When Ashley kissed Scarlett on the cheek, he didn’t really hide the fact that he wasn’t happy about her getting married. Or was it because of their encounter at the barbecue?
Either way, it was risky behaviour, especially since Melanie was with him. Not that she would have thought anything of it. Melanie was a saint!
I didn't read the book, but what I got from Ashley on the screen was that he was too much of a marshmallow. I believe he loved Scarlett, but was going to marry his cousin Melanie because of familial pressure and because he really liked/admired/loved Melanie for who she was. He didn't have the testicular fortitude to either sweep Scarlett off her feet and take her or tell her to buzz off and give his all to Melanie. I also think he secretly enjoyed Scarlett's obsession with him.
The book may say otherwise.
IMHO in both the book and the film, he rejected Scarlett at the beginning of the story because he knew damn well they'd make each other miserable, and that he knew she'd destroy his delicate self-esteem when she realized he wasn't the man her hormones told her she was. Hell, he was a perceptive guy and may have realized that Scarlett would make any husband miserable, and sure enough she made all three of hers deeply unhappy!
Still, everyone who rejects a hottie they know they're incompatible with has at least some regrets, and of course Ashley did. So his feelings at the wedding had to be a combination of frustrated lust, sympathy for the poor simp she was marrying, joy that he was marrying someone who'd make him happy in all kinds of ways, and guilt because he was off the hook and Hamilton was on it.
LOL, good comments. Thanks.