AN ADVENTURE TO REMEMBER AND A MEMORY TO FORGET
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Harry
I hadn’t seen Victoria look as
well as she did since we were on board the Titanic. The gown that she had on
was a perfect color for her. Her hair was held in place by the clips that
matched the dress. Everything was perfect. As I led her down the hall and to
the elevator, I couldn’t help but see that men in the hall would stop and stare
at her. It made me proud to see that she was getting attention and it made me
feel even better that she chose me. Out of everyone she could have picked, she
picked me.
We arrived in the dining room
where Shannon, Rose, Jack, Victoria’s father, and a few people I didn’t
recognize were already seated. When Victoria and I came through the door and
approached the table, the men rose, even Jack, who took a cue from Rose as to
what to do.
"Victoria, you look lovely,
honey. You really do." Victoria’s father looked her up and down as she
leaned in so he could kiss her.
"Thanks to you and your
friends, plus the wonderful help that you have hired for Shannon and me. It was
easy." She turned to face Mr. Metcalfe’s friends. "My father explains
that you are responsible for this. I do thank you. Very much." Gracefully,
as she spoke, she sat down in the chair I had pulled out for her.
I looked around the table before
taking the empty seat next to her. Victoria motioned to me. "May I
introduce the Titanic’s Fifth Officer Harold Lowe? We met on board the Titanic,
and after being rescued by Officer Lowe, we are now engaged."
I watched the astonished glances
exchanged between the people we were with. A man in his mid-fifties spoke up.
"Well, Officer Lowe. Looks
like you have a winner."
I nodded as I tried to swallow a
drink of water I had just taken without choking. "Thank you, kind sir. I
do believe I agree with you. I couldn’t be happier." I looked at Victoria
as I spoke. She had an elegant smile on her face. She was glowing. She was
everything her breeding, finishing school, and education had taught her to be.
"My manners. Please, excuse
me." He stood up to walk around the table to introduce himself. I stood as
well. "My name is Henry Williams, and this is my wife, Helen." He
motioned to a petite lady sitting next to him, who smiled politely when she was
referenced. "James and I have known each other for some time now. Ever
since this one was little." He pointed to Shannon. "I’ve watched both
girls grow from babies in their parents’ arms to beautiful young ladies who
have matured seemingly overnight." Mr. Williams looked over both Shannon
and Tory before sitting back down and nodding approvingly at both Mr. Metcalfe
and me. He turned his attention to Rose and Jack. "I don’t believe I’ve
met the two of you."
Jack looked at Rose, and she
nodded at Victoria, who spoke up. "Mr. Williams, may I introduce Jack and
Rose Dawson? They are dear friends of ours from England. They, too, were on
board the Titanic when the disaster struck. Mr. Lowe not only saved me from the
water, he also saved Jack and Rose, who were just married before they set
sail."
Mr. Williams again was impressed.
"My, Officer Lowe. What a man you are. Courageous, and look at the fiancée
you’ve got, to boot. No wonder you’re proud of him, James."
Mr. Metcalfe nodded. "Yes,
sir, I am." He looked at me, then at Tory again. "I don’t know what I
would have done if Officer Lowe wasn’t there when he was there. Such great
timing and good luck he has. For saving my daughter as well as our dear
friends, Jack and Rose Dawson, I am forever indebted." He picked up his
glass. "To Officer Lowe and my daughter. May they be as happy as Angela
and I were." We all picked up our glasses to toast the two of us.
"My mother’s name was
Angela," Tory whispered in my ear. "Father rarely talks about her. I
think the memory of her dying while my sister was being born really shakes him
up. Father always wanted another child, but the doctors told my mother that
it’d be dangerous. She went along anyway. I think there is still some guilt in
him that he thinks that he was responsible for my mother’s death. He wasn’t.
The doctor said her body just simply couldn’t take it anymore."
I noticed tears forming in Tory’s
eyes. "Dear, I’m so sorry." I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze
under the table.
The rest of breakfast was just
small talk. Mr. Metcalfe and Mr. Williams discussed business, mainly, while
Mrs. Williams spoke with Rose and Tory. She was eager to learn of Tory’s and my
wedding plans, and we were ashamed to admit that we didn’t have any. But Tory
handled it well, making up things as she went along. I turned my attention to
Jack, who seemed thoroughly bored with the whole situation.
"Bored, are we?" I
waited for him to snap out of his boredom-induced trance.
"Somewhat. I really don’t
know what to say. Rose has been around all this society stuff, but I haven’t. I
have to just make stuff up as I go along. I don’t want to say the wrong thing
or embarrass Rose or Mr. Metcalfe, so I think it’s best if I just sit here,
smile, and let them handle everything. You know how women are, anyway. They
like it."
I got a small amount of
satisfaction from what Jack said. "You’re right. But I think you’re doing
well. You look great. Did Mr. Metcalfe send that up to you as well?"
Jack nodded. "Yes, he did.
He also sent up three or four really fancy dresses for Rose. One of them
doesn’t fit, but he told us that if they didn’t fit, we could have them altered
or we could just go pick out more and charge them to our room. I feel bad about
that, you know? I’m taking his money, and what can I do for him? Work for him
to pay it back? If I did that, I’d be working for the rest of my natural life.
Then, I’d still be working well beyond my natural life."
I noticed Tory and Rose watching
us.
"I wonder what the boys are
talking about."
Rose looked at Tory, leaned in
close, and whispered to her, but it was still loud enough for us to hear.
"Man talk. You know how that goes. We’re not privy to hearing what is
going on. We’d better act like we don’t see them, nod politely, and bat our
eyes at our men, then go back to small talk about cotillions, finishing school
ways of thinking, and child-rearing, since that’s all we’re good at."
Tory looked at Rose. "You’re
right. These manly conversations leave me a bit cold." She looked at me,
her eyes sparkling with laughter. "It isn’t proper for a lady of breeding
to interrupt her male counterparts while they’re speaking anyway. We’ll just do
what you said--pretend we didn’t hear them and continue talking softly until
they realize we do know what they are talking about and perhaps they’ll pick up
on that, rescue us from this hellhole, and take us outside for a walk while the
sun is still up and it’s not blistering cold." Rose and Tory looked at
Jack and me.
Rose spoke again. "Think
they got the hint?"
Tory shook her head.
"Probably not. You know how men are."
I looked at Jack, who playfully
nudged Rose in the ribs. I turned to face Tory. "We get it. We get
it."
Tory stood up. "Father,
Officer Lowe, Rose and Jack and I are going to take a short tour of this area
of New York. Jack and Rose have never seen this area."
Her father nodded, and I arose,
helping Tory out of her seat. Jack took the same cue and helped Rose as well.
"Thanks, man," he
whispered as we walked out together into the bright sunlight. Jack and Rose
took off in one direction, towards the shops where Mr. Metcalfe had bought the
dresses, and Tory and I took off in the opposite direction.
"Tell me more about your
mother, if it’s not too painful."
Tory looked at me. "No, it’s
not. You deserve to know." She took my arm, and together we went on our
walk. "My parents met a few years before I was born. I’m not really sure
how they met. But they did, and my sister and I were the products of that. When
I was born, Father was away more than he was home. He was traveling all over
England and Scotland, as well as Wales. I’m not really sure how my sister got
ordered in the first place, considering he was never here. But when my mother
was pregnant with Shannon, something changed. Father was home for months on end
and was always there playing with me and looking after my mother. I know the
last months of her pregnancy were difficult, and I couldn’t understand why my
mother couldn’t get out of bed. Father hired Belinda to take care of me and
hired a lady named Allison to take care of my mother. When my mother passed,
Allison left to go back to Wales to be with her family, rather than stay with
us. But Allison did tell us about Melissa, who was hired to take care of
Shannon. Father turned to alcohol when Mother died."
Tory stopped to look at me. I was
engaged in her story, and it was evident by the look in my eyes, so she smiled
and went on.
"There were many nights when
Shannon was too young to remember or comprehend that Father was too drunk to
come home, so he’d sleep it off at a pub or a neighbor’s house to keep us from
seeing him. Belinda, Franklin, and Melissa knew what was going on. I realized
slowly that something wasn’t right, but our attendants all did their job to
keep it hidden from us and to keep us out of danger. I don’t know what made
Father change his ways, but he did. He just quit drinking all together one day
and tucked both Shannon and me into his bed, told us he loved us, and from that
day forward, he never touched the bottle again." She stopped to admire a
blooming tree off to the side of the road, and then looked at me again.
"Sounds like your father had
it rough. I have never been married before, but I can see why he did what he
did. It was obvious by his actions that he loved your mother very much and was
very distraught by her death. He didn’t mean to turn to alcohol to console
himself or to abandon you or Shannon, but it happened. Are you or were you
angry at your father, then or now?"
Tory stopped to think about her
answer before she spoke. When the right words came to her, she quietly spoke.
"I used to be. Once I got older and realized how selfish Father was, I was
quite angry with him. But then I stopped to realize that he didn’t know what
else to do. Mother was supposed to be here to help raise Shannon and me.
Instead, she was gone. Father’s only knowledge was of business, not family, and
what else could he do? He did the best that he could. I know he loves both
Shannon and me and would do anything for us." She motioned that she wanted
to sit down, so I led her to a bench with a huge oak tree over it to get us out
of the sun. She dusted off the planks on the bench before sitting down.
"Damned corset makes everything difficult." I looked at her,
astonished. She looked at me again. "You have no idea what this damned
thing does to me. I can’t eat, I can barely move, and my insides feel as if
they are being pushed together. I hate this thing."
"I wish I could say I know
what you mean, but if I did say that, I’d probably be looked at in a not so
kind manner." Tory laughed at the thought of me in a corset. "So, I
can’t say that. I will say that when we are married, you don’t have to wear one
if you don’t want to. They look like they hurt, and I did see a bruise or two
on your mid-section when you took yours off when we were on the Titanic and the
Carpathia."
"They hurt badly. But it’s
part of being a lady, I guess." Tory stood up. "Care to walk some
more?" She held out her arm, and this time I was the one who took it.