[Gone with the Wind] Back to the beginning

The body is really tense, as if it is about to go to the battlefield.Scarlett tried her best not to show any more negative emotions. She took out the water bottle from her package and took a sip. The cold water flowed over her lips and throat, and she couldn't help shivering.The look on Rhett's face was unclear, and she handed him another jug ​​of water.

"Are you okay?" Rhett asked, he drank water, his face was gloomy, "did you sleep for a while last night?"

"Maybe half an hour. But I'm not sleepy now," replied Scarlett.Despite her uneasiness and the suspicious unknown terror of the night, she squinted against Rhett for a moment.That was what Rhett had asked her to do, and for some reason now she was getting more and more uneasy.

There was a long silence.Then Rhett spoke first.

"I have to go," he said.

"..."

Scarlett's restrained silence did not cause Rhett too much surprise. The man just turned to the side and said to himself:

"It's time for me to go and serve as a soldier."

He finally said it out.

Finally the other boot hit the ground.Scarlett felt her eyes a little sore, and finally she couldn't help asking: "Rett, why, why?"

Why on earth, she left her again and again, and went to the battlefield that was doomed to fail.

If we say that Scarlett, who was abandoned by Rhett in La Freddy last time, was full of resentment, blank, aggrieved and stubborn, and turned all her weakness into angry curses at that person, and then gritted her teeth and embarked on the journey home.So now Scarlett has accumulated enough courage and experience to face the following journey alone.So, when the existential crisis could be put aside for a while, she was finally able to ask the questions that had plagued her two lifetimes.

Why, Rhett?

"Why?" Rhett repeated her question, and suddenly burst out laughing.There was a twinkle in his dark eyes, and his mouth, gaping to show his forbidding white teeth, looked cold and fierce and savage.He lifted Scarlett out of the shade where they were resting, and grabbed her by the shoulders almost roughly, as if drunk.No, Rhett was never drunk, the more drunk he became, the more honest he became.But—her back hurt so badly, the leaves rattled and fell to the ground.With his hands on her sides, his whole body was oppressive, dangerous, and precarious. He looked at Scarlett and smiled.

"I don't know why, Scarlett."

In this way, Scarlett calmed down instead, the leaves had finished shaking, and the lingering sound of rustling was gone. It was so quiet here, only his short breathing and her strong heartbeat could be heard. "I'm not begging him to stay," she thought. "Now, he and I are capable of doing what we want, and I can go back to Tara alone. I just want to know what he's thinking, Why is he leaving?"

Perhaps her thoughts were written too plainly on her face—a small, surprised gleam in Rhett's eye.

"God knows!" He cursed in a low hoarse voice, with an obscene smug flash across his face, which was both funny and utterly cold, "maybe it's because of the emotional impulse we all have in the south. Maybe—" He hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "Maybe I'm ashamed of myself."

"Shame? Maybe, but you don't need to do that at all..."

"But now I feel that I have to do it, and I am in a hurry to do it." He said, "Scarlett, I don't want to ask you to understand or forgive, and I don't care if you understand or not, because I will never understand myself. Don't forgive the stupidity! I hate myself for having so much Quixote in me--you've got me on that, haven't you? How clever--but our fair South really needs Every man. Isn't that what our great Governor Brown said? Never mind, I'm off to war." His laugh was free and loud and echoed through the woods.

"Enough." She interrupted him suddenly, feeling very sad, "Rhett, you—" What should she say?What can she say?This man knew perfectly well that he was being stupid, and this time being stupid was likely to kill him, and nothing could be changed.Atlanta will eventually fall, and the great cause of the South will disappear in the wind, all of which he knew early on!But he doesn't care about anything!

Every time he really made up his mind, Scarlett thought, she found she couldn't do anything.It was like this in the previous life, and it is also like this in this life.

"Do you think I'd be ashamed of myself, Rhett," she asked, her voice choked up. "Do you think I don't have an ounce of conscience left, or even better than you? I don't have an iota of patriotism and Spirit of sacrifice?"

"But I will never be ashamed! I know what I am doing now, what I am trying to protect, and what price I have to pay. I know it all, but I don't care! There are too many things I can't lose, so shame is nothing ! Even conscience can be thrown away, anyway, I am skilled at throwing it away. Even if it is a lover—"

Isn't she willing to be a mistress for money?

"Rhett Butler, there is probably nothing that can catch your sudden patriotism." She sarcastically said, her heart throbbing, "Probably you will never feel how I feel, because you have always been just Be yourself, and only yourself. Shame is not like a burden, and it is quite fun to pick it up. Of course you can... just walk away."

These words are similar to nonsense, but they hide all her grievances, doubts, worries and fears.He was leaving, leaving her to face an unknown fate.What is waiting for him ahead?Hunger, cold and even death, but he didn't care about it.He was really leaving, and there was nothing she could do.The very thought made Scarlett almost cry.

"It's too dangerous, Rhett," she murmured. "It's too dangerous, it's really too dangerous."

Rhett approached her, he held her cheek with his hand, and stroked her cold and delicate face with his rough fingertips.This is the tone whispered between lovers, why should it be used to illustrate his determination to never go back on his word——

"I know, Scarlett. I know all about it," he whispered, his breath tickling her ears.The scorching temperature came from his palm, "I know it's dangerous, and I know you're worried. But I really want to do this now, I told you, Scarlett, I only have one goal, then It's Rhett Butler. I'll be back."

Scarlett retorted bitterly: "Who's worried about you? I wish you—" But the words were lost in her mouth.

Rhett smiled softly: "I didn't say whether you were worried about me, or whether you were worried about not being able to go back to Tara." A sly light flashed in his eyes, and then he laughed.

"You!" Even at this moment, Rhett had a way of making her angry.Scarlett stared at his shoulder bitterly, and took a breath to calm it down.But time was running out—she thought sadly, knowing both she and him that this was the last time to say goodbye.

Probably out of the same mood, Rhett uncharacteristically stopped teasing her after this small quarrel.He sighed with a wry smile, and said as if he had made up his mind:

"Scarlett, you and I both know how much we are alike," he said, "same scheming, cunning disguise, and stubbornness that won't be seen - well, I have to say, O'Hara Miss, your lovely vanity has stabbed mine again. But maybe mine too. But I think we've done enough testing. Since you won't give in, I'll go first—" He The voice suddenly became warm and tender, and the slow tone was so kind.He whispered, "'If it weren't for the honor, my dear, I never love you so much', that's the right line, isn't it?"

A burst of numbness hit her heart——Scarlett felt countless words rushing from her throat, but her heart was blank.What did he just say?He admitted it?He finally admitted to loving her, Scarlett O'Hara!This frivolous, rude, dissolute and selfish man, but she couldn't let go of him no matter what!Rhett Butler!

"I love you, Scarlett," he said again. "I love you, Scarlett. Because we are both traitors." He laughed softly. "We are both shameless and selfish, dear, As long as I am comfortable and peaceful, I don’t care about the world turning upside down... My dear, you are right, my so-called shame is indeed only for myself. But this is exactly what we are like—” He smiled maliciously , "So you really don't want to promise me? Even for your own shame, huh?"

"What do you mean?" Scarlett couldn't turn her mind for a while.

"What do you mean?" He suddenly had a weird look on his face, but it disappeared soon.Rhett immediately put his arms around her waist and shoulders—the tight thigh muscles pressed against her body, and the buttons of his coat pressed into her chest, and a wave of warmth flowed through Scarlett's body.She was dizzy.

"You don't want to change your mind about what I said that day? There's nothing stronger than danger and death. Give your patriotism, Scarlett. Think of how it takes a soldier to walk with sweet memories Death."

What happened that day?The memory was extremely dull at the moment, as if stuck in a swamp, Scarlett's mind went blank, watching his lips open and close, she felt that time was so slow and his breathing was so long.Yet he had kissed her lips.

His lips pressed against hers, and his beard made her itchy.The kiss was hot, long, and unhurried, as if he still had the whole night.He made her feel cold and hot, and her head was dizzy.His hand reached her shoulder and held it tightly.He made her tremble and lean back slightly, his lips kissed her neck all the way, and kissed the neckline of her corsage buttoned with shell carvings.

"Fantastic," he whispered, "Fantastic."

The cold wind poured in along the unbuttoned neckline, and Scarlett shivered suddenly.The hand she was stroking his back froze—yes, she remembered exactly what he had said to her that day—that failed confession, the demands of his mistress, and that final kiss!That shallow kiss that she thought at least represented a tacit understanding between the two!God, he hasn't given up on the idea yet?And so impatient, do you want to ask her to force her to agree when she is about to leave and go to the battlefield?It's just—

"Let me go!" she said angrily, pushing him away.