To all my wonderful readers and reviewers. When you have finished enjoying Chapter Twenty-Five, please read my comments at the end. This is also for my Ukrainian readers who have finally managed to return to Gull Cottage. Прошу!

Avante!

Chapter Twenty-Five

A Fresh Beginning

The chilly morning of the twenty-fourth day of December arrived, bringing another icy blast to coat the outside of Gull Cottage in hanging icicles and wind-sculptured shapes of all dimensions. Inside, the house was warm and cosy having been so well built that any chance drafts that managed to get in were kept at bay by the fires that had been lit in each of the occupied rooms.

Carolyn rolled over within the secure warmth of her husband's embrace and snuggled deeper into the bedcovers. She didn't feel like getting up right then, even though she knew Candy and Jonathan would already be downstairs working on decorating their Christmas tree. She stretched lazily, enjoying having these too few private moments when they could be alone together.

"Do you think they heard us last night?" she teased softly, aware that there was only a shared wall between them and her parent's bedroom next door.

"I hope so…" Daniel stretched lazily before he nuzzled his lips along the side of her neck. "We certainly made enough noise. I doubt they were left wondering about what we were doing."

"You're incorrigible…" Carolyn's cheeks bloomed with colour as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"Well, it's the truth," her husband teased. "This is our home. Surely we may do as we please here. If your mother had been foolish enough to walk in uninvited, like your blasted Cousin Hazel, she may have seen more than she bargained for. I would have shown her my displeasure and the door."

He took her hand and smoothed it over the hard muscles of his bare thigh. "I doubt she's ever seen a naked man in her life. I would certainly have left her speechless."

"Oh, you wouldn't…" Carolyn began to shake with laughter. "But yes, I don't think my parents have ever dreamed of making love with all the lights on. My mother would not allow it. It would not be at all seemly."

"I told you once I wanted to see you when I love with you." Daniel's hand began to roam across her upper abdomen with sensual intent. "Lovemaking is to be enjoyed, not hidden away like some unmentionable secret and not talked about."

"I don't think my poor parents know that either." Carolyn shook her head as his seeking fingers found just the right spot. "You have taught me so much."

"It is entirely my pleasure," Daniel replied, working his way slowly over the soft curve of one plump breast, cupping its silken weight in his palm. "And yours…"

He teased the burgeoning tip with the ball of his thumb, making his wife gasp with anticipation. "It's still early. I heard the children go downstairs over an hour ago. We could give your parents a repeat performance. I'm game if you are. Remember, we're still working our way through that list of your likes and dislikes."

"We are?" Carolyn arched both her brows and her back, impelling her body hard against his in blind invitation. "And just what else is on this famous list?"

"We're still finding out…" Daniel growled as he pinned her soft beauty into the depths of the feather mattress with the weight of his body and proceeded to show her a heart-stopping new requirement for their ever-growing list.

※※※※※

"You were both up early this morning," Emily Williams remarked to Carolyn as her daughter entered the living room two hours later.

"Daniel needed to go down to the cellar and cut us some more firewood." Carolyn managed to keep the blush of colour from her cheeks as she went to warm her hands in front of the fire. "Did we wake you?"

"Oh, no, not at all. Your father's an early riser. He came down with the children to help decorate the tree and had his breakfast with them. He fusses and can't sleep when he cannot go out to his bank. I believe they're all playing cards in the kitchen."

Emily patted the couch next to her invitingly. "Come and sit with me. I wish to talk to you."

Unsure of what her mother had in mind, Carolyn obeyed. She settled herself on the couch, folding her hands in her lap. "What do you wish to talk to me about?"

"A month ago I received some rather unwelcome news," her mother confided with a worried frown. "Your father tried to dissuade me from broaching it with you. But I said it is my duty as a caring mother to make sure my beloved only child was made aware of my concerns for her reputation."

"Go on…" Carolyn replied, guessing what was coming.

Emily took refuge in her handkerchief. "First, Hazel confided in me, after her visit here, that she was deeply concerned you were still trying to become a published author. She said she overheard you reading out some rather lurid poetry when she was last here. She really didn't know what to think."

"Well, Hazel should keep to the business that is Hazel's," Carolyn replied repressively. "Those were private letters written to me by my husband. She got what she deserved for eavesdropping. She barged into our room without even knocking."

"Still, Hazel takes her duties very seriously. She worries for you," Emily qualified. "You must know she has your best interests at heart. She said she would hate to see you being led into difficult waters. I did reassure her that I was sure you'd given up on the absurd notion that you could become a writer. I felt it is not at all seemly or ladylike."

"I cannot see why you would listen to Cousin Hazel. You could have asked me directly," Carolyn grimaced.

Emily frowned. "Then a man called Ellsworth Hall called to see me. He told me that his daughter had accepted some of your work for publishing in her Boston magazine. I was mortified to find that you had gone against my wishes. He said that he feared for your reputation. I told him I would talk to you and remind you of your duty to our family name. The ladies of our church circle would be shocked and upset for you."

Carolyn regarded her steadily. "Mother, I really cannot see why or what it has to do with those sanctimonious women who do nothing but drink tea and gossip endlessly."

"Oh, Carolyn…" Emily wiped her eyes. "Mr Hall showed me one of your articles. It did not spare my blushes. Oh, that any child of mine could write such… such…" She waved a helpless hand, finally lost for words.

"I am a grown woman, Mother. I'm sorry if you cannot see that, but this is my life. How I choose to live it is no longer any of your concern. Daniel supports me in everything I do. And Ellsworth Hall is nothing but a troublemaker and a nasty man who would go to any lengths to put his own daughter out of business."

Her lips firmed. "Please do not mention any of this to Daniel. He will not be best pleased that Hall has seen fit to involve you."

"Yet, you do not deny any of it." Emily's nervous fingers worried the folds of her dress. "You seem to have forgotten all sense of decorum since you came to this house. If any of my church ladies should chance to see your name in print..."

"Of course, I don't deny it. Why should I?" Carolyn replied briskly. "I have written three novels, one of which is currently being serialised in the Ladies' View magazine. They're selling very well and no one has been shocked. In fact, I am making quite a name for myself in Schooner Bay. I do hope some of the women at your church will have the good sense to pick up a copy and read it."

She placed her hand over her mother's. "Please be happy for me, Mother. I would love for you to finally be happy for me."

"I am happy for you," Emily sniffed. "You have found a wonderful man and he loves you. It's just that…" She lifted her shoulders helplessly.

Carolyn shook her head sadly. "Mother, the year is eighteen-seventy, not sixteen-seventy. I think you'll find no one in Philadelphia will care what I do. And I really don't care what they may think. And you seem to have forgotten that my family name is now Gregg. None of this should matter to you."

Emily put her hand to her lips in shock. "You really have become quite provincial. Hazel was right. I fear I can no longer recognise you as my daughter. What will I tell Mr Hall? He will be calling again, he assured me of that."

"Leave him to me. I'll have a word with his daughter, Sally. She will ensure he doesn't bother any of us again." Carolyn stood up. "I'm sorry, but if you cannot make peace with it, then I'm afraid we have very little more to say to each other."

The door opened and Daniel walked in. He frowned at the two women staring at each other in frosty silence. "Is everything all right in here?"

"Yes…" Carolyn looked at him with relief. "I was just telling my mother all about my new publishing career and how happy it has made me."

"Good." Daniel nodded. "It's about time that thorny subject was dealt with."

"Yes, I think we have dealt very well with it," Carolyn affirmed. "Right, Mother?"

Emily got slowly to her feet, looking rather crestfallen. "Yes, I understand everything now. I will go and tell your father. He will wish to know." She pressed her handkerchief to her lips as she tottered from the room.

Daniel smiled as he closed the door behind her. He walked to his wife, drawing her into his arms. "Bravo, my dear. You have finally dismasted the woman. Shot her clean through at the waterline and sunk her without hope of recovery, all with one well-placed shot! I salute you, Madam."

"I just wish it could be different. That my family could be pleased for me just once. Hazel has been very busy on my behalf and causing a great deal of distress."

She shook her head. "And Ellsworth Hall had the temerity to visit my parents to try and get them on his side."

"Forget them. Forget all of them. Your mother will come about in time and you are more than a match for Hall." Daniel kissed her hair. "But for now, it's Christmas. And I've found the perfect gift for you."

"You have?" Carolyn drew back to stare up at him with wide eyes. "Oh, what is it?"

"Patience, my love." Her husband kissed the tip of her nose. "All will be revealed in time. Let me just say it's a little too big for me to fit beneath the tree or to gift wrap."

"Oh, I see…" Carolyn drew away from him, taking both his hands in hers. "Now you have me intrigued. Very well, I can wait. But I'm famished. Let's go and eat and see what my poor father has made of the stunning revelation about my new work. I know he'll be happy for me."

※※※※※

Three months later:

The early winter slowly began to give way to an equally early spring. The March morning dawned fresh and clear. Almost overnight the last of the snow had begun to melt away and the ice in the bay had all but gone.

Carolyn got up quietly to pull on her warm dressing gown and push her feet into a pair of fleecy slippers. She walked to the window, opening it just enough to fit through the gap and walk out onto the balcony.

The morning was chilly and fresh. She huddled deeper into her dressing gown, thinking back over the last two months and considering the months to come when Daniel must leave her alone once more.

After two weeks of visiting Gull Cottage, her parents had taken advantage of a warm break in the weather to depart for Philadelphia. It had been a relief to finally wave them off. Her father's uncomplicated company she missed, but her mother's frosty disapproval still rankled. It was inevitable that they would disagree. Carolyn had accepted that.

Now, there would soon be another departure that was inevitable as the changes in the seasons. Carolyn was well aware of what the difference in temperature meant to her and her family. She could wish it was not so, but there was nothing she could do to alter it.

Something more was also about to change. She hadn't been sure before, but a recent visit to the town's doctor had confirmed her suspicions. By the time the winter returned and closed them back into their small cocoon of contentment, there would be a new Gregg in the house. A baby brother or sister for Candy and Jonathan.

Carolyn laid the flat of her hand over her belly. She imagined the new life growing within her and smiled. "I love you…" she whispered.

"I love you, too…" A welcome pair of strong arms came around her from behind. She leaned back into the warmth of her husband's embrace, wondering how she could tell him her wonderful news when he was about to leave.

"You'll catch a chill if you stay out here for too long," Daniel murmured against the side of her neck.

"I'm already cold inside," she countered, holding fast to his strong hands where they rested against her abdomen. "I won't thaw out until the winter comes again and you're home safe with us. You know how much I worry for you after you leave."

"I know…" Daniel kissed her hair. "I'll admit I can already hear the siren's song from the ocean. She's an impatient mistress, eager for me to be back with her."

"But it is who you are. I have accepted that I married a sea captain." Carolyn turned within his slackened embrace to kiss him, cupping his bearded chin in her hands. "Just as staying behind and worrying for you is what I must do."

Daniel considered her calmly, seeing all she left unsaid. The silent wish she could go with him to sea. "What if you didn't have to stay behind this time?"

Carolyn frowned her confusion. "I don't understand. Stop teasing me. You know I don't like it."

"But you bite so easily, it's hard to resist seeing that fire light in your eyes." Daniel smiled down at her. He rocked her gently from side to side. "Do you remember that Christmas gift I promised you back in December? The one I never gave you then."

"The one I keep asking you about and you keep refusing to tell me what it is. Yes, I remember. You said it was too big to fit under the tree or to gift wrap."

"That's the one." Daniel kissed the end of her cold nose. "Now do as you're told. Go and get dressed in warm clothing and then go downstairs. I'll wake the children and meet you in the kitchen. It's almost time. We'll have breakfast in town. Ellen can stay here and look after Henry. I have something I want to show you."

Carolyn tried to prevent him from releasing her. "What is this all about? What are you up to? What is the gift?"

"Never you mind. Just do as you're told for once in your life, Mrs Gregg."

"Aye, aye, Captain…" Carolyn saluted him saucily, which earned her a sharp smack on the rump as she re-entered the bedroom.

※※※※※

The Schooner Bay harbour was like a huge bear, slowly waking up from a long hibernation and shaking off its lassitude. Where it had once been almost deserted, ice-bound and snow-covered, it was now beginning once more to brim with life. The docks were again a hive of activity, men and goods hurrying to and fro, readying the cargoes for loading as soon as the ships could be made ready to sail once more.

Carolyn and the children stood with Martha in a little group to one side, trying to keep out of the way of all the busyness of the docks. Daniel stood behind them, his sea cap set at a jaunty angle over his dark curls as his attention was focused on the harbour entrance. He seemed to be waiting for something or someone.

"Why are we down here?" Carolyn asked in puzzlement, looking all around.

"Yeah, it's cold and I'm hungry," Jonathan complained, rubbing his gloved hands and stamping his feet.

"You're always hungry," Candy replied.

"Pancakes and maple syrup at Norrie's for all those who don't complain," Daniel replied.

"All right, I won't complain," the boy assured him.

"I won't either," Candy added.

"And if I don't have to cook them, then I'm in for that too," Martha declared with a grin, blowing on her cold hands.

While they were talking a large ship rounded the point and sailed majestically into the bay with the incoming tide. Her bow cut cleanly through the remaining ice flows as if they were butter. Her white canvas sails shone in the weak March sunshine, looking to be very new and unblemished by constant use and the lash of briny sea salt. There was a large red ribbon tied into a bow around its main mast, the ends flapping gaily in the onshore breeze.

It was Jonathan who first commented on her arrival, being mad now for all things nautical. "Oh, look! What a beauty," he declared, pointing toward the ship. "She sure is all ship-shape and Bristol fashioned! I'd like to go sailing in her!"

Daniel pushed back Carolyn's bonnet to bend closer to her ear. "You said you were looking forward to the time you could all sail away with me and see the world. I said I wanted that too."

"Yes, I remember. But what are you saying?" Carolyn demanded to know, untying the ribbons of her bonnet and removing it. "Stop teasing me."

Daniel grinned as he began to quote softly, "'Beloved, I am bound to you, for now, for all eternity. I can chart no other course, but homeward to your arms. I must return to you as surely as the sea birds flying with my ship return every season to the distant land.

Your loving arms are my harbour, my shore, and my anchor in a storm-tossed world. I fly to you as truly as an arrow flies into the sun, to be lost in the brilliance of your smile, the warmth of your greeting…'"

"I don't understand…" Carolyn whispered, shaking her head.

"Too big to fit under the Christmas tree or to gift wrap…" Daniel pulled her into his embrace as he kissed her cold cheek.

He pointed to the ship with his chin. "Say hello to the Carolyn…"

Guided by her master's shouted commands, the gleaming ship finally bumped gently against the dockside, swinging slowly into position among the line of other ships and barges. Onshore, the Schooner Bay dock workers scrambled to catch the thrown mooring lines before securing them to the bollards, bringing the Carolyn up short. The ship bumped against the dock again, creaking and groaning at her sudden confinement before settling reluctantly against the rugged uprights, her freshly painted timbers scrapping against them as the incoming tide continued to rise beneath her.

"She's been down in Boston over the winter, being refitted for her new purpose," Daniel told his wife quietly. "She's to be our floating home. Our Gull Cottage of the seas. Will you come sailing away with me, Mrs Gregg?"

"Are we to sail with you this season, Sir?" Jonathan asked eagerly, overhearing their conversation.

"I think that is an excellent idea, young man." His stepfather reached to ruffle his curls with a wide grin.

"Oh, boy!" Jonathan beamed, all thoughts of his empty stomach banished.

"I guess I'm not too old to learn how to become a sailor," Martha commented, considering the ship with a jaundiced eye. "Pirates and fishermen…"

She shook her head. "As long as I still get to do some cooking. Keep my hand in."

"Oh, Martha…" Candy sighed. "Everybody knows the word is seaman. Or in our case, seawoman. Sailor is such a landlubber's word."

"Right…" Martha nodded, still looking dubious. "Maybe I prefer to lubber on the land. At least it stands still."

"But how? How is it possible?" Carolyn asked, turning to her husband. "How did you manage it? We can't afford a ship of our own. Not unless you've sold our house to Uncle Claymore and I pray you haven't done anything so foolish."

Daniel chuckled as he kissed the rosy tip of her cold nose. "Nothing quite so drastic. Why do you think Lucius was here to see me last year? That wasn't a social call," he continued with a shake of his head. "We had plans we needed to finalise, supplies to buy and men to hire. Lucius has been in charge of the refit over the winter. He sailed her up from Boston for us."

"So that's why you two went and hid yourselves away in the attic. You didn't want me to find out."

"We wanted to surprise you all." Seeing the dawning wonder in his wife's eyes, Daniel looked very pleased with himself. "We're now joint partners in our very own shipping company. Lucius also has his own ship down in Boston, named for his lady. It's all been financed by his father-in-law, Admiral Kearns. The old boy will be expecting a goodly return on his money and sooner rather than later. We'll certainly be working harder than ever before to earn our money. But at least we'll be together."

There was a shouted greeting from the ship as Lucius appeared at the rail to wave down at them, grinning widely, obviously pleased with the nature of the surprise. Mr Jarvis walked up to stand beside him, also waving happily.

Young Malcolm hung back, raising a shy hand but grinning widely. Behind them, various crewmen hurried to perform the last of their onboard duties. Among them, a bumbling Seaman Applegate was doing his best to keep up and still remain shielded from Daniel's line of sight.

The voyage had not gone well for him and he worried that when his captain found out, Elroy would be finally dismissed this time as a bad apple and a poor seaman. He didn't want that. He loved his life aboard ship and away from his mother's eternal nagging for him to make something of himself. He was painfully aware he couldn't help it if he was more of a dreamer than a doer.

Daniel waved back even as his arm around his wife's waist drew her closer to him. He dropped his gaze, shutting out everyone but her sweet face turned up at him so trustingly. "I promised you London, Rome and Paris. I said we would see them together. We can still write our stories and mail them back to Sally from whatever port we happen to be tied up in. We will have the best of both worlds. You will become a woman of both our worlds."

"I think Sally will like that." Carolyn nodded quickly, trying not to cry with her inexpressible joy. "But I'll want to see everything."

"And I want to take you everywhere and to show you what a beautiful place the world can be, my love. But it will never be as beautiful as you…"

"I have something to tell you. I also have a gift for you…" Carolyn reached up to draw his head closer to hers. She smiled as she whispered against his listening ear, "Sometime in the fall you're going to become a father…"

Her husband froze beneath her touch. He swallowed tightly, seemingly lost for words. "How?" he finally whispered. "How is it possible?"

"I think you already know how…" Carolyn chuckled as she kissed his cheek. "Something else to add to our list of the things we like to do together. Somehow I doubt this baby will be our only child. We'll need to tell the children and Martha very soon. They'll want to know."

Daniel drew back to gaze down into her green eyes, with awe in his own. "You are truly both beautiful and remarkable. Also very wise. I do not know what I have ever done to deserve your love."

"You saved me..." Carolyn went up onto her toes to kiss him. "You showed me the woman I could be, not the one everyone else expected me to become. Thank you, for everything. I truly do love you, Captain Daniel Gregg."

"I love you more than life itself. I always will…" Daniel drew back fractionally to look down at her. At the woman who'd finally put an end to his growing sense of deep loneliness one snowy night when they'd walked into each other in the darkness of a Schooner Bay street. "Without you, I would have nothing. My heart has ever only wanted one thing. All it has ever wanted is you, Mrs Carolyn Gregg…"

※※※※※

"I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close…"

Pablo Neruda

※※※※※

Thank you to all my wonderful readers and reviewers. Hand on heart, I truly did intend Chapter Twenty-Five to finally be the final chapter for Daniel and Carolyn in 1871. The Gull Cottage family would be sailing away toward new horizons with our farewells and blessings.

But there have been so many lovely and heartfelt messages of disappointment and sadness that this was truly and finally, THE END, as happened back up at THE END of Chapter Ten, that I began to think maybe we could continue this journey for a little longer yet.

Especially in the face of the recent and very distressing events where a certain big company has exercised their rights and taken down all episodes of The Ghost and Mrs Muir from YouTube because they can. They have also removed all episodes of M.A.S.H. This is totally unacceptable but it has been done. We have no idea what is to become of our beloved episodes.

A dusty vault and dark oblivion? We do sincerely hope not.

"Then they came for us and there was no one left to speak out for us…"

This is our last bastion of enjoyment. We remain, for now, happily reading in our little corner of the universe. All crossed we may continue in this way of sailing calm and fair seas with our beloved couple, free from such unwarranted interference…

Therefore, with this thought in mind, let us continue the adventures of our Gull Cottage family… Avante and Amen!

※※※※※