The voyage

12–Lost & found

Kate wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting in the park, she'd not really been focusing on the time or where her feet took her on escaping Agatha's house, but now darkness was drawing in and she really didn't want to go home.

Not when she felt like she didn't deserve to call it that.

It seemed that even in America, problems were never far away.

"Maybe it would be best to just go my own way like I intended" She said to herself, "People would be happier for it".

"Catherine! Catherine!" Came distant calls, one a man's voice and another a woman's. "Catheriiiine!"

James and Sarah.

They had come looking for her.

Kate wasn't sure as to whether she should just let them find her or run home, throw some clothes into a trunk and leave before they got back. Either way, she didn't have much time because now James had come into sight. "Kate!" He yelled and walked quickly to her. "Oh thank god..."

She didn't look at him, instead just sitting and staring at path.

"Kate? Are you alright? Are you hurt?" The concern both on his face and in his voice was real. His mother had come home in flurry, asking where his wife was and whether she'd returned. When he was told of what had happened, he knew that she needed to be found quickly.

"Just by words. I shouldn't have let her get the best of me, but I did..." She confided in a quiet voice.

He seated himself next to her. "My mother told me that Peggy was at Agatha's lunch...if Agatha had told me earlier then I wouldn't have let you go..."

"Wouldn't you? You don't care about me - to you I was just someone you had to marry because you bedded them. I am your greatest mistake".

The pain was there. He could see it in her eyes. She'd run because she wouldn't have been loved and instead would have suffered neglect, and yet here he was doing just that.

James Rogers was not that man. He refused to be.

He sighed with disappointment in himself. "Kate, you are not my greatest mistake. In fact you're far from it", turning his body so as she had his full attention. "You may not have been my choice of wife, but after hearing what went on today, I am glad I chose you". He told her truthfully. 
It would seem that Peggy had shown her true colours, and even though his mother had raised her opinion about her, he'd been so blinded by love and the idea of marriage to her that it had clouded his own judgment. 
"I'm sorry I've barely been around to spend time with you like I really should. Currently, Howard Colin wants my input on a new ship he is designing. I've been at the offices for most of the time".

She brushed this off. "But you are a Captain, it is part of your job. I understand that there will be periods where you are away, I'm not going to be disappointed- I knew what was in store".

"Yeah, but for the time I spend at home? It should be getting to know you better, and I'm sorry that I haven't done so".

"You do not need to apologise. We both are to blame for how we've ended up, but just know I am trying to please when it comes to running the house..."

He stopped her. "Catherine. You are doing fine. You are the mistress of our home. Not Peggy or anyone else. You. You are my wife. Don't let callous words make you think you're not worth who you are". 
She nodded as he took off his coat and put it around her shoulders. "Let's get you home, I'll have the maid prepare a bath for you to warm you up. You could get ill staying out in the cold this late".

Sarah came hurrying towards them in sheer panic which then turned to relief. "You've found her, thank god - Kate, are you ok?"

"I'm fine...James talked some sense into me".

"And rectified some mistakes I hope?" Sarah eyed her son a little unimpressed with just how everything had been handled from the start.

Kate pulled his coat around her a little more. "Everything is fine. It will be fine". Giving her mother-in-law a weak smile to confirm it. 



**

Once they were home, the maid drew Kate a bath to warm herself, while going to get the castor oil in the hopes that a spoonful would prevent her mistress from falling ill. After she reluctantly took the disgusting medicine and heard a knock on the door.

"Come in?" She called, brushing out her hair at the vanity. She'd kept it pinned up whilst taking the bath so as not to have the discomfort of going to bed with wet hair.

James now walked in, keeping to the doorway as he watched his wife. He looked tired, and apart from having seen him in the same relaxed attire on board The Liberty, it was rare to see him like this. A couple of shirt buttons undone, sleeves rolled up. Kate still found his 'off duty' look appealing. "How are you feeling?"

"Nauseous. That castor oil is disgusting". She glanced back at him. "I will not catch a fever, if that's what you're concerned about. I feel fine".

"I'm glad". He said and then the silence fell between them.

Kate looked back at him, sensing the awkwardness between them once more. "Was there anything else?"

He shook his head. "No...no I...I just wanted to bid you goodnight".

"Oh...well, goodnight". She smiled lightly. Not sure whether to be disappointed or not.

He gave her a stiff nod and then closed the door. Kate exhaled. It was like the air had been sucked from the room whenever they were in the same one together.

The door then opened again, James standing there looking at her. "Are you ok?" She frowned as he now closed the door and walked in further, coming to stop in front of her. "James? Are you alright?"

He moved some hair from obscuring her face and then kissed her, breaking for a moment before murmuring, "come to bed with me Catherine".

Her heart stopped. "I...we..." she stammered, unsure as to what to say.

"...are married". He finished her sentence. "So let me take you to bed as my wife."

She looked up at him from under long lashes. He'd never really noticed just how long they were before, nor the way the colour of her eyes stood out.

Then she spoke, and her words were all the confirmation that he needed.

"Take me to bed, husband".