Clara wished with all her heart that things could have been different. She knew she couldn't give Redgrave what he wanted but didn't like the way, as he put it, his part of her story ended. However, there was little she could do to change that. As a writer, she wished to give him a better ending but she was not in charge of authoring this life or his.

She had what little belongings she owned packed. Looking over at Sturgis she asked, "Are you ready?"

He shoved the last of his clothing into his duffle and slung it over his shoulder. He gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile. "After you, my lady," he teased, making a grand sweep with his arm.

Clara laughed and then felt a wave of sadness. So much has occurred since she has boarded the Whispering Wind, it has left her altered. For some reason it hurt to know once she stepped off this ship, Benjamin Claremont will die. He will cease to exist, his adventures are over and she will back to being just Clara, Mrs. Clara McAllister the woman who ran away from home, broken.

"Now is not the time for self-pitying," Clara thought. She linked arms with Sturgis. "Let's go together shall we?"

Sturgis smiled at her in earnest this time. "Let's."

They made their way through the ship to Lord Fitton's room. They knocked and he bid them enter. Clara could not believe the scene before her. Did he not remember that today was the day? He looked like he hadn't a single thing packed.

"What are you doing? We have reached the Laccadive Sea. We are nearing the port. Why haven't you packed?" Clara wondered picking up some notes and Lord Fitton quickly took them from her and put them back where she grabbed them from.

"Do not touch ANYTHING!" he warned her as he frantically looked about the room.

"Did you lose something?" Clara queried, thinking the obvious answer would be his mind.

"To you, this looks a fright, but trust me when I tell you there is a method to this madness. I have a system for packing."

Clara gave him a slow, wide-eyed nod. "A system? Does this system include actually packing anything away?"

He grimaced at her. "Of course it does. My trunks are soon to arrive and I will be packed by the time we reach Cochin Port."

"You know we are mere hours from that destination?"

"Clara," Fitton said placing his hands on his hips, "this is not helping?"

Clara smiled. "Well then, how may I help?"

"Much better," Lord Fitton said, and he immediately put her to work and even found tasks for Sturgis to perform. When the trunks arrived one for each corner of the room, he was right. He was packed and ready, even before they reached the port. Clara was impressed.

"Where will we stay when we reach Fort Kochi?" Clara inquired.

"I know of a colonial inn. Quite nice and well kept. I will procure us a room there."

Clara's hands paused over the drawings she just placed into the trunk, the last of the items to be packed. "Only one room?"

Lord Fitton rubbed the back of his neck a sure sign that whatever was going to come next was at the very least an uncomfortable topic for him to discuss. He strode across the room and took her hands in his.

"Clara, when you leave this ship. We will need to procure you some woman's clothing. I will be traveling with you as not just your chaperone but more as your protector, but truthfully this will go much easier and I could give you my full protection if I may be so bold as to call you ... my wife."

"What?!"

"I told you she wouldn't be fine with it," Sturgis said leaning against the professor's now stacked trunks.

"Sturgis, please? If you have nothing useful to add..." Lord Fitton said and Sturgis shrugged before taking a seat knowing this may take a while.

"India is not England, Clara. The rules are different there. I wish not to have to explain our circumstance to every person we need to elicit help from. If we pose as a family you, Sturgis, and I the means for traveling and boarding will be far easier to procure."

Clara saw the sense of it but to profess to be another man's wife?

"Clara you just spent the last eight months posing as a young teenage mute. How much harder could this be?" Sturgis reasoned.

He had a point.

"There are rebellions, uprisings, small skirmishes from factions that do not want the British in India. To keep you safe, to keep all of us safe, I wish to keep you close. We will stay but one night in Fort Kochi and then we will push on to the Palakkad District. Once at the Center, I imagine we will be staying on the premise as most of the treatments take weeks to administer."

Clara looked briefly at Sturgis and back to Lord Fitton. "Alright. I have come this far," Clara agreed.

In his relief, he pulled her into an embrace, and Clara stood there stiff and awkward.

"Thank you, Clara," he said pulling away from her. "You have no idea how much easier you have made everything. Here," Lord Fitton pulled a ring from his vest pocket it was one she had seen him wearing, before. "It belonged to my mother." It had his family's crest, flanked by two rubies. He slid it on her finger.

Clara smiled weakly before saying, "I'll go find someone to bring your trunks on deck." As she left the room and shut the door she heard Lord Fitton ask, "You are certain she'll be alright?"

"Give her time, Professor. She'll sort it out," Sturgis told him.

Why was this so much harder? She looked down at her finger and wanted to throw the affronting ring into the sea. It made no sense. It was not for real. Yet only Benjamin's ring ever graced her finger and it felt foreign wearing another man's ring in its place.

Taking a deep breath she willed herself to get a move on and once the arrangements were made for Lord Fitton's luggage she did not return below deck. Instead, took one last turn around the ship. She did not tell anyone she was not returning. She figured they would all learn soon enough that she had chosen to stay with the Professor as they called him.

She leaned against the rail and watched as the water lapped up against the hull.

"You're going to miss it, aren't you?"

Clara jumped. A gasp escaped her lips at his voice, so close to her ear. Lost in thought, she did not hear Commander Redgrave's approach. Her hand hovered over the ring and she slipped it off and slid it in her vest pocket. Not wishing to explain, or possibly injure Redgrave further.

"Is that silly?" she asked turning her head to look at him.

"No," Redgrave said joining her at the rail leaning against it with her.

"The open sea has a way of capturing you like nothing else in life. She was my first mistress and has remained so ever since, until... well until I met you."

Clara flushed and looked away. "Phineas, I..."

"Settle yourself, Clara. I am not here to proposition you or convince you of anything. I just did not wish you to leave without wishing you well. I do so wish you every happiness, Clara."

"Oh, Commander. I'm so sorry for turning this ship, your world so topsy-turvy. It was never my intention that anyone would get hurt by my actions but I have hurt so many... you...most of all."

Redgrave gave her a wistful smile. "I'll manage, Clara. I will mend, but I must know that you will give this life an honest chance, that you will not throw it away. If you get even a notion that you desire to do so. I beg of you. Seek me out. You and I can get a schooner and live on and by the sea. I will demand nothing of you, just being with you would be enough."

Clara pressed her lips together to rein in her emotions. "I may not be the woman for you, Phineas but I must believe she exists because a love such as yours deserves so much more than I would ever be able to give."

Clara turned towards the water again. "You are right. I will miss it. I will miss it so very much and the freedom that came as part of the deal. To have the ability to make up my own mind, to be the mistress of my own fate, I think I will miss that most of all."

"Why must you give it up?"

Clara smiled at him indulgently and laughed. "I am a mere English woman, sir. I have no rights, nor property, all that I have I had to be given. Here, what I received, I earned. I could take pride in my work and in a job well done."

Clara shook her head. "This is such a different world from the one I came from, from the one I go back to."

Redgrave watched her head fall in dismay and he took his hand and lifted her chin. "Do not allow that to happen, Clara. Do not stow away all that you have learned here. Use it. You could have commanded this ship if you so chose. Now, you are standing at the helm of a ship called Life. Don't let another steer it for you. Plot your own course and stick to it. You have what it takes, Clara. Don't lose your voice again."

Clara nodded slowly in acceptance. She felt empowered by his words. Phineas was right. She was still the mistress of her own fate and it will be whatever she makes of it. She has spent too much time letting others decide what that fate will be, now it is her turn at the helm.

Seeing that fire return to her eyes was more than he could possibly ask for. He wished only to say a proper goodbye but now he could see he was sending her off to battle and she was now fortified by his words.

He nodded back to her and they both looked out to the sea. Soon they came upon the strangest, contraptions Clara has ever seen.

"What are those?" she asked pointing and Redgrave looked in the direction to which she was referring.

"Oh, those are Chinese Fishing Nets. See those ropes there tied behind the bamboo and nets?" Redgrave said pointing them out. Clara nodded. "They are a series of cantilevers that lower the nets into the sea. The nets are completely stationary. It takes about six men to operate them. The fisherman may leave the net lowered for only a few minutes before raising them again. The catch is usually minimal but they may have a few fish or crustaceans to sell to a passerby."

"They are beautiful," Clara, commented staring at them. They seemed so delicate in nature, yet obviously very strong to have lasted so long. Perhaps there was a lesson to be learned in that.

"Yes. They are rather. Especially at sunset." Though they spoke of the nets Redgrave had eyes only for Clara. Since she was distracted he took this moment just to drink her in.

She turned to him and smiled and he smiled back.

The whistle blew and the deckhands came into position, to begin to maneuver the sails and rigging to bring the ship to port.

"It would seem we have arrived," Redgrave told her and without thought or hesitation, Clara embraced him. He held on to her for only a few seconds, as anything more would seem highly inappropriate behavior for two sailors onboard a ship. He pulled her away from him but still rested his hands on her shoulders.

"We will be in port for a few months to offload and reload for our trip home. If you change your mind or wish to return with us, Claremont is always welcome on my ship."

"And what of Mrs. McAllister?" Clara asked, her eyebrow rose slightly testing him.

He gave her a wry grin. "I prefer Claremont but Mrs. McAllister would be just as welcome," he said tipping his hat to her.

"Thank you, Phineas. For everything."

"It was an honor getting to know you, Clara."

Lord Fitton was now topside with Sturgis and Fitton's luggage. "I guess I should say goodbye," Redgrave said and held out his hand to her. "Good luck, Clara."

"Thank you. Goodbye, Commander." She shook his hand and he smiled at her, before turning to see to Lord Fitton and Sturgis.

Clara looked back to the sea and the fishing nets. "I am the mistress of my own fate," she whispered out to the waters. She took a deep breath to fill it up with the sea air. Soon she'd be back on land. Claremont's adventure has ended but Clara's was about to begin. She slipped Lord Fitton's ring back on her finger as they pulled into port.