Chapter 10 begins as one very lengthy, very funny reaction scene. Lesser talents (i.e. novelists like me!) would have simply topped off the scene at the bazaar with a little internal dialogue from Scarlett. But MM has given herself a huge canvas with hundreds of characters, and we open Chapter 10 with Scarlett sitting at breakfast the morning after her scandalous dance with Rhett, discussing our visitor from Charleston with Pitty and Melly. And instead of having the morning after discussion merely contain Scarlett's own impressions of Rhett, she lets Pitty and Melly voice their own opinions. In a different novel Scarlett would have fallen in love with Rhett instantly and she would have begun voicing her support of him at the breakfast table, but this is Gone With the Wind. Scarlett doesn't even really like Rhett Butler at this point and only danced with him because she likes to party, and his strongest defender at the breakfast table is actually the nearly silent Melly--who is, of course, shrewd enough to couch her approval in appropriate terms.
Scarlett, Melly, and Pitty agree not to let Ellen and Gerald know about Scarlett's scandalous behavior and about the way she danced with such a man as Rhett Butler. But somebody in their circle (one of the old cats) tells Ellen anyway and when she finds out Scarlett's mother is PISSED. And she writes Scarlett a letter to tell her that "[Rhett] is a thoroughly bad character who would take advantage of your youth and innocence to make you conspicuous and publicly disgrace you and your family." Which is...true.
Ellen doesn't know Rhett, but we don't either at this point in the novel. And what little the reader knows about him is pretty bad.Yes, he seems charming and he's exciting and attractive, but it's difficult to locate his center at this juncture. Ashley is all over the place, too, but he's a County guy and Scarlett has known him her whole life, so she knows that he would never do anything to provoke scandal and shame. But Rhett could honestly be up to any and everything. Really. He could.
Gerald comes to Atlanta to bring Scarlett home to Tara for good as a reward for her bad behavior. Scarlett's only real plan for dealing with her father is to weep until he relents, but her childish pouting doesn't really work. Therefore, it's up to Rhett Butler to bail her out by taking Gerald out on the town and getting him drunk and taking his money in a card game. It's interesting here to note that MM has already established Gerald as an excellent card player (he won Tara in a poker game) and a steady-drinker of spirits, but when the two men return to Aunt Pitty's house in the wee hours of the morning Gerald is passed out drunk and has gambled away a substantial sum of cash. Rhett, on the other hand, is sober and amused (as always) and he deposits Gerald on the couch.
After that it's all a cakewalk for Scarlett--now that Gerald has brought shame on the family with his own behavior she can leverage his behavior against her own and stay in Atlanta. Huzzah!
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