How It All Goes Down
- The next day Scarlett visits Rhett in prison.
- The Yankees let her in, and Scarlett and Rhett banter; as they do, Scarlett tries to convince him she's prosperous and has forgiven him for deserting her and is worried about him.
- Rhett is almost convinced, but then he notices that her hands are raw and worn, which means she's poor, which means she's lying to him. Oops.
- He gets her whole story out of her, all while being fairly nasty.
- Thing is, though, that he's lying to her, too, by pretending he doesn't care about her.
- Scarlett offers to be his mistress if he'll pay the taxes. He is amused, and also really mean about it.
- She asks him if he'll give her the money now that she's told the truth and he says he can't.
- All his money is in distant banks, and he can't draw it out without the Yankees getting it.
- Scarlett is so angry she faints; there is a bustle. Rhett tells the guards when they come in that Scarlett was overcome by hearing he was going to be executed, which is pretty funny.
- Rhett tells her she looked too hard and brutal when she offered to be his mistress, that she needs to be feminine to attract a man.
- He's given her this advice before. So have others. Gone With the Wind: Keeping things racist and sexist since 1936.