AN: I am posting this on February 28th 2023, William Murdoch's 150th birthday. Happy Birthday Will!
While Ana hadn't pressed herself tightly against him while she slept, she was still staying close to him come morning. After all, with a guest it wasn't as if they could spend all day in their rooms. Which meant that Ana was heaping her plate with bacon and sausage while Charles regaled them all with tales about Roger and Trevor as he drowned his waffle with syrup. "When the boys heard they had a new sister they threw such a fit I almost threw them into the yard for the night."
"Oh you didn't," Ana laughed, "You wouldn't have done that, would you?"
Charles puffed out his chest, "I would! Especially when they said they would much rather have Rigel back than a sister." Hearing his name, Rigel came padding up, his tongue out ready to snag any scrap that might fall from his plate. "Yes, I was talking about you, you big lug." He leaned down, handing him a piece of bacon. "What I wouldn't give to have you at home right now, at least to keep the boys busy. I think I'll just hide you aboard as a stowaway on my way back."
Will looked up from his plate, "You can't just gift him to us and then take him back."
"Oh I think I can," Light grinned, patting his knees for Rigel to put his paws on his lap. "What do you say, boy? Want to come home with me?" Ana was smiling, and laughing slightly behind her hand, and Will wanted that to continue.
So he set his napkin down, came over, and shoved Charles's chest. "I'm not allowing you to steal my dog."
"He was my dog first." His friend had clearly caught on, "What do you say? Winner gets the dog?"
Will glanced over to Ana, then back to Charles. "What did you have in mind?"
"First to pin the other wins." The words were barely out his mouth before Charles had shoved his chair away, and Will made sure that they could give Ana a show. Not that he was truly worried about losing Rigel, as soon as he grabbed Charles's arm he could tell he was going to throw the match. But Will tugged him into it, wanting to drag it out and cheer her up some more. So they roughhoused like a couple of boys, and Will almost had him pinned before Rigel took notice and romped on over.
Charles spat out his tail. "That's hardly fair!"
"Get him, Rigel!" Ana called, laughter in her voice. "Don't let him get up." Between the two of them, they swiftly had Charles pinned to the floor. He put up a valiant struggle, thrashing his legs and cursing both Will and the dog quite loudly. He conceded though, and Ana rewarded Rigel with a piece of bacon. "Such a good boy."
Lights snorted, "If that's how you reward him, I'm not sure I want to see what Will is going to get."
Will saw her blush slightly, a bit of pink in those pale cheeks and he joined Rigel in sitting in front of Ana. "I should like a reward too, perhaps a kiss?"
"Of course," She leaned down, pressing a peck to his lips. "No bacon?"
"I'd much prefer more of the first."
"And I'd prefer to keep my breakfast down." Charles rolled his eyes, "Honestly, you two need to save that for your room. I'm assuming you'll be getting prepared together?" Ana ducked her head, but Will could see her smile. Breakfast was quickly cleared away and the three of them headed back up. Charles remarked that if he was going to stay up so late then he was going to need a nap, and he gave Will a bump to his shoulder. "And you should be napping too, and tell Anastasia I said that."
He chuckled, "I will." When he opened the door though, he found Ana reading her letters before the fire. His own letters were piled alongside, along with a letter opener. Taking the hint, he sat down and opened his letter from Sylvie. He snorted, "Sylvie sends her thanks for the things we got her in Scotland, apparently little Mavis loves the bonnet you got her."
"She said much the same to me." Ana pointed to a letter set aside, "And that the boys have decided that they are going to be pirates after the books we got them. Apparently she had to make flags for their toy ships."
"Those hellions would make some fine buccaneers." Will read much the same in the letters the boys had sent, but the last letter was quite bizarre. "I can't make heads or tails of this, can you?"
She turned her letter around, displaying much of the same. "I think it's from Mavis." She smiled, "Maybe we can puzzle them out together?" Will joined her, cuddling her close as they considered both their letters. Ana pursed her lips. "It looks like the main portion is the same."
"Yes, it's only the name that's different." Will traced over each of them, "One for Uncle Will and one for Aunt Anna." After a deal of deciphering, they had something fairly coherent. Thank you for your presents, I like them very much. The toys are very soft and I cry if I don't have my bonnet on. Mother helped me write this, Mavis. He chuckled, "I think Sylvie just put her hand around the pen and 'made' her write the letter.
"I think you're right." Ana leaned against him, "I'll have to tuck these away somewhere." She folded them all back up, tucked them in their envelopes and stuck them into her secretary desk. She paused, looking over her shoulder. "I should probably take a bath."
Will stood, his heart hammering. "So should I, do you want to share?"
"I," Her eyes flicked to him, then away. "I wouldn't want to make you share, I haven't washed in a few days and I'm sure I'm quite dirty."
"You forget I'm used to washing in seawater." Will chuckled, coming up behind her. "Besides, you don't look very dirty to me. Although I am willing to scrub behind your ears if I need to." That got her to laugh, and she moved into the bedroom and he followed. Leaving her to begin undressing he set about drawing the bath. It was much nicer to bathe in hot fresh water, rather than the barely heated seawater he got onboard. It was bracing, which was welcome when waking up early, but ill suited to lingering with one's wife. Ana, wrapped in a robe, came in to find him examining some of the glass bottles from a cupboard. "Which would you prefer, lavender or rose?"
"Neither," She shrugged out of her robe, and nude, knelt before him at the cabinet. She swung another bottle between her fingers, "Lemon, just the thing for a fall day."
All he wanted on this fall day was his wife, but Will quickly cut his eyes up. "That sounds nice."
"It is, now are you going to get in with your clothes still on?" She smirked, and Will set his fingers to his shirt and trousers even as he stepped out to leave them in the bedroom. When he came back Ana was already in the bath, steam rising off the hot water. It sloshed a bit as he joined her, and she eagerly pressed up against him. He drew her close, and she mumbled against his shoulder. "Ah, I could just stay here all day."
"I wouldn't mind that," He let his hand wander a bit down her arm, "But then we'd miss the ball."
She made no comment as he brushed his hand against her breast, but pressed against him a bit harder. "Maybe we should."
"Oh come now, I want to see you have fun." He kneaded her breast, although she shifted away. "You deserve to have a little fun after everything that happened." Ana was very clearly not in favor of going to the ball, and he brought his hand up to trail through her hair. "Is something wrong?"
"No, I just," She shook her head, grabbing a washcloth from the side of the bath. "I'm just worried that people will try and talk to me about the storm."
Will took the washcloth, rubbing the Pear's soap against it. "I doubt they even know it happened. Now, shall I wash behind your ears?" She splashed him at that, grabbing the washcloth and soaping herself up. Will slipped the bar of soap into his hand and joined in, and eventually Ana leaned back and let him continue as he liked. And he liked to let his hands linger, reveling in her soft skin, flushed with heat from the bath.
Eventually though, the water cooled and Ana was squeaky clean from head to toe. She stood, wrapping a towel around herself. "Well, that's better. What else to do?"
Will almost voiced what he really wanted, for her to let him make love to her until she forgot whatever she was concerned about and focused only on him, but it would have been too much. She hadn't resisted his touch, but touching was one thing. He'd let her make the initial move, he could wait. Instead he dried himself off, "I think Lights is right, a nap would be much appreciated." When they emerged into the bedroom their clothes had been cleared away, and Will spent a pleasant time brushing out her hair. Will could feel tiredness creeping up on him though, and he gladly buried himself under the blankets with Ana.
Although she was wriggling in a way that quickly had him twisting his hips away from her. She sleepily looked over at him, "Will?"
"Sorry, it will go away." He cursed himself for being such a lecher. "We don't have to do anything."
"Alright." Ana smiled at that, although she did bring her arms around him. Soon enough his arousal faded, and Will found himself just breathing in the scent of lemon rising from both of them. So long as he didn't think about her naked flesh just across from him, the way her breast rose and fell, and damn it. It was rising to attention again. Eventually he settled himself with his back pressed tight to her, that way he at least wouldn't make her feel what she was doing to him.
It wasn't the most restful nap he had taken, but it was enough that he was yawning when Reggie was helping him into his suit later. He'd asked for a lighter one, to match Ana's dress, and the dove gray wool had been perfectly pressed. Will caught Reggie's eye in the mirror, "Thank you for helping out Mr. Lightoller."
His valet grinned, "Not a problem sir, although it was a bit odd to get him ready in Mrs. Murdoch's old rooms."
"He's an odd duck, but a good friend." Will stood a little straighter, "Can you hand me my gold cufflinks?"
"Right here sir," Reggie proffered a velvet lined box. "I've added in your gold tie stick as well." It was the work of a moment to have all of those on, and Will wound up waiting in the sitting room for Ana. Louise had clucked over the state of her hair when she had arrived, and Will knew something beyond brushing was going to be done to it and it would no doubt take some time. So he grabbed his pipe, tamped the bowl full, and lit it.
He breathed in the smoke, smiling around the stem. Things were getting better, Ana was happier with Lights around and he would see to it that after the ball she had a wonderful time doing whatever she liked. The theater, museums, promenades and trips, anything that would make her happy. That was all he wanted, if Ana wouldn't admit what was wrong so he could fix it then he'd at least distract her from it until she had forgotten all about it and was his happy, beautiful wife again.
Charles Lightoller could get used to having a houseful of servants to wait on him hand and foot. He'd been drawn a hot bath, his formal uniform had been brushed and pressed, his shoes shined and Reggie had even done him a favor without much convincing. So he was quite pleased with himself as he waited in the foyer, watching Rigel chew on a bone. He couldn't help but smirk at the dog, thinking about earlier. He wouldn't have taken him, he could see how much Anastasia loved the big lug.
But she needed distraction.
Sylvie had mentioned that she had been quite distraught in the letter she had sent her, but he could only imagine what the storm and the gossip had added on. Frankly, he'd been surprised that she had only locked herself in her old room. He wouldn't have been surprised to have found her halfway to a sanitarium, but he knew Will would never allow that. The sound of footsteps on the stairs drew his attention though, and he did his best to position himself where his surprise could be hidden.
He nodded to his friends, "Will, Anastasia, you both look lovely." Anastasia really did look lovely, with her hair studded with pearl pins and a matching set of jewelry prominently displayed. They suited her dress too, the ivory beads shining over the light blue silk. Will's new style suited him, although perhaps that was just what a skilled tailor could do for someone. Charles cocked his head though, "Will, if we're both to escort her in you're going to need to be on the other side."
"Why?" Will cocked his head, those astute blue eyes searching for some clue.
Charles rolled his eyes, "William, if I'm to draw my sword to protect Anastasia sometime tonight I need to be on her right." He walked over, waving his hands. "So go on, move."
"Lights!" Will circled him, trying to catch a glimpse as Charles turned in time. "That's my sword!"
He grabbed for Ana's hand, securing himself to the proper side. "Well of course it is, I didn't bring mine. Hence why I had Reggie lend me yours." Will grumbled a bit about how Reggie had been smiling far too much as he took his wife's other hand. Charles allowed him to sit next to her in the carriage, although he made a point of running his hand over the pommel of the sword. "Now Anastasia, I'll be needing you to dance with some cad tonight so I can come to your rescue."
She chuckled, "Will might get him first." Her husband grabbed her hand at that, and glared at him. Charles laughed, and Anastasia was smiling. The carriage ride passed pleasantly, and he quickly found another benefit to being around these society types. They had absolutely no clue that he wasn't in the Royal Navy and addressed him as Lieutenant Lightoller at every opportunity.
"Don't you tell them." He cautioned Will, who simply shook his head and held Anastasia a little closer. They were proceeding through the crowd, headed towards a bar where thy could get a little room, when he saw Anastasia pause.
She looked to her husband, "Will, we have to go say hello."
"Do we?" Will had pursed his lips, but nodded and they switched their path. Will glanced back to him, "Just stay quiet."
Instead he whispered loudly, "Who are we seeing?"
"Sophie and her husband." Will waved for him to stay behind. "Now hush."
Anastasia held out her hands, greeting a small pale woman with a great deal of ash blonde hair caught up in a number of braids that wrapped around her head. "Sophie, I hope you've been feeling better."
"Oh yes," The other woman ran her hands over her stomach, and Charles knew that move far too well. She gazed dreamily up at her husband standing beside her, pomaded black hair and bright green eyes. Charles remembered him, and he wished he had thrown him in the brig when he had threatened to that one time. Sophie continued, "They've calmed down quite a bit, I hardly get sick anymore."
"She's going to be a wonderful mother," Zachary said, glancing to Anastasia with a sneer on his lips. "And I'll be a father, quite soon too. Perhaps I'll even have twins."
Anastasia dropped her gaze, looking to the floor. "I hope Sophie has an easy delivery and her child is healthy." The other couple headed off at that, and Charles stared daggers after Reichster. No wonder Anastasia was upset, if that was what was getting thrown around to her face. What was going on behind her back would be even worse.
He could see she was still too quiet, and Will was clearly at a loss for what to do. So he stepped forward, bowed elaborately and extended a hand. "I think as a guest I should be able to claim the first dance."
That seemed to shake Will out of his daze, "She's my wife, I should have the first dance."
"And I outrank you, Mr. Murdoch." He gently clasped Anastasia's hand, drawing her attention. "So would you honor this poor Lieutenant with a dance?" She laughed and nodded, and Charles whirled her out as the band had just barely struck up a rag. He waited until they'd made their way around a few times before speaking again. "Now, when would you like me to stab him and would you like to be there?"
He was impressed that she didn't miss a step. "Tempting, but no. I can't have you going to jail Lights, what would Sylvie say about that? And I'm sure you would disappoint Mavis."
"You let Will stab his father," He dipped her and swung her back up, "Not to mention that Will broke his nose last summer."
She blushed a bit at that, "His father was doing something much worse than making snide comments. Now, I want you to tell me all about Mavis. For starters, what's her middle name?"
"Mavis."
"Oh don't tell me this is Roger and Trevor all over again."
He grinned, holding Ana close as the song ended and they rejoined the crowd. "Sylvia Mavis Lightoller, and it's far easier to call her Mavis than to have Sylvie get all worked up when I'm lecturing her for spitting up on my shirt, thinking that I'm angry with her."
"She spit up on your shirt?"
"Oh yes, and you don't want to know what she did when I was changing her diaper." He kept up a stream of stories, only occasionally substituting in Mavis's name when he was really telling a story about the boys. Ana was smiling when Will came back over, and Charles leaned over to press a kiss to her hand. "I want you to meet her soon, come over with your husband and we'll make a trip of it."
Will quickly had his hand around Ana, "That sounds wonderful Lights, thank you."
Charles watched as his friend swept his wife out for another dance, and he found himself eyeing the bar. A whiskey soda or an old fashioned sounded like just the thing, and it seemed like these society types tended to just allow free access to their liquor. He nursed his glass as he moved about through the finely dressed crowd, only stopping to listen when he heard a familiar name drop from the lips of a woman with so many feathers in her hair she looked like a peacock.
She was whispering behind a fan to her friend, "Have you heard about the Murdochs?"
"That she was having an affair with Oscar Vanderbilt?" The other woman, dripping in topazes, rolled her eyes. "Everyone knows that, although what could you expect from a woman who married a sailor?"
Feathers tittered. "And had her fair share of them before she married one."
"You don't think," Topaz cast her eyes about, and Charles ducked behind a column before she spoke again. "That she was in a delicate condition and had to make do?"
"Oh no, I don't think that at all." Feather shook her head, making it look as if her hair was going to take flight. "She would have had to have lost it, you've seen how much Mrs. Reichster is showing, and Mrs. Murdoch was married a month before her!"
"Or she could have disposed of it." Topaz fluttered her fan, "I think that she found herself in a state after all those men left last year, sought to rid herself of it and damaged herself."
Charles had to set his glass down, because there was a very good chance that he would either break it or hurl its contents at those two. His hand went to his sword when hearing Feathers's next remark though. "I think she was damaged to begin with, you've seen the size of those families the lower classes have. She should already have popped out an army with a husband like that." Topaz laughed at that, and Feathers plowed ahead. "Honestly, I think he'll divorce her before the year is out. I certainly hope Mr. Vanderbilt doesn't mind taking secondhand goods."
"Have you seen him tonight? He's looking quite dapper."
"Perhaps we should make a visit, to show him what he's missing." The two of them linked arms, swanning off and leaving Charles fuming. He grit his teeth as he walked off, swigging down the last of his drink and headed for the bar. He would need another before the night was through, perhaps another three. He stalked off once his glass was refilled, searching for a place away from all these people. He could see Will and Ana together, her smile had faded. When Charles looked over, he could see why. Oscar Vanderbilt and his sister were walking along, and passed right by Will and Ana without even stopping.
Will glared after the man, then took Ana's hand and led her off. She went off meekly, her head down. God, he was so mad he could spit. All of these rumors, this gossip, it was no place for anyone to be. He'd wandered away from the main room, and was considering going back for another drink when he caught sight of Zachary. He'd clearly gone off to have a smoke, and Lights sent up a thankful prayer that there was no one else around. He kept one hand on his sword when he approached, "You should watch your mouth when you talk to ladies."
"Hmm," Zachary turned, tapping his ash into a potted plant. "Are you speaking to me?"
"You know damn well I am," He tightened his grip around the hilt. "And if I hear even one more word from you to Mrs. Murdoch tonight, you'll regret it."
The end of his cigarette glowed in the space between them, "I don't even know who you are."
"Precisely, which is what I wanted." In a split second, he'd lunged forward. His fist drove deep into Zachary's gut, making the younger man double over and his cigarette go skidding across the marble floor. Charles stood over him, watching at the boy tried to get his wind back. "And if I hear any more from you against either of the Murdochs, I'll be back and it'll be far worse than this." He turned on his heel, searching out his friends. He found them sat away from the dancing, Ana's hand in Will's. He did his best to stand at attention, "We may want to leave early."
"I was just thinking the same thing," Will muttered, looking over. "Ana?"
Her eyes were distant, and there wasn't even a hint of a smile on her face. "Yes." Charles took in a sharp breath, and immediately was at her side as she rose. He drew himself up as much as he could, put his hand on the sword and glared at anyone who got within a foot of them. Ana glanced over to him, "What are you doing?"
"Being your protector." He replied, and looking to make her smile, even just a little smirk, rattled the sword in its sheath. "Now, who should I threaten? Perhaps that fellow with the mustache? He's looking a little too closely at you."
"He's a footman that's trying to remember which coats we had." Her lips twitched, just slightly. "If anything you should give him a tip."
"A poor fellow like me, tipping?" Charles widened his eyes, looking to Anastasia with a much o a pitiable look as he could muster. "He probably makes more than me, he should give me a tip for livening up the party."
She batted his arm away from the sword, "Oh hush." She was right, the man quickly brought back their coats and the carriage was brought about. Seeing her sitting quietly across from him, he launched into his opinion on all of the attendees. Everyone was overdressed and undereducated and he would be quite glad to have spent the night at their house, thank you very much. The servants had clearly not been prepared for them to arrive back so soon, but Charles had an idea.
Standing the in the foyer, he looked to Will. "Why don't you go get your other sword, the one from your wedding?"
"For what?" Will sounded tired, and Charles took note that he still had his hand around Anastasia's. "Another prank?"
He shrugged, "I thought that I might make sure your fencing is still up to snuff, you know they're sending out our new commissions next year."
"Commissions?" Ana cocked her head slightly.
"For the Reserves, we're all being bumped up a rank for our years of service." He slung an arm around Will, hamming it up for her. "Your William here is going to be a Lieutenant Commander."
Will actually blushed, "Lights, you know it's meaningless. They're just doing it to keep us around."
"Obviously." He stepped back, tapping Will's chest. "But we still need to keep ourselves available and ready in case we're needed in service of King and country. Now, go get your sword." His friend gave his wife a kiss on the cheek, then headed up. Anastasia looked rather awkward until he took her hand and pulled her to the parlor. He unbuckled the sword belt, holding it out to her. "Alright, come on now."
Her brows furrowed. "What?"
"You're to be his sparring partner." Charles rolled his eyes, stepping forward and buckling it around her waist. "It's quite simple, really." He drew the sword, holding it by the blade and offering her the hilt. "And don't worry, these aren't sharp so you won't hurt him." She gave him a little smile, her hand coming up and lightly gripping the handle. "Perfect, and don't be afraid. You'll do fine." Fortunately her skirt was full enough that she could make a full stride, and by the time Will came back down he was running her through some basic exercises.
He saw Will almost dropped his sword when he came in. "What in the hell is going on?"
"I'm warming her up." He reached out, adjusting the angle of her sword. "Don't drop it too low now." He gestured for Will to come all the way in, "Ah, don't be shy now. She's promised to go easy on you."
"No, no, no," Will moved forward, buckling on his own belt. "If you're roping me into this nonsense I am sparring against you."
He rolled his eyes, "Will, my swordsmanship is already perfect and how would I be able to offer corrections if I couldn't see all of your movement?" He settled back onto a chair. "Oh come on now, I already cleared a space for you two. Plus, I'm your guest. Don't you indulge your guests?"
Will looked like he was going to protest, but Anastasia brought her blade to a perfect rest. "Please Will?" Charles chuckled at the way Will's face melted, and soon enough the two of them were pacing back and forth across the parlor. William had always been an indulgent husband, and with the way she had been feeling Charles didn't think he would have refused her anything. Especially now that she was laughing a little as he demonstrated a trick to make her drop her sword. He worked her through how to do it, and then he was unarmed.
Charles was happy that she was smiling when she headed up for the night, needing time to get undressed before going to bed. Will promised that he would be up soon, and he had to flinch a bit at that. With what he was going to tell him, it might be some time before Will headed up. He moved to a cigar humidor that had been moved to the parlor at some point, and prepared two. He handed one to Will, holding out a lit match after. He smiled, "I think we made a nice recovery on the night."
"You did." Will twisted the cigar around in his hands. "She was so happy with the sword fight, thank you for that Lights."
Charles chuckled, "It was nothing. But Will," He shook his head. "You need to get her away from here, she looked so miserable at the ball."
"I know," He sighed. "I just can't figure out why. I mean, obviously she's still recovering from what happened on the lakes. And her friends," Will looked down. "I know why they haven't been coming around now."
"Why?"
"There's some rumor that she and Oscar are having an affair, and their solution was to cut off all contact for awhile."
Charles winced, "I may have heard something about that at the ball." He heard Will draw a breath in, and he continued. "Not that I believe it, of course. But I heard a couple of ladies gossiping about it and other things." He tried to offer something to distract Will from the last bit, "You know, when those Vanderbilts decide to come calling again you should sock him a good one, right in his perfect face."
"Lights, what things did you hear?" Will set his cigar down, the silence from Charles all the answer he needed. "They were talking about Ana?"
"You can't throw a fit if I'm going to tell you, alright?" At Will's nod, Charles took a long breath. "They said it must be something she's doing to not be with child, that she is trying to not have one." Charles looked away for the next part. "Or that she can't bear having a sailor's child and disposed of it when she found herself pregnant." He looked to Will, wincing. "Or that she disposed of an earlier one that one of us officers sired and something injured her to where she can't have one. Christ Will, the things they said about her. I wanted to wring that lady's neck." Will stood, raking a hand through his hair and pacing. "The way those," Charles spat the next word. "Bitches talked about her, I almost punched them, Will."
"Ana would never, she wouldn't even think of it." Will picked his cigar back up, smoke trailing after him. "And I can't do anything! I can't get them to stop and I can't get her out of their sights."
"Did you read her letter from Sylvie?" Charles looked over, and when Will shook his head continued. "Anastasia had written to her before the storm, asking for advice on how to get pregnant." Will stopped pacing at that, his mouth tight. "She's all worked up about it Will, and it won't happen if she is. Sylvie told her that she needs to relax and be in a good environment for things to progress, and she can't get that here."
Will's face fell, and Charles could tell there was a sob in his throat. "I can't fix that Lights, and I can't fix the rumors." He drew in a shaky breath. "What can I do? I refuse to be a failure of a husband, but I've tried everything I can think of."
He walked over, putting an arm over his friend's shoulder. "Get her out of here. Say that you're leaving for her health, which to be honest you would be, and go. Somewhere where these society types won't be, where there isn't a ball or a dinner party to go to every day of the week. No servants, just you and her. And the dog, of course. Honestly Will, it's what she needs."
Will stared into the fireplace for a moment. "You really think that will work?"
"I think it has a good chance." He looked aside at Will, the next question so awkward he had no choice but to spit it out. "Now, don't press her to resume her wifely duties too soon."
He flushed, looking down. "I wasn't planning on it. The last thing I want her to do is panic and think that she has no say in it, I'm letting her make the first move."
"That's good," He gave Will's shoulder a pat, "But don't let her wall herself off, make sure she knows that she has you."
"She always will, Lights. Until the day I die, I will be there for her."