, you wait right here till I come back, for I want to eat barbecue with you. And remember: I am jealous», came the incredible words from red lips.
«I will», he finally managed to whisper, he looked like a calf waiting for the butcher.
Rhett Butler who stood alone a few feet away from Charles. Evidently he had overheard the whole conversation.
In the bedroom, she found Cathleen Calvert.
«Cathleen», said Scarlett, trying to pull the corsage of her dress higher, «who is that nasty man downstairs named Butler?»
«My dear, don’t you know?» whispered Cathleen excitedly. «He isn’t received![6]»
«What did he do?»
«Oh, Scarlett, he’s from Charleston. Caro told me about him last summer. She knows all about him, everybody does. He was expelled from West Point. Imagine! And then there was that business about the girl he didn’t marry. This Mr. Butler took a Charleston girl out buggy riding. And, my dear, they stayed out nearly all night and walked home finally, saying the horse had run away and smashed the buggy and they had gotten lost in the woods. And guess what…»
«I can’t guess. Tell me», said Scarlett enthusiastically.
«He refused to marry her the next day!»
«Oh», said Scarlett.
«He said he hadn’t… er… done anything to her and he didn’t see why marry her. And, of course, her brother called him out[7], and Mr. Butler shot the girl’s brother and he died, and Mr. Butler had to leave Charleston and now nobody receives him», finished Cathleen triumphantly.
Scarlett attracted dozens beaux, but not Ashle. Ashley had made no attempt to join the circle about her. He just came forward to welcome her when she came into the back garden. And Melanie was always nearby.
She was a tiny girl. She looked and was as simple as earth. She smiled timidly. Ashley had sat on a stool at Melanie’s feet, apart from the other guests, and talked quietly with her. Ashley did not seem to notice her at all. He only looked up at Melanie and talked on. So, Scarlett was miserable.
Charles Hamilton was on her right. He held her fan in one hand and his untouched plate of barbecue in the other. Scarlett giggled. But Ashley was playing smiling up at Melanie. Pain twisted Scarlett’s heart.
«When all the girls will go upstairs to take naps to be fresh for tonight», she thought, «I’ll stay downstairs and talk to Ashley».
Men were talking about the war.
«Of course we’ll fight… Yankee thieves… We can win them in a month… They want war…»
Charles Hamilton leaned closer and whispered:
«Miss O’Hara… I had already decided that if we fight, I’ll go over to South Carolina and join a troop there».
Scarlett looked at him. He went on rapidly,
«If I go… will you be sorry, Miss O’Hara?»
«I will cry into my pillow every night», said Scarlett.
«Will you pray for me?»
«What a fool!» thought Scarlett bitterly.
«Oh yes, indeed, Mr. Hamilton!»
Charles drew in his breath, stiffened the muscles of his stomach.
«Miss O’Hara… I must tell you something. I… I love you!»
«Um?» said Scarlett absently.
«Yes!» whispered Charles. «I love you! You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever known and I love you with all my heart. I will… I want to marry you».
Scarlett was thinking Ashley, and she looked at Charles with irritation. And she murmured:
«Mr. Hamilton, I do not know what to say».
Charles swallowed the bait.
«I will wait forever! Please, Miss O’Hara, tell me that I may hope!»
«Um», said Scarlett.
«You promised to show me your library, sir», Rhett said to John Wilkes.
Ashley strolled over to where Scarlett and Charles sat. But Ashley was not looking at her. He was looking at Charles. They began to talk about the war.
Scarlett stood on the landing and peered cautiously over the banisters into the hall below. It was empty. Melanie was lying down on the bed with Honey and Hetty Tarleton, and then she slipped into the hall. The library was in darkness. Large numbers of books always depressed her.
She closed the door.
«Why, Scarlett!» said Ashley’s voice. He stood in the hall.
«Who are you hiding from – Charles or the Tarletons?»
She could not speak, but she drew him into the room. He entered, puzzled but interested. Automatically he closed the door behind him and took her hand.
«What is it?» he said, almost in a whisper. «A secret to tell me?»
«Yes… a secret. I love you».
For an instance there was a silence. Why did Ashley look so oddly and say nothing?
«Isn’t it enough that you’ve collected every other man’s heart here today?» he said.
Something was wrong! This was not the way she had planned it. Ashley was acting as if he thought she was just flirting with him.
«Ashley… tell me… Oh, my dear, I lo…»
«You must not say these things, Scarlett! You don’t mean them. You’ll hate yourself for saying them, and you’ll hate me for hearing them!»
«I will never hate you. I tell you I love you and I know you must… Ashley, do you love me?»
«Yes», he said dully. «I do. But, Scarlett, can’t we forget that?»
«No», she whispered. «I can’t. What do you mean? Don’t you want to marry me?»
He replied, «I’m going to marry Melanie».
She looked into his crystal eyes.
«Father will announce the engagement tonight. We will be married soon. I never dreamed that you… You’ve so many beaux».
«But you just said you loved me».
«My dear, I don’t want to say things that will hurt you. Love isn’t enough when two people are as different as we are. You would want all of a man, Scarlett, his body, his heart, his soul, his thoughts. And if you do not have them, you will be miserable. And I can’t give you all of me».
«Do you love her?»
«We understand each other. Scarlett! I’m going to marry Melanie. How can’t I love you? You who can love and hate with a violence impossible to me?»
«You coward! You’re afraid to marry me!»
«But dear Scarlett», his voice pleaded. «Did I ever…»
Her anger rose, the anger of hurt pride and feminine vanity.
«I shall hate you till I die, you cad… you coward!»
«Scarlett… please…»
She