Gone with the Wind Part VIII

Scarlett makes a slow recovery from her miscarriage, and Rhett tries to persuade Melanie to get Ashley to buy out the mill, and run it, partly because he wants his wife to work less hard but also to sever the link between her and Ashley. Scarlett is watching Bonnie riding her pony, and as she watches Bonnie puts the pony at a higher fence and falls, breaking her neck. Rhett is devastated and Scarlett attacks him for encouraging the child to ride and jump fences and buying her a spirited pony. He begins to drink heavily. She feels guilty then and tries to persuade him to give their marriage another chance and have another child. He shrugs her off and goes on drinking. He is beginning to feel that he was wrong to turn against his southern heritage and he wants to reconnect with his roots again, to visit places where the Old South still exists. Scarlett goes to Tara for a holiday, to rest and then is summoned back to Atlanta, by a telegram to say that Melanie is very ill. SHe hurries back and Rhett takes her to Melanie's house, explaining that she had become pregnant and had been told when Beau was born that she should not have any more children.. and the pregnancy ended in miscarriage. Scarlett goes in to see Melanie who is very ill and she asks her to look after Beau and Ashley. She promises that she will do so, but realises that she does not really want Ashley any more and that he only wanted her on a physical level. When she gets home, she tries to tell Rhett that she now knows that he is the one she loves. He laughs at her, saying that she has found out how dull Ashley is and no longer wants him. She tries to explain and he laughs again and tells her that she is such a child, that she thinks she can just say sorry and be forgiven and make up for all the hurt she has caused. He tells her that he did really love her when they got married but he knew that if he revealed his love, she would bully him and so he concealed it. He says it is too late to make up for the fissures in their marriage, and that he'll give her a divorce. She says no, and he says that he will go travelling, trying to find the Old South and places where he can fit in, after his years of estrangement from his roots, but he'll come back often enough to avoid gossip about their marriage. He tells her that he has just stopped loving her and no longer cares what she does. He walks out and Scarlett collapses in tears. She then shakes herself up and tells herself that she can get him back, and that she will think of her problems tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day.