BREAKING FREE
Chapter Four
About twenty minutes later, Rose
stood at the door of the Carpathia’s first class dining room. She was on the
arm of Jack, who was looking extremely sophisticated in Cal’s most expensive
suit. Rose was wearing the white dress, even though it wasn’t as nice as the
others in her closet.
They were greeted with confused
looks as they entered the room. When they arrived at their table, Ruth fainted
dead away, knocking over a glass of wine, which spilled all over Cal, who
promptly bent down to help her. Rose put her hand to her mouth, making it seem
like she was shocked. She actually had to keep herself from laughing. Jack
knelt down at Ruth’s other side, tossing a glass of water on her to wake her
up. She came to and looked up at Jack incredulously, but didn’t say a word. She
didn’t want rumors to go out saying that a woman of her reputation had gone out
of her mind. Instead, she remained calm and let Cal help her up. "Oh! I’m
so sorry!" she said quietly. "It must have been one of my dizzy
spells. Thank you so much for helping me, Caledon!"
"Well, actually,
Mother," Rose cut in, "it was Jack who splashed the water in your
face."
"Jack?" asked Cal, a
look of confusion on his face. It seemed that he hadn’t had a chance to view
the face of Rose’s guest amidst all of the fuss over her mother’s faint. He now
stared at Jack with a look of pure hatred.
"Oh, of course you all
remember Mr. Dawson!" Rose said, glancing nervously at Cal’s face, which
was almost as red as the wine on his shirt.
For a moment, Cal looked as if he
would strangle Jack right on the spot. Thankfully, he had enough self-control
to almost inaudibly mutter the words, "How could I forget?" Then,
louder, he said, "Please, do sit down, Mr. Dawson!" He pulled out the
chair next to him. Jack hesitated before sitting down very carefully, as if the
chair might explode any second. He tried to look at Rose, but she was seated on
the other side of Cal, making any communication impossible. Someone sat down in
the chair on Jack’s other side. He recognized the voice immediately.
"Jack Dawson!" boomed
Margaret Brown excitedly. "Well, you’re one person I’d never expected to
see again!" Without warning, she scooped him up in an enormous hug,
causing many of the ladies at the table to make noises of disapproval and
disgust. "Well, tell me, Jack. How’d you make it? I’m sure everyone would
love to know of your heroic escape!"
Jack really didn’t think that
everyone would appreciate the details--especially those regarding who he was
with at the time--so he simply replied, "Well, it wasn’t heroic, really,
just lucky."
Rose piped up for the first time
since sitting down. "Oh, don’t be modest, Jack! It was amazing, really! It
turns out that Mr. Dawson here is an amazing swimmer!" Cal clenched his
fists under the table. Rose was getting the image of him chasing her and Jack
down the stairs with a pistol again. "Are you all right, darling?"
she asked him calmly.
"Yes, of course,
Sweetpea!" answered Cal, managing a smile. "Why don’t we order the
chicken tonight?"
Cal was starting to look
dangerously angry, just like he had the day after Rose and Jack had gone to the
party below decks, so Rose casually suggested that he go upstairs and change
before he caught a cold from the wine-stained suit. Once he was gone, she
grasped Jack’s hand under the table and ordered herself some lamb. She also
politely asked the waiter if he had any beer. He did, thankfully, and brought
it over with a bewildered expression on his face.
"Rose," said Ruth
disapprovingly. "Since when have you been one to drink…" She looked
at the beverage as if it were bottled dishwater. "…beer?"
"Oh, Mother," laughed
Rose. "It’s really not so bad. You should try it sometime." Molly
Brown started to laugh heartily, but Ruth didn’t look so amused.
"Rose, what is this
behavior?" she whispered across the table to her daughter.
Rose never had to answer, because
at that moment, Cal came into the room, still in his stained clothing, asking,
"Rose, darling, have you seen my new suit? You know, the…" His voice
trailed off as he noticed Jack’s attire.
"Oh," said Rose.
"I thought I saw it somewhere. Why don’t you check with the maids?"
"Never mind," said Cal
between gritted teeth. "I think I’ll just wear this tonight." He
settled down again. Rose quickly released Jack’s hand. "Speaking of suits,
Mr. Dawson…" Cal added casually. "That certainly is a nice one you’re
wearing."
"Oh, yes, isn’t it?"
asked Jack calmly. "Oh, look! The food’s here! Why don’t we dig in?"
The rest of the meal was just as
awkward. Ruth eventually went on to boast about the wedding plans while Molly
went on and on to Jack about anything and everything possible. Rose sat quietly
and ate, only because she was bored to death with Cal’s discussion on stocks
with some man across the table. Finally, when she could take it no longer, she
pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled something down on it. "Jack,
could you pass the salt?" she asked politely. Jack passed her the shaker.
When she passed it back to him, she handed him the note, mouthing the words after
dinner to him. He nodded briskly and got back to talking with Molly.
While Rose and Jack dined,
smiling occasionally at one another, they thought that their secret was
perfectly safe. Little did they know that someone else had noticed the note,
someone who quickly went over to whisper something to a very angry Mr. Hockley.