Gone with the Wind Part II

Scarlett's marriage only lasts a few nights, as Charles has to go to war. She becomes pregnant and has a son, Wade Hampton. Charles dies, leaving her a 16 year old widow. She does not grieve over much nor does she take much interest in the baby. Melanie has married Ashley. She naively believes that her sister in law is as grieved at Charles' death as she herself is. Scarlett and the baby go to Atlanta to stay with Melanie, and are trapped there by the war, which is soon beginning to go against the South. She meets Rhett Butler again and he asks her to dance at a fund raising party for the war. She is delighted. She has soon grown to hate the restrictions that being a widow puts on her. She lets him flirt with her, and she refuses to pay much attention to the war, or how badly it's going. Melanie becomes pregnant and is due to give birth, when Atlanta is burned. She has a son, Beau, but is very ill. Scarlett manages to get Rhett to steal a horse and buggy to take them out of the city and back to Tara. On the way Melanie is almost dying. Half way along, Rhett starts to feel guilty that he has not joined up. He sees some soldiers and realises that he left others to do the fighting while he used the war to make money. He deserts Scarlett and goes off to join the army. Scarlett manages to transport her maid and the 2 babies and Melanie to Tara, only to find that her mother has died of cholera and her father is helpless and demented.