Why is Rhett permitted to be a frequent caller at Pittypat's house?

Rhett Butler is permitted at Aunt Pitty's house because there are many strange men in Atlanta and Pittypat is very trepidatious. Also, Scarlett really enjoys riding in his carriage as he escorts her to danceables and bazaars; then, afterwards, he waits at the hospitals and escorts Scarlett home. Pittypat herself can offer no resistance when he compliments her elaborately, or when he brings her "small luxuries" from his trips to Nassau. Moreover, he is of...

Rhett Butler is permitted at Aunt Pitty's house because there are many strange men in Atlanta and Pittypat is very trepidatious. Also, Scarlett really enjoys riding in his carriage as he escorts her to danceables and bazaars; then, afterwards, he waits at the hospitals and escorts Scarlett home. Pittypat herself can offer no resistance when he compliments her elaborately, or when he brings her "small luxuries" from his trips to Nassau. Moreover, he is of great service to the Confederate cause, running four boats to various ports for supplies for the army and evading the Union blockades. Therefore, polite society forgives some of Mr. Butler's "indiscretions" of the past.

The little luxuries that Aunt Pitty receives are things impossible to obtain at home, so she lacks "the moral stamina to refuse them." After accepting his gifts, Aunt Pittypat then feels that she can not refuse to let Mr. Butler call upon Scarlett, especially since his visits are usually for the war cause. Besides, she feels that all the lone women in her house need a man in their house to protect them.

Because of his reputation for being a professional gambler who has disgraced his family and ruined some poor girl long ago in Charleston, Rhett Butler would have been a social outcast. However, the conditions of war and Butler's services to the Confederacy as a "dashing blockader" who obtains necessary goods for the South despite the blockades of such goods, allow him to be received in Atlanta.

Everyone knew now that the fate of the Confederacy rested as much upon the skill of the blockade boats in eluding the Yankee fleet as it did upon the soldiers at the front.

Once of the best pilots in the South, Rhett Butler is fearless. Having been reared in Charleston, he knows every inlet, creek, and shoal, so he eludes the enemy time and time again. He is also familiar with the waters around Wilmington. and he slides out under the cover of night to Nassau, England, and even Canada. When he sails to Liverpool, England, he can almost name his price for goods since the cotton mills are idle during the Civil War. "Yes, the ladies felt they could forgive and forget a great many things for such a brave man" (Chapter XII).