Chapter 2 Scarlett Meeting Butler
　　
　　
　　(Noon time, the gentlemen are gathering in the downstair hall,
　　talking about the war.)
　　Mr. O‘HARA: We‘ve borne enough insults from the "meddling
　　Yankees. It‘s time we made them understand we keep our slaves with
　　or without their approval. Who‘s to stop them right from the state of
　　Georgia to ^secede from the Union. MAN: That‘s right.
　　Mr. O‘HARA: The South must assert ourselves by force of arms.
　　After we fired on the Yankee rascals at Fort Sumter, we‘ve got to fight.
　　There‘s no other way. MAN1: Fight, that‘s right, fight! MAN2: Let the
　　Yankee‘s be the ones to ask for peace. Mr. O‘HARA: The situation is
　　very simple. The Yankees can‘t fight and we can. CHORUS: You‘re
　　right! MANS: That‘s what I‘ll think! They‘ll just turn and run
　　
　　
　　every time.
　　MAN1: One Southerner can lick twenty Yankees. MAN2: We‘ll
　　finish them in one battle. Gentlemen can always fight better than
　　rattle. MANS: Yes, gentlemen always fight better than rattle. Mr.
　　O‘HARA: And what does the captain of our troop say? ASHLEY:
　　Well, gentlemen...if Georgia fights, I go with her. But like my father I
　　hope that the Yankees let us leave the Union in peace. MAN1: But
　　Ashley... MAN2: Ashley, they‘ve insulted us. MANS: You can‘t
　　mean that you don‘t want war. ASHLEY: Most of the miseries of the
　　world were caused by wars. And when the wars were over, no one
　　ever knew what they were about.
　　Mr. O‘HARA: Now gentlemen, Mr. Butler has been up North I hear.
　　Don‘t you agree with us, Mr. Butler? RHETT BUTLER : I think it‘s
　　hard winning a war with words, gentlemen.
　　CHARLES: What do you mean, sir? RHETT: I mean, Mr. Hamilton,
　　there‘s not a cannon factory in the whole South.
　　MAN: What difference does that make, sir, to a gentleman? RHETT:
　　I‘m afraid it‘s going to make a great deal of difference to a great many
　　gentlemen, sir. CHARLES: Are you hinting, Mr. Butler, that the
　　Yankees can lick us?
　　RHETT: No, I‘m not hinting. I‘m saying very plainly that the Yankees
　　are better equipped than we. They‘ve got
　　
　　factories, shipyards, coalmines... and a fleet to bottle up
　　our habours and starve us to death. All we‘ve got is cotton,
　　and slaves and ...arrogance.
　　MAN: That‘s treacherous!
　　CHARLES: I refuse to listen to any renegade talk!
　　RHETT: Well, I‘m sorry if the truth offends you.
　　CHARLES: Apologies aren‘t enough sir. I hear you were
　　turned out of West Point Mr. Rhett Butler. And that you
　　aren‘t received in an decent family in Charleston. Not even
　　your own.
　　RHETT: I apologize again for all my shortcomings. Mr.
　　Wilkes,Perhaps you won‘t mind if I walk about and look
　　over your place. I seem to be spoiling everybody‘s brandy
　　and cigars and...dreams of victory.
　　(Rhett Butler leaves the hall.)
　　MAN: Well, that‘s just about what you could expect from
　　somebody like Rhett Butler.
　　Mr. O‘HARA: You did everything but call him out.
　　CHARLES: He refused to fight.
　　ASHLEY: Not quite that Charles. He just refused to take
　　advantage of you.
　　CHARLES: Take advantage of me?
　　ASHLEY: Yes, he‘s one of the best shots the country, he‘s
　　proved a number of times, against steadier hands and
　　cooler heads than yours.
　　CHARLES: Well, I‘ll show him.
　　ASHLEY: No, no no, please, don‘t go tweaking his nose
　　
　　
　　anymore. You may be needed for more important fighting, Charles.
　　Now if you‘ll excuse me, Mr. Butler‘s our guest... I think I‘ll just show
　　him around. (Ashley leaves the hall with intention of walking Butler
　　around the house. But before he can do this, Scarlett calls him into a
　　detached room.) SCARLETT: Ashley!
　　ASHLEY: Scarlett...who are you hiding from here?...What are you
　　up to? Why aren‘t you upstairs resting with the other girls? What is
　　this, Scarlett? A secret? SCARLETT: Well, Ashley, Ashley...! love
　　you. ASHLEY: Scarlett... SCARLETT: I love you, I do.
　　ASHLEY: Well, isn‘t it enough that you gathered every other man‘s
　　heart today? You always had mine. You cut your teeth on it.
　　SCARLETT: Oh, don‘t tease me now. Have I your heart my darling?
　　I love you, I love you... ASHLEY: You mustn‘t say such things.
　　You‘ll hate me for hearing them.
　　SCARLETT: Oh, I could never hate you and, and I know you must
　　care about me. Oh, you do care, don‘t you? ASHLEY: Yes, I care. Oh
　　can‘t we go away and forget we ever said these things?
　　SCARLETT: But how can we do that? Don‘t you, don‘t you want to
　　marry me? ASHLEY: I‘m going to marry Melanie. SCARLETT: But
　　you can‘t, not if you care for me.
　　
　　ASHLEY: Oh my dear, why must you make me say things that will
　　hurt you? How can I make you understand? You‘re so young and I‘m
　　thinking, you don‘t know what marriage means.
　　SCARLETT: I know I love you and I want to be your wife. You don‘t
　　love Melanie.
　　ASHLEY: She‘s like me, Scarlett. She‘s part of my blood, we
　　understand each other. SCARLETT: But you love me!
　　ASHLEY: How could I help loving you? You have all the passion for
　　life that I lack. But that kind of love isn‘t enough to make a successful
　　marriage for two people who are as different as we are.
　　SCARLETT: Why don‘t you say it, you coward? You‘re afraid to
　　marry me. You‘d rather live with that silly little fool who can‘t open
　　her mouth except to say "yes", "no",and raise a houseful of mealy-
　　mouthed brats just like her! ASHLEY: You mustn‘t say things like
　　that about Melanie. SCARLETT: Who are you to tell me I mustn‘t?
　　You led me on, you made me believe you wanted to marry me!
　　ASHLEY: Now Scarlett, be fair. I never at any time... SCARLETT:
　　You did, it‘s true, you did! I‘ll hate you till I die! I can‘t think of
　　anything bad enough to call you... (Ashley leaves. Scarlett throws a
　　vase to the wall in anger. The crashing of the vase startles Rhett
　　Butler. He rises up from the couch in a dark corner of the room.)
　　RHETT: Has the war started?
　　SCARLETT: Sir, you...you should have made your presence known.
　　
　　RHETT: In the middle of that beautiful love scene? That
　　wouldn‘t have been very tactful, would it? But don‘t worry.
　　Your secret is safe with me.
　　SCARLETT: Sir, you are no gentleman.
　　RHETT: And you miss are no lady. Don‘t think that I hold
　　that against you. Ladies have never held any charm for
　　me.
　　SCARLETT: First you take a low, common advantage of
　　me, then you insult me!
　　RHETT: I meant it as a compliment. And I hope to see
　　more of you when you‘re free of the spell of the elegant
　　Mr. Wilkes. He doesn‘t strike me as half good enough for
　　a girl of your...what was it...your passion for living?
　　SCARLETT How dare you! You aren‘t fit to wipe his boot!
　　RHETT: And you were going to hate him for the rest of
　　your life.