It is amazing how fast two weeks can go by when someone is very busy. During that time, Scarlett spent every waking moment preparing herself to visit Dansboro. However busy she may be, studying the new styles, trying on dresses, or practicing her flirting techniques, she still made sure to keep a promise that she made to herself to spend at least two hours a day with her daughter. The only problem with this was that with every moment spent with Kat, Scarlett became increasingly nervous about what the king would say when he found out she had a daughter. It would definately ruin the lighthearted image that she was trying to convey, as well as bring up many questions. And she was not quite sure just how much of her past she wanted to reveal to this king on her first official visit.
Finally, the day had come for Scarlett to complete the long journey to the king's castle. I would like to tell you that it was a beautiful day with the sun shining and flowers blooming and only a light breeze, but instead it was quite the opposite. It was a cold drizzly day, with the first signs of winter in the air when Scarlett departed. In fact each of the three carriages that took Scarlett and her entourage to the castle got stuck in the mud at least once during the course of their journey. And to make things worse Kat became very impatient and complained most of the way. Her nanny, Katie, was able to keep her relatively quiet, but Scarlett knew that Kat would not be subdued forever, and she feared that subduing her now meant that she would be filled with energy later.
When the group finally reached Dansboro Castle, it was dark and cold outside, but at least the rain had stopped. They entered through the main entrance of the castle, which looked very different from the entrance that Scarlett had last walked through. The dark stones and gargoyles gave the castle a solemn, church-like appearance and once inside the stained windows and high ceilings appealed to this allusion. The butler greeted everyone and showed them upstairs to their rooms with promises of their bags shortly and dinner in an hour.
Katie had advised Scarlett to hire a few temporary servants to accompany her in addition to Clara, so that she might give off a more royal image. These servants were now put to work and Scarlett was quite happy as she was reminded of the old days at Tara where she had countless servants. Clara took her the first dress, a beautiful blue evening gown with silver trim that matched Scarlett's diamond necklace. Scarlett gasped with excitment before getting dressed and dismissing her servants to go attend to the others. Shortly afterwards Cathy entered her chambers, wearing an elegant red dress with gold trim that she had taken from Scarlett when she got rid of all her old clothes to make room for the new ones. They chatted for a bit until one of the castle's servants informed them that it was dinner time.
Scarlett followed by her ensemble of Cathy and Kat gracefully decended the stairs to find a very handsome king looking up at her from above. Scarlett put on her best and most flirtacious smile as she approached the moment that she had been dreading for two weeks. She reached the bottom of the stairs and gave a low curtsy in front of the king, who then took her hand and kissed it. "Your majesty, may I present my cousin Cathy O'Hara..." who also gave a low bow to the king, "...and my daughter, Katie O'hara," who gave an overdramatic curtsy and almost fell over.
The look on the King's face gave his emotions away instantly, the shock of realizing that the young woman he was in love with was not quite so young an innocent as she appeared was obvious in the way that his eyes widened, and how he had to take a moment to compose himself. Scarlett saw this, but responded only by brightening her smile and replying, "Shall we go to dinner," as she slid her arm under the king's in an effort to persuede him to turn and start walking. She could feel that his body had stiffenned, but admired him for acting like a gentlemen, taking it all in stride. Her only hope was that she had not fallen from grace in his eyes...
Rhett Butler sat in the giant chair behind his monsterous desk in his office, smoking another cigar. He picked up the newspaper as he had a thousand times before and reread the short obituary that he had written for his wife.
Elizabeth Hampton Butler,18,wife of
Rhett Butler, died September 7,1877.
at St. Francis Hospital in Charleston.
Henry James Butler, 2 days, son of
Rhett and Elizabeth Butler, died
September 8,1877 at St. Francis
Hospital in Charleston.
A Memorial Service for both
mother and child, will be held
this Sunday at St. James
Episcopal Church at 3pm.
The last few days continued to run over and over in his head as he set the newpaper back on the desk. The cigar, now nothing but ashes on the floor remained in his hand as he contemplated what to do next. The thought of Scarlett passed through his head, as it did from time to time, less so as time had passed since he has last seen her. But at this moment, it seemed like he had just seen her. He remembered her distinctly, her look, her smell, that smile, the way she made him feel... something he had not felt since that last day standing in the door way his heart breaking as he told the love of his life goodbye...
Will King James get used to Kat? What will Rhett do next? Find out next chapter!