The Traveler (Now on Radish)

Chapter 9

While the holiday festivities were merry, I could barely muster a smile. I could only think about Abby. I never should have left my dear sister. I could not shake the guilt I was harboring for leaving her. She's always been so strong, even after the accident, but she is hardly ever ill. It was just being away from her, not knowing how she was, was troubling me. Everyone was so kind during this time. Barnabas and Alastar secured six tickets for the first ship headed towards England. Penelope and I became quick friends after I apologized to her. My temper is my greatest flaw at times. Henry and I, on the other hand, we became a tense subject. After telling him that I was not interested in marriage, he began withdrawing himself. He was no longer the man I came to know in only a few days. I did not want to lose Henry. He was different, and I enjoyed it.

The day finally came when we could leave for England. The six of us were packed and booked into first class suites. Penelope, Jared and I would be sharing one suit while my uncles and Henry would share the one next to us. I was nervous to go home; I would be bringing home a man I would one day marry. Henry has not allowed me to defend my reason for being unmarried for so long. I decided to tell him once we were safely on the ship.

We boarded early on the thirteenth of January, the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and thirty-seven. Penelope and I carried out belongings, and Jared, to our room. I set to work placing our belongings around the cabin as Penelope tucked her sleeping son into her cot. Penelope and I were quite aware that the men could enter our room at any given point, but they were not going to. Penelope and Uncle Alastar had grown close since they first met a couple of weeks ago. Alastar was quite fond of her, as she had more character than the women Mama had introduced to him. Penelope was positively taken by my uncle, as was Jared. Until now, he only had Felix and Henry as his father-like figures.

"Kat, what are you thinking about?" Penelope whispered to me. "You look perplexed."

I bit my lip, before folding my hands into my lap. "I told Henry that I did not want to be married. He seemed unsettled by that fact. I still have yet to explain why." I admitted quietly. Penelope sighed and joined me on my cot. "He's pulling away from me before we had the chance for a proper courtship."

"Katrina, tell me, please. Henry is my closest friend, practically my brother. I promise you, I am his reason. He will understand." She said, combing her slender fingers through my hair. I took a shaky breath as I began to divulge into my best friend's past, my past.

It began with my childhood friend, Adeline Smith. She married Baron Matthew Smith three and a half years ago. At first, Matthew and Adeline seemed like they were in love. Nine months to the day after their marriage, Adeline gave birth to a healthy little girl. I did not see her much that first year and a half until her second daughter was born ten months after the first. That is when I learned of the affair. Her husband required his wife to give him male heirs to his fortune. After the birth of their first born, Rosalie, he hired a nanny. Adeline discovered their affair after she fell pregnant with their second daughter, Juliet. She fired the nanny on the spot. Adeline assured me that they would work this out, but I was doubtful. When Juliet was eight months old, Adeline announced she was pregnant once more to her friends and family. In private, she confided in me that her husband had found a new mistress. Adeline was heartbroken; her husband declared that he would never have another mistress when she produced him a son. She bore him a daughter. I told Penelope that when we arrived in Paris, my mother attached Adeline's letter to the one from the family. It said that she was three months pregnant. I prayed that it would be a son this time. I did not want to end up in an endless marriage.