Rhett was leaning over her when she woke, and without a word he picked her up in his
arms like a child and held her close, his hard muscles comforting, his wordless murmuring soothing, until her sobbing ceased.
"Oh, Rhett, I was so cold and so hungry and so tired and I couldn't find it. I ran through the mist and I ran but I couldn't find it."
"Find what, honey?"
"I don't know. I wish I did know."
"Is it your old dream?"
"Oh, yes!"
He gently placed her on the bed, fumbled in the darkness and lit a candle. In the light his face with bloodshot eyes and harsh lines was as unreadable as stone. His shirt, opened to the waist, showed a brown chest covered with thick black hair. Scarlett, still shaking with fright, thought how strong and unyielding that chest was, and she whispered: "Hold me, Rhett."
"Darling!" he said swiftly, and picking her up he sat down in a large chair, cradling her body against him.
"Oh, Rhett, it's awful to be hungry."
"It must be awful to dream of starvation after a seven-course dinner including that
enormous crawfish." He smiled but his eyes were kind.
"Oh, Rhett, I just run and run and hunt and I can't ever find what it is I'm hunting for. It's always hidden in the mist. I know if I could find it, I'd be safe forever and ever and never be cold or hungry again."
"Is it a person or a thing you're hunting?"
"I don't know. I never thought about it. Rhett, do you think I'll ever dream that I get there to safety?"
"No," he said, smoothing her tumbled hair, "I don't. Dreams aren't like that. But I do think that if you get used to being safe and warm and well fed in your everyday life, you'll stop dreaming that dream. And, Scarlett, I'm going to see that you are safe."
"Rhett, you are so nice."
"Thanks for the crumbs from your table, Mrs. Dives. Scarlett, I want you to say to
yourself every morning when you wake up: 'I can't ever be hungry again and nothing can ever touch me so long as Rhett is here and the United States government holds out."
"The United States government?" she questioned, sitting up, startled, tears still on her cheeks.
"The ex-Confederate money has now become an honest woman. I invested most of it in government bonds."
"God's nightgown!" cried Scarlett, sitting up in his lap, forgetful of her recent terror. "Do you mean to tell me you've loaned your money to the Yankees?"
"At a fair per cent."
"I don't care if it's a hundred percent! You must sell them immediately. The idea of letting the Yankees have the use of your money!"
"And what must I do with it?" he questioned with a smile, noting that her eyes were no longer wide with fright.
"Why--why buy property at Five Points. I'll bet you could buy all of Five Points with the money you have."
"Thank you, but I wouldn't have Five Points. Now that the Carpetbagger government has really gotten control of Georgia, there's no telling what may happen, I wouldn't put anything beyond the swarm of buzzards that's swooping down on Georgia now from north, east, south and west. I'm playing along with them, you understand, as a good Scalawag should do, but I don't trust them. And I'm not putting my money in real estate. I prefer bonds. You can hide them. You can't hide real estate very easily."
"Do you think--"she began, paling as she thought of the mills and store.
"I don't know. But don't look so frightened, Scarlett. Our charming new governor is a good friend of mine. It's just that times are too uncertain now and I don't want much of my money tied up in real estate."
He shifted her to one knee and, leaning back, reached for a cigar and lit it. She sat with her bare feet dangling, watching the play of muscles on his brown chest, her terrors forgotten.
"And while we are on the subject of real estate, Scarlett," he said, "I am going to build a house. You might have bullied Frank into living in Miss Pitty's house, but not me. I don't believe I could bear her vaporings three times a day and, moreover, I believe Uncle Peter would
assassinate me before he would let me live under the sacred Hamilton roof. Miss Pitty can get Miss India Wilkes to stay with her and keep the bogyman away. When we get back to Atlanta we are going to stay in the bridal suite of the National Hotel until our house is finished. Before we left Atlanta I was dickering for that big lot on Peachtree, the one near the Leyden house. You know the one I mean?"
"Oh, Rhett, how lovely! I do so want a house of my own. A great big one!"