AN: Thanks for the reviews! I love feedback...critical and just for fun. :) I'm sorry it has taken longer for this update. I have begun my last semester of college so my life is not my own! Enjoy, and please review!

The winter wind whipped across the water and pelted the passengers who were eagerly waving to the shrinking dock of spectators. Smiles were on the visages of those both on deck and those in the distance. The weather did not appear to be a hindrance to either group, for none of them made to move to warmer locations. There was one passenger who seemed ignorant to the joy surrounding her. Her face was tense and full of doubt, confusion, and perhaps a hint of sadness. She clasped the rail tightly and appeared to focus on one person across the growing void with such intensity that it was possible to believe she could still see into the very pupils of her partner. The woman's thoughts wandered from one place to another after the shore was out of her vision. Still, she never made to move.


"Please, don't tell me you agree with him!" Mary spoke angrily.

"Mary, just listen to me." Matthew pleaded as he placed his hand on her waist to prevent her escape. He had pulled her aside after church, hoping to have a decent conversation concerning America. Apparently, the decent aspect of it was going to be avoided. "He has a point…and I agree that you should go."

"This is ridiculous!" She cried out.

"Shhh…" Matthew scolded and pulled her off the path, away from the group of worshipers who were slowly dispersing.

"Stay or go, Richard will print what he wants. The reason for going was to avoid exposure to scandal so I could find an unsuspecting husband. Well, now I have one, so I really don't see the point."

Matthew sighed, "He, I, don't want you to go to find a man. I want you to go so you don't have to live through the hell which will inevitably rain down on you and your family."

Mary looked up at him, brows furrowed, with the face of a small child trying to rationalize why their parent says they discipline them because they love them. That is what it felt like to her: punishment. "Don't you want me to stay?" She asked softly.

Matthew's face softened, "Oh, my darling, of course I want you to stay. I've spent so many years of my life from you that I wish to never spend another moment apart…"

"So, speak to him. Tell him we are getting married in a month or something." Her voice was so pleading; it broke his heart to hear her begging him to save her. She wanted him to be her Perseus, and he was, but not in a way she could understand.

He placed his hand on her cheek, "I need you to go, because I couldn't bear knowing that every morning you were reading the scum being written about you." His hand slipped from her face and both of his gloved hands grasped hers. "I promise to send for you as soon as it is all over. We will be together, here, married. I promise you that."

Mary looked down at their clasped hands. She had never realized how large his hands were compared to her own, as if they could cradle hers with such strength and tenderness. She knew he would never ask her to do anything to harm their relationship, at least not anymore. She pulled her eyes back up to him, "Alright."

Matthew smiled and placed a delicate kiss on her hand, "Alright." He extended his arm and she gladly took it. "I suppose Anna won't be going with you?"

"I highly doubt it. I know I wouldn't leave if you were on trial for petty theft, let alone murder. I think I will ask mama or granny if they know of a good lady's maid who is willing to travel with me."

"Nevertheless, I would ask Anna just to be sure. Perhaps, she would still like a change of view."

Mary nodded and snuggled in closer to his warm body. She would savor every moment they had until her departure. Deep down she knew this was childish of her; she knew this wasn't exile just a "vacation" but this knowledge didn't make the change any more palatable.


"M'lady, won't you come inside?" Anna's soothing voice pulled Mary away from her gaze and back to reality. "I've unpacked your things and luncheon will be served shortly."

Mary nodded her consent and followed her maid and friend into the interior of the ship. She shivered, "I didn't realize how cold it was outside."

"It's hard to notice anything when your heart is aching." Anna said wisely.

"I'm sorry you had to leave Bates. I want you to know you didn't have to."

"I know m'lady. It wasn't your fault." They had arrived to Mary's cabin and Anna began busying herself with superfluous activities.

"I'm glad to know at least one element of this situation wasn't my fault." She said as she gently touched Anna's shoulder on her way to the bathroom.

Anna nodded politely and sighed once Mary had disappeared. It seemed the two were both in the same boat (so to speak). Neither one was taking this trip of their own volition but both had done as asked by their significant others.


The tapping fingers on the wooden table were an indication of boredom, anxiety, and impatience. Anna had been waiting for over half an hour to see her husband and was beginning to question if anyone had actually gone to retrieve him. She didn't want to rudely ask the guard standing across the room for fear he would decide against letting her see him at all, so she remained silently waiting. After a few more minutes ticked by, the door unlocked and John walked in. His countenance changed the moment his eyes landed on her face and he couldn't help but allow a smile to creep in. He sat in the chair pulled out for him, resisting all the urges within him to pull her to him. His watch dog would make sure no contact was made, so he exerted no effort to achieve the human touch he so desired. The two remained in silence while they simply drank in the other's presence. Their routine was simple: discuss life at Downton, updates on the case, and nothing more. It was stiff and formal with so little said, but this had become their lives for the time being. Neither wanted to talk about the elephant in the room, so they didn't.

"How was the servant's ball?" Bates asked.

Anna shrugged, "I didn't dance. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves though."

"I thought I told you to learn to live a life while I wasn't there with you?" He said as a joking reprimand.

"I've never listened before, what makes you think I would start now?" She gave him a tight smile. "Oh, Lady Mary and Mr. Crawley are engaged."

Bates' eyebrows arched up. "I can't say I'm shocked, but I am at the same time. When will they be married?"

"Who knows? Lord Grantham is insisting she still go to America to visit her grandmamma in the hopes of avoiding more scandal if, and when, Sir Richard publishes her story. She through a fit-and-a-half I can tell you that, but somehow Mr. Crawley managed to convince her to go."

He sat silent for a moment, "I agree with the decision. It is still best to go, just in case. If nothing happens, then wonderful, but if it does then she is safe." He glanced away through the window. "Do you think she would still want you to come with her?"

"What?"

"You told me that you asked her if you could go with her at first if I…if the sentence had been carried out. I just wondered if you, or she, had reconsidered?"

"No, because I'm not leaving you."

"Anna…"

"John Bates, if you think I am leaving you then you have another thing coming…"

"Just listen! I want you to go." She tried to interrupt but he stopped her. "There is nothing you can do for me. I want you to have a life; to see and do all you can. The truth is it kills me to know your name will be dragged through the mud with me."

"I don't mind."

"I know, but I do. So, as your husband, I am asking you to get out of the grasping reach of men like Sir Richard and others who will want to use you against me. It won't be forever, just until my case isn't such a novelty anymore. Also, having someone to take care of will help keep your mind off me."

Tears threatened to spill over Anna's eyes, "There is no one and nothing that can keep my mind off of you." Anna cleared her throat, "But, if she asks me, I'll go; however, I'll not volunteer for it. Alright?"

John nodded, "Alright."


Mary glided through the ship's halls and decks as if she had been a part of the ship her whole life. It wasn't that navigating a ship was easy, only that she had turned off her thoughts to the outside world and was relying simply on muscle memory and other senses. She walked into the large dining room and scanned it for her traveling companion. She saw the strawberry blond hair at a table in the back and made her way to it.

"I was beginning to worry if you had gotten lost."

"No," Mary replied. "Lost in thought, maybe, but not lost. What are they serving?"

"Do I look like a cook or server to you?"

Mary rolled her eyes, "Don't start with me, Edith."