Gone With the Wind Read-Along Check-In #3

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Chapters 21-30

In which the Civil War comes to Atlanta, Rhett declares his love while simultaneously abandoning Scarlett to travel through the Yankee and Confederate armies to get home to Tara...if there is anything left of Tara...for everywhere she looks there are only blackened foundations with chimneys still standing. This section begins with Melanie in labor and Scarlett, Prissy, and Wade the only four people left living in Missy Pittypat's house on the north side of Atlanta. Poor little Wade. He was a brave little soul, though he was petrified--and no wonder, it's not as if Scarlett ever tried to really talk with him or demonstrate love for him. He was definitely left to his own devices by his "biological mother," for that is really the only claim Scarlett had to him. After sending Prissy on fruitless missions to bring Mrs. Meade, Dr. Meade, etc., Scarlett finally leaves Melanie to search for Dr. Meade herself and upon finding him discovers there is no way he will abandon the thousands of wounded in Atlanta: 
  Scarlett began to shake and her eyes burned with tears of fright. The doctor wasn't coming with her. Melanie would die and she had wished that she would die. The doctor wasn't coming. 
..."Child, I'll try. I can't promise you. But I'll try. When we get these men tended to. The Yankees are coming and the troops are moving out of town. I don't know what they'll do with the wounded. There aren't any trains. The Macon line has been captured... But I'll try. Run along now. Don't bother me. There's nothing much to bringing a baby. Just tie up the cord...." (253)
When Melanie learns the Yankees are coming she tells Scarlett,
  "Oh, Scarlett, you mustn't stay here. You must go and take Wade."
  What Melanie said was no more than Scarlett had been thinking but hearing it put into words infuriated her, shamed her as if her secret cowardice was written plainly in her face.
  "Don't be a goose. I'm not afraid. You know I won't leave you." 
  "You might as well. I'm going to die." (257)
If you've never given birth this last statement of Melanie's might sound overly-dramatic, however, for someone predicted to have a difficult time of labor and delivery, I'm sure that could be exactly her belief at that moment! That first time can definitely be daunting! Under the best of circumstances... And let it be known that Scarlett's apparent devotion at this point in time stemmed strictly from her promise to Ashley--she was determined to keep Melanie and their baby alive if at all possible so she would not let him down. She still loved him. 

I have always loved Rhett, probably just as much for his onneriness in honesty than anything else! :) Once the baby is born, Prissy is finally able to track him down, asking him to bring a horse and wagon to transport them all to Tara...away from Atlanta that is now alit by the Confederates' own hands, to avoid the Yankees getting more ammunition, arms, and supplies when they rolled into town... Rhett finally arrives with a horse that looks to be taking it's last breath and steps and a very small old beat-up nearly broken down wagon with leaning wheels:
  "Good evening, he said," in his drawling voice, as he removed his hat with a sweeping gesture. "Fine weather we're having. I hear you're going to take a trip." 
  "If you make any jokes, I shall never speak to you again," she said with quivering voice.
  "Don't tell me you are frightened!" He pretended to be surprised and smiled in a way that made her long to push him backwards down the steep steps. 
  "Yes, I am! I'm frightened to death and if you had the sense God gave a goat, you'd be frightened too. But we haven't got time to talk. We must get out of here." (263-64)
Now is when Scarlett finally breaks down and admits she just wants to go home, to her mother, and she will, even if she must walk every step of the way. As she yells this and cries into Rhetts chest:
...His hands caressed her tumbled hair gently, soothingly, and his voice was gentle too. So gentle, so quiet, so devoid of mockery, it did not seem Rhett Butler's voice at all but the voice of some kind strong stranger she smelled of brandy and tobacco and horses, comforting smells because they reminded her of Gerald.
  "There, there, darling,' he said softly. "Don't cry. You shall go home, my brave little girl. You shall go home. Don't cry." (264)
Rhett finally gets them packed into the wagon (including Charles' sword and pistol, at Melanie's whispered request) and takes off, but not before laughing at Scarlett when she wants to rush back to "lock the door." :) They must either go through or circumvent Atlanta and out the south side--they literally make a dash through the fire at one point. Though I'm sure the special effects in this movie are amateurish compared to what is done now with the aid of computers, etc, I still remember this as one of the most suspenseful and frightening movie scenes ever...of course, I was only 13 when I watched this movie the first time, and on a large theater screen! Once they're beyond what was Atlanta, Rhett stops the wagon and discusses with her the various routes that are blocked:
  Good. Maybe you can get past Rough and Ready all right. General Steve Lee was there during the afternoon covering the retreat. Maybe the Yankees aren't there yet. Maybe you can get through there, if Steve Lee's men don't pick up your horse."
  "I-I can get through?"
  "Yes, you." His voice was rough. 
  "But Rhett-- You-- Aren't you going to take us?"
  "No. I'm leaving you here."
  She looked around wildly, at the livid sky behind them, at the dark trees on either hand hemming them in like a prison wall, at the frightened figures in the back of the wagon--and finally at him. Had she gone crazy? Was she not hearing right? 
  He was grinning now. She could just see his white teeth in the faint light and the old mockery was back in his eyes. 
  "Leaving us? Where--where are you going?"
  "I am going, dear girl, with the army." 
  "Rhett, you are joking?"
  She grabbed his arm and felt her tears of fright splash down on her wrist. He raised her hand and kissed it airily.
  "Selfish to the end, aren't you, my dear? Thinking only of your own precious hide and not of the gallant Confederacy. Think how our troops will be heartened by my eleventh-hour appearance." There was a malicious tenderness in his voice.
  "Oh, Rhett," she wailed, how can you do this to me? Why are you leaving me?"
  "Why?" he laughed jauntily. "Because, perhaps, of the betraying sentimentality that lurks in all of us Southerners. Perhaps--perhaps because I am ashamed. Who knows?" 
  "Ashamed? You should die of shame. To desert us here, alone, helpless--"
  "Dear Scarlett! You aren't helpless. Anyone as selfish and determined as you are is never helpless. God help the Yankees if they should get you."  
At which, he jumps from the wagon and lifts her out with him...

"'I could not love thee, Dear, so much, loved I not Honour more,' That's a pat speech, isn't it? Certainly better than anything I can think up myself, at the present moment. For I do love you, Scarlett, in spite of what I said that night on the porch last month."
  His drawl was caressing and his hands slid up her bare arms, warm strong hands. "I love you, Scarlett, because we are so much alike, renegades, both of us, dear, and selfish rascals. Neither of us cares a rap if the whole world goes to pot, so long as we are safe and comfortable."
  Then his arms went around her waist and shoulders and she felt the hard muscles of his thighs against her body and the buttons of his coat pressing into her breast. A warm tide of feeling, bewildering, frightening, swept over her, carrying out of her mind the time and place and circumstances. She felt as limp as a rag doll, warm, weak and helpless, and his supporting arms were so pleasant.
  "You don't want to change your mind about what I said last month?" (271-272)
As she is enjoying him kissing her, she hears
  "Muvver! Wade Fwightened!" (272)
And she sees the wagon and "cold sanity" returns to her in a flash--the realities of her situation and
  "Oh, you cad!" she cried....and drew back her arm and slapped him across the mouth with all the force she had left.
..."Go on! Go on now! I want you to hurry. I don't want to ever see you again. I hope a cannon ball lands right on you. I hope it  blows you to a million pieces. I hope--"
  "Never mind the rest. I follow your general idea. When I'm dead on the altar of my country. I hope your conscience hurts you."  (273)
For me, this summarizes the romance between Rhett and Scarlett completely. The first time I read this book, it was at this point that I assumed they would never end up together. Two people that selfish...that could never work, could it?

Then we complete the long arduous journey through the bleak countryside as Wade, Prissy, Melanie and her baby, and Scarlett travel back to Tara: 
  There was death in the air....They had not seen a living human being or animal since the night before. Dead men and dead horses, yes, and dead mules, lying by the road, swollen, covered with flies, but nothing alive. No far-off cattle lowed, no birds sang, no wind waves the trees. Only the tired plop-plop of the horse's feet and the weak wailing of Melanie's baby broke the stillness. (277)
If you've ever lived in the country or spent much time there, you know what she means, there is always noise--crickets, frogs, birds, fluttering leaves... Where Mitchell before described the lush green landscape with fields flush with billowing cotton plants, we now experience the destruction left behind by occupation. And when Scarlett finally makes it to Tara, she is overjoyed to see the homestead still standing. Her father is alive though non-responsive for the most part and unable to believe her mother is gone, still waiting for her to come to the supper table, etc. Her dear mother, Ellen, passed away just the day before, yelling her first and only true love's name. Both of her sisters are still extremely ill, but appear to be recovering. Mammy, Pork, and Dilcey are the only three slaves who didn't run away when the Yankees came to Tara. Fortunately, Dilcey has a young baby and is able to wet-nurse Beau, Melanie and Ashley's son. There is virtually no food anywhere for anyone. It is in discussion with Pork, the houseman, that Mitchell allows Scarlett to espouse the typical Southern prejudicial beliefs. As she quizzes Pork about the sweet potato hills and Gerald's buried corn whisky, he realizes he'd forgotten about both of these and she thinks,
  How stupid negroes were! They never thought of anything unless they were told. And the Yankees wanted to free them. (285) 
You can almost hear her Tsk! Tsk! at the end of that thought... This is historically correct, being the prevailing opinion amongst the overwhelming majority of 'Southern whites,' and among many of the 'Northern whites,' at the time. 

That first night at Tara Scarlett drinks corn whiskey:

  She did not know she was drunk, drunk with fatigue and whisky. She only knew she had left her tired body and floated somewhere above it where there was no pain and no weariness and her brain saw things with an inhuman clarity.
  She was seeing things with new eyes for, somewhere along the long road to Tara, she had left her girlhood behind her. She was no longer plastic clay, yielding imprint to each new experience. The clay had hardened, some time in this indeterminate day which had lasted a thousand years. Tonight was the last time she would ever be ministered to as a child. She was a woman now and youth was gone. (294)
And this is the turning point, when Scarlett uses her determined stubbornness to save them all from starvation. 

Scarlett walks miles that first day to Twelve Oaks to scavenge in the gardens where there are only slave cabins left standing and no people living. As she looks at the ashes of the grand house, 
  "I won't think of it now. I can't stand it now. I'll think of it later,"...turning her eyes away.  
  (298)

And it is in one of the gardens by the slave cabins that she finally finds a row of radishes and eats until she retches uncontrollably. Once she recovers enough to stand up, she fills her basket with vegetables and walks in the direction of Tara and stated those famous lines,
  As God is my witness, as God is my witness, the Yankees aren't going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's over, I'm never going to be hungry again. No, nor any of my folks. If I have to steal or kill--as God is my witness, I'm never going to be hungry again." (300)
This was portrayed much more dramatically in the movie--it is a great scene!

  Scarlett reigned supreme at Tara now and, like others suddenly elevated to authority, all the bullying instinct in her nature rose to the surface. It was not that she was basiclaly unkind. It was because she was frightened and unsure of herself that she was harsh lest others learn her inadequacies and refuse her authority. (302)
I don't know who was more shocked, Carreen and Suellen or Mammy and Pork, by Scarlett's expectations that each and every person pitch in and do whatever needed to be done: splitting wood, making beds, hauling water buckets, picking cotton, scavenging for vegetables... She saves them all from certain starvation by killing a Yankee soldier with Charles' pistol and gains quite a bounty of cash and gold from his pockets. It is the first time that Scarlett sees any similarity between herself and Melanie. As Melanie stands on the stairway landing, taking in the scene of the dead soldier and Charles' smoking pistol in Scarlett's hand:
  In the silence her eyes met Scarlett's. There was a glow of grim pride in her usually gentle face, approbation and a fierce joy in her smile that equaled the fiery tumult in Scarlett's own bosom.
  "Why--why--she's like me! She understands how I feel!" thought Scarlett in that long moment. "She'd have done the same thing!" (308)

One of the neighbors rides up and warns them the Yankees are coming--again! They had used Tara as a base of operation the first time, hence, sparing it. At the last minute, with Beau in her arms and Wade clinging to her skirt, she decides to stay with the house, and inform them they will have to burn it down over her head, just as Gerald had done when they arrived the first time. And, although they ripped up the furniture and took whatever they could find, they didn't burn the house, nor did they discover any of the others who were hiding in the swamp with food, hogs, the horse and cattle. 

Uncle Peter arrives from Atlanta with a letter to Melanie informing her that he is coming home! However, he is most likely on foot, so they don't expect him for weeks or maybe months...and thus began the constant string of displaced soldiers arriving singly, in pairs, or small groups on their way through, asking for food and rest, and they accommodated all of them, with Mammy making sure they washed well with lye soap as their clothes soaked in a lye solution. She was determined that none of the lice would remain at Tara after these carriers were gone! Mammy is ever the practical one! One of these soldiers, Will, was particularly ill after a year in a Yankee prison; they nursed him to health and he stayed on to help, as repayment to them. Then one day a sole soldier is walking down the long lane toward the house and all of a sudden Melanie recognizes this one and 
  Down the graveled path she flew, skimming lightly as a bird, her faded skirts streaming behind her, her arms outstretched. As Scarlett prepares to launch herself forward to do the same,
...Will's hand closed upon her skirt. 
  "Don't spoil it," he said quietly.
  "Turn me loose, you fool! Turn me loose! It's Ashley!"
  He did not relax his grip.
  "After all, he's her husband, ain't he?" Will asked calmly, and looking down at him in a confusion of joy and impotent fury, Scarlett saw in the quiet depths of his eyes understanding and pity." (362)

I do believe this is my favorite part of this book. It establishes Rhett's love for Scarlett and her status as a true hero in many ways, though her heart hardens even more in most ways even as she toils ceaselessly to save them all, and Ashley and Beau both live. Scarlett realizes the value of the land and Tara itself as an entity that can shelter and feed them, as well as create a living for them...

What are your thoughts about Scarlett and the others in this part of the story? I was always baffled by Rhett's sudden "change of heart" regarding the army--it never quite made sense to me, except he was born and raised an elite Southerner... I think it took as long to compose this post as it did to read this section! I wanted to tell it all to you!! Mitchell's writing is absolutely enthralling, although she covers much territory with concise wordsmanship!

I am getting very anxious to finish the book and watch the movie! 

Gone With the Wind Read-Along Check-In #2

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Chapters 11-20

My biggest revelation from this section? How could I have ever forgotten the details of Rhett's profession of attraction (not sure I would exactly call it "love"...?) to Scarlett?!? But I had! 

In reading Ashley's letters sent to Melanie, Scarlett rationalizes...
She knew Ellen would rather see her dead than know her guilty of such dishonor. This had worried Scarlett at first, for she still wanted to be like her mother in every respect. But the temptation to read the letters was too great and she put the thought of Ellen out of her mind. She had become adept at putting unpleasant thoughts out of her mind these days. She had learned to say, "I won't think of this or that bothersome thought now, I'll think about it tomorrow." Generally when tomorrow came, the thought either did not occur at all or it was so attenuated by the delay it was not very troublesome. So the matter of Ashley's letters did not lie very heavily on her conscience. (146)
But honestly, what did 'lie heavily' on Scarlett's conscience? Not much, from what I can tell! She pretty much sets her own rules and guidelines whenever possible...

Pre-War Scarlett!

Scarlett becomes bored by Ashley's words after reading this:
  I am not afraid of danger or capture or wounds or even death, if death must come, but I do fear that once this war is over, we will never get back to the old times. And I belong in those old times. I do not belong in this mad present of killing and I fear I will not fit into any future, try though I may. Nor will you, my dear, for you and I are of the same blood. I do not know what the future will bring, but it cannot be as beautiful or as satisfying as the past. (148)
Mitchell describes how these 'old ways' have already changed: marriages are happening within days, the old decorum of courting and all the rules and delays that go with it are out the window as men who fear being killed within days or months are anxious to marry now! 
...you had asked me what was in my heart, and the fear of defeat is there. Do you remember at the barbecue, the day our engagement was announced, that a man named Butler, a Charlestonian by his accent, nearly caused a fight by his remarks about the ignorance of Southerners? ...We should have paid heed to cynics like Butler who knew, instead of statesmen who felt--and talked. He said, in effect, that the South had nothing with which to wage war but cotton and arrogance. Our cotton is worthless and what he called arrogance is all that is left. But I call that arrogance matchless courage. (148)

Sorry, just LOVE Clark Ga...Rhett! Yum!

As Melanie informs Aunt Pittypat of Ashley's true thoughts,
..."He thinks the war is all wrong but he's willing to fight and die anyway, and that takes lots more courage than fighting for something you think is right." (164)
Scarlett is shocked to
...realize that anyone as absolutely perfect as Ashley could have any thought in common with such a reprobate as Rhett Butler. She thought: "They both see the truth of this war, but Ashley is willing to die about it and Rhett isn't. I think that shows Rhett's good sense." She paused a moment, horror struck that she could have such a thought about Ashley. "They both see the same unpleasant truth, but Rhett likes to look it in the face and enrage people by talking about it--and Ashley can hardly bear to face it." 
  It was very bewildering. (164) 

Her only curiosity about the letters was to know if Ashley wrote impassioned letters to his wife, and he did not. To her mind, that meant he truly didn't love Melanie and did love her. She surmised, 
He lives inside his head instead of outside in the world and he hates to come out into the world and--Oh, I don't know what it is! If I'd just understood this one thing about him years ago, I know he'd have married me. (149)
Actually, Scarlett...he is 'cerebral'--you however, are NOT! Oh, Scarlett, your emotions haven't changed since you were 14 years old regarding Ashley. Granted, that was only 4-5 years ago, but...really! I find myself angrier about her Ashley obsession earlier on than I have been in past readings! Guess I'm older and a bit more impatient with her. And it's just wrong! He is married to another woman--your own sister-in-law and housemate, for goodness sake! :) (Perhaps this is now much more important to me than it was in the past, having been betrayed by a spouse...)
...her dream asked no more than acknowledgement of his love, went no further than hopes of a kiss. (150)
She was done with marriage, but not with love, for her love for Ashley was something different,...sacred and breath-takingly beautiful, an emotion that grew slealthily through the long days of her enforced silence, feeding on oft-thumbed memories and hopes. (150)
Can we say 'Drama Queen'? ;)

Rhett had effectively 'released' Scarlett from the bonds of mourning and social isolation at the bazaar and continued to take her out whenever in Atlanta; this was yet another 'convention' that was undone by the war, especially as long as Scarlett willingly worked as a nurse caring for the wounded, who were literally lying in the streets, due to overcrowding/lack of hospital beds and/or lack of any shelter. Though nursing was enlivening to her in the beginning (and got her out among people), as she could convince so many of these soldiers she really cared for them and win their adoration and attention, it eventually became no more or less than an unpleasant and grisly chore to her. And though Rhett's attentions were a welcome distraction, 
...there always lurked in the back of her mind the disquieting memory that he had seen her at her worst and knew the truth about Ashley. It was this knowledge that checked her tongue when he annoyed her. And he annoyed her frequently. (153)
  For all his exasperating qualities, she grew to look forward to his calls. There was something exciting about him that she could not analyze, something different from any man she had ever known. There was something breath-taking in the grace of his big body which made his very entrance into a room like an abrupt physical impact, something in the impertinence and bland mockery of his dark eyes that challenged her spirit to subdue him. 
  "It's almost like I was in love with him!" she thought, bewildered. "But I'm not and I just can't understand it." (154)
Oh, Scarlett, if only you would listen to yourself!! :) You might have saved yourself and those around you so much sorrow! And who was Rhett's sole and most stalwart advocate in Atlanta society? Not Scarlett...no, it was Melanie! She would never forget his generosity in returning her wedding band AND his unfailing courtesy toward her. Though outside of the many military heroes, he was the most talked about man in Atlanta at the time, "...she felt that what he needed was the love of a good woman." (155) Rhett would have been quite amused had he known... 
  There were few ladies who could resist his charms when he chose to exert them, and finally even Mrs. Merriwether unbent and invited him to Sunday dinner. (157)

The Merriwether's learn of their oldest son's death...

One of the most heartbreaking practices was families and friends waiting for each day's listing of the dead. As a mother to three sons (and grandmother of 7) I cannot imagine the agony of waiting to see if your loved one, distant relative, neighbor, friend is included. Awful that we humans kill each other...

Rhett keeps trying to get Scarlett to quit wearing black clothing, especially since she is attending all social activities anyway. (This is one of my favorite scenes!) So he brings her a green bonnet! When she asks whose it is, Rhett replies,
"It's your bonnet, who else could wear that shade of green? Don't you think I carried the color of your eyes well in my mind?" (169)
Aw...how romantic! :) As Scarlett asks the price and offers to pay for it over time, Rhett replies,
  "I don't want any money for it,...it's a gift."
  Scarlett's mouth dropped open. The line was so closely, so carefully drawn where gifts from men were concerned. 
  ...I simply can't tell him I won't accept it. It's too darling. I'd--I'd almost rather he took a liberty, if it was a very small one." Then she

was horrified at herself for having such a thought and she turned pink. (170)
Eventually, Rhett does no more than graze her cheek with a 'kiss,' though she was all puckered up waiting for a real kiss, as he points out to her! Scarlett muses,
If he didn't want to marry her and didn't even want to kiss her, what did he want? If he wasn't in love with her, why did he call so often and bring her presents?
  "That's better," he said. "Scarlett, I'm a bad influence on you and if you have any sense you will send me packing--if you can. I'm very hard to get rid of. But I'm bad for you."

"...I shall bring you presents as long as it pleases me and so long as I see things that will enhance your charms....And I warn you that I am not kind. I am tempting you with bonnets and bangles and leading you into a pit. Always remember I never do anything without reason and I never give anything without expecting something in return. I always get paid." (172)
At least he did warn her! :) 

The very next day Melanie is appalled because she allowed Belle Watling, an infamous local "madame" to talk to her and give her money for the hospital...which was wrapped up in a monogrammed handkerchief which Scarlett immediately recognizes as one of Rhett's since she has one just like it, and thinks, "Oh,...if I just wasn't a lady, what wouldn't I tell that varmint!" Hah! Poor Scarlett. Was that perhaps the jealous bug biting?  

Scarlett makes a sash for Ashley's gift...

While home on leave, Ashley admits to Scarlett, 
"I think the Yankees have us....[They] are buying soldiers from Europe by the thousands! Most of the prisoners we've taken recently can't even speak English. They're Germans and Poles and wild Irishmen who talk Gaelic. But when we lose a man, he can't be replaced. When our shoes wear out, there are no more shoes. We're bottled up, Scarlett. And we can't fight the whole world." 
Ashley explains that this is why he is asking Scarlett to
"...look after Melanie. She's so frail and weak and you're so strong, Scarlett. It will be a comfort to me to know that you two are together if anything happens to me. You will promise, won't you?" 
  "Oh, yes!" she cried, for at that moment, seeing death at his elbow she would have promised anything. (192)
Scarlett had no idea what the implications of this rash promise would mean for her future. Just as he is leaving Ashley is weak enough to allow Scarlett to see his true feelings of love for her. This just gives her more hope overall. And I'm still irritated with her for all this trying to hang on to what I feel is nothing more than a 'school-girl crush'!! ;)

Rhett pulls strings to learn that Ashley has been taken prisoner and refused to take an oath and join the Yankees to save himself from imprisonment. Scarlett was angry that he'd not taken the oath and then deserted. When she asked Rhett if that isn't what he would have done,
  "Of course," said Rhett, his teeth showing beneath his mustache.
  "Then why didn't Ashley do it?"
  "He's a gentleman," said Rhett, and Scarlett wondered how it was possible to convey such cynicism and contempt in that one honorable word. (200)
In this case, honorable does not necessarily denote smart in a self-preserving way, does it? 

Though I'm no big fan of war or fighting strategies, Mitchell's description of the Yankee approach toward Atlanta through charges, retreats, and encirclement was rather fascinating... 

And finally, Rhett's profession to Scarlett:
"...while I like you immensely, I do not love you and it would be tragic indeed for you to suffer twice from unrequited love, wouldn't it?"..."I should love you, for you are charming and talented at many useless accomplishments. But many ladies have charm and accomplishments and are just as useless as you are. No, I don't love you. But I do like you tremendously--for the elasticity of your conscience, for the selfishness which you seldom trouble to hide, and for the shrewd practicality in you which, I fear, you get from some not too remote Irish-peasant ancestor."..."I want you more than I have ever wanted any woman--and I've waited longer for you than I've ever waited for any woman." 
  "Are you asking me to marry you?" 
  "Good Lord, no! Didn't I tell you I wasn't a marrying man?"
  "But--but--what--"
  He rose to his feet and, hand on heart, made her a burlesque bow.
  "Dear," he said quietly, "I am complimenting your intelligence by asking you to be my mistress without having first seduced you." 
  "Mistress! What would I get out of that except a passel of brats?" 
  And then her jaw dropped in horror as she realized what she had said.
  He laughed until he choked...
  "That's why I like you! You are the only frank woman I know, the only woman who looks on the practical side of matters without beclouding the issue with mouthings about sin and morality. Any other woman would have swooned first and then shown me the door." (237-238)
Oh, Scarlett, and this is why I love you so!! 

I love reliving this book 10 chapters at a time! Cannot wait until I've read it completely and then I will watch the movie for about the 9th time or somewhere in that range! If you've never read GWtW you really should give it a try!