Chapter 4 Scarlett‘s Second Contact with Butler
　　
　　
　　( Charles died at the front, but Scarlett is not at all sad. She goes to
　　the donation party with Melanie, wearing black.)
　　DR. MEADE: Ladies and gentlemen. I have important news,
　　glorious news. Another triumph for our magnificent men in arms.
　　General Lee has completely whipped the enemy and swept the
　　Yankee army northward from Virginia! And now, a happy surprise
　　for all of us! We have with us tonight that most daring of all
　　blockade runners, whose fleet "schooners slipping past the Yankee
　　guns have brought us here the very woolens and laces we wear
　　tonight. I refer, ladies and gentlemen, to that ^will o‘the wisp of the
　　bounding main, none other than our friend from Charleston, Captain
　　Rhett Butler!
　　
　　MELANIE: Captain Butler, such a pleasure to see you again. I met
　　you last at my husband‘s home. RHETT: That‘s kind of you to
　　remember, Mrs. Wilkes. MELANIE: Did you meet Captain Butler at
　　Twelve Oaks, Scarlett?
　　SCARLETT: Yes I, I think so.
　　RHETT: Only for a moment, Mrs. Hamilton, it was in the library.
　　You, uh, had broken something. SCARLETT: Yes, Captain Butler, I
　　remember you. MAN: Ladies, the Confederacy asks for your jewelry
　　on behalf of our noble cause.
　　SCARLETT: We aren‘t wearing any, we‘re in mourning. RHETT:
　　Wait. On behalf of Mrs. Wilkes and Mrs. Hamilton,.
　　MAN: Thank you, Captain Butler. MELANIE: Just a moment, please.
　　MAN: But, it‘s your wedding ring, ma‘am. MELANIE: It may help
　　my husband more, off my finger. MAN:Thank you.
　　RHETT: It was a very beautiful thing to do, Mrs. Wilkes.
　　SCARLETT: Here, you can have mine, too. For the cause. RHETT:
　　And you Mrs. Hamilton. I know just how much that means to you.
　　MAN: Melanie.-.I need your approval as a member of the committee
　　with something we want to do, that‘s rather shocking. Will you
　　excuse us, please? RHETT: I‘ll say one thing. The war makes the
　　most peculiar widows.
　　
　　SCARLETT: I wish you‘d go away. If you‘d had any raising, you‘d
　　know I never want to see you again. RHETT: Now, why be silly?
　　You‘ve no reason for hating me. I‘ll carry your guilty secret to my
　　grave. SCARLETT: Oh, I guess I‘d be very unpatriotic to hate one of
　　the great heroes of the war. I do declare, I was surprised that you‘d
　　turned out to be such a noble character.
　　RHETT: I can‘t bear to take advantage of your little girl‘s ideas, Miss
　　O‘Hara. I am neither noble nor heroic. SCARLETT: But you are a
　　blockade runner. RHETT: For profit. And profit only SCARLETT:
　　Are you trying to tell me you don‘t believe in the cause?
　　RHETT: I believe in Rhett Butler. He‘s the only cause I know. The
　　rest doesn‘t mean much to me. DR. MEADE: And now, ladies and
　　gentlemen. I have a startling surprise for the benefit of the hospital.
　　Gentlemen, if you wish to lead the opening real with the lady of your
　　choice, you must bid for her. WOMAN: Caroline Meade, how could
　　you permit your husband to conduct this, this, slave auction?
　　CAROLINE MEADE: Darling Merry Weather, how dare you
　　criticize me? Melanie Wilkes told the doctor that if it‘s for the benefit
　　of the cause, it‘s quite all right. WOMAN: She did?
　　AUNT PITTY: Oh dear, oh dear, where are my smelling salts? I
　　think I shall faint. CAROLINE MEADE: Don‘t you dare faint, Lilly
　　Beth
　　
　　Hamilton. IfMelanie says it‘s all right, it is all right. DR. MEADE:
　　Come gentlemen, do I hear your bids? Make your offers! Don‘t be
　　^bashful, gentlemen! MAN1: Twenty dollars! Twenty dollars for Miss
　　Maybelle Merryweather.
　　MAN2: Twenty five dollars for Miss Fanny Ossing! DR. MEADE:
　　Only twenty five dollars to give. RHETT: One hundred and fifty
　　dollars in gold. DR. MEADE: For what lady, sir? RHETT: For Mrs.
　　Charles Hamilton. DR. MEADE: For whom, sir? RHETT: Mrs.
　　Charles Hamilton. DR. MEADE: Mrs. Hamilton is in mourning,
　　Captain Butler. But I‘m sure any of our Atlanta belles would be proud
　　to.
　　RHETT: But talk to me. I said Mrs. Charles Hamilton. DR. MEADE:
　　She will not consider it, sir. (Flame in Scarlett‘s eyes.) SCARLETT:
　　Oh, yes, I will.
　　(Scarlett squeezes through the crowd to Butler. They go dancing.)
　　RHETT: We‘ve sort of shocked the Confederacy, Scarlett.
　　SCARLETT: It‘s a little like blockade running, isn‘t it? RHETT: It‘s
　　worse. But I expect a very fancy profit out of it.
　　SCARLETT: I don‘t care what you expect or what they think, I‘m
　　gonna dance and dance. Tonight I wouldn‘t mind
　　
　　
　　dancing with Abe Lincoln himself.
　　(In the Hamiltons. Rhett pays a visit to Scarlett and brings
　　her a bonnet from Paris.)
　　SCARLETT: Oh, oh, oh the darling thing. Oh, Rhett, it‘s
　　lovely, lovely! You didn‘t really bring it all the way from
　　Paris just for me!
　　RHETT: Yes. I thought it was about time I got you out of
　　that fake mourning. Next trip I‘ll bring you some green
　　silk for a ""frock to match it.
　　SCARLETT: Oh, Rhett!
　　RHETT: It‘s my duty to blade boys at the front, to keep
　　our girls at home looking pretty.
　　SCARLETT: It‘s been so long since I had anything new.
　　(Scarlett tries the bonnet on. Then she diverts it,
　　considering this is the right way.)
　　SCARLETT: How do I look?
　　RHETT: Awful, just awful.
　　SCARLETT: Why, what‘s the matter?
　　RHETT: This war stopped being a joke when a girl like
　　you doesn‘t know how to wear the latest fashion.
　　SCARLETT: Oh, Rhett, let me do it. But Rhett, I don‘t
　　know how I‘d dare wear it.
　　RHETT: You will, though. And another thing. Those
　　pantalets. I don‘t know a woman in Paris wears pantalets
　　anymore.
　　SCARLETT: What do they... you shouldn‘t talk about such
　　things.
　　
　　
　　RHETT: You little "hypocrite, you don‘t mind my knowing
　　about them, just my talking about them.
　　SCARLETT: Rhett, I really can‘t go on accepting these
　　gifts. Though you are awfully kind.
　　RHETT: I‘m not kind, I‘m just tempting you. I never give
　　anything without expecting something in return. I always
　　get paid.
　　SCARLETT: If you think I‘ll marry you just to pay for the
　　bonnet, I won‘t.
　　RHETT: Don‘t flatter yourself, I‘m not a marrying man.
　　SCARLETT: Well, I won‘t kiss you for it, either.
　　RHETT: Open your eyes and look at me. No, I don‘t think
　　I will kiss you. Although you need kissing badly. That‘s
　　what‘s wrong with you. You should be kissed, and often,
　　and by someone who knows how.
　　SCARLETT: And I suppose that you think that you are
　　the proper person.
　　RHETT: I might be, if the right moment ever came.
　　SCARLETT: You‘re a conceited, black- hearted varmint,
　　Rhett Butler, and I don‘t know why I let you come and see
　　me.
　　RHETT: I‘ll tell you why, Scarlett. Because I‘m the only
　　man over sixteen and under sixty who‘s around to show
　　you a good time. But cheer up, the war can‘t last much
　　longer.
　　SCARLETT: Really, Rhett? Why?
　　RHETT: There‘s a little battle going on right now that
　　3_i _ 5. hypocrite: n. ?9^. 56
　　
　　ought to pretty well fix things. One way or the other.
　　SCARLETT: Oh, Rhett, is Ashley in it?
　　RHETT: So you still haven‘t gotten the wooden headed
　　Mr. Wilkes out of your mind? Yes, I suppose he‘s in it.
　　SCARLETT: Oh, tell me, Rhett, where is it?
　　RHETT: Some little town in Pennsylvania called
　　Gettysburg.