TITANIC CONTINUED
Chapter Nineteen
Jack gently kissed Rose's
forehead. As he did so, he noticed the look in her eyes. Something was wrong.
"What is it?"
Rose looked down.
Jack gently lifted her chin up
and looked deep into her eyes. "Please. Talk to me."
Rose looked down again. Then she
gestured to her battered face while she explained the reason Cal had done this
to her.
"He stormed into the room
and demanded to know if I had been seeing you again. Well, naturally I didn't
react very politely to it. That was when he started throwing me around the
room, hitting me..."
Jack hushed her by putting his
index finger softly on her lips. He could tell it was upsetting her.
"It's okay. Don't say
anymore."
*****
Cal returned to the dining room,
where he had left Ruth so abruptly when he had gone to straighten out his
fiancée. It really hurt him to hit Rose like that. It really did. What he felt
for her was more like obsession, not love. He only used force to keep her in
line. And he would always use it, just to make sure she stayed with him.
Ruth was not at the dinner table
where they had been seated, so he strolled into the smoking room to look for a
good political discussion to join in.
*****
Molly Brown opened her door to
head out for a late dinner. She had been snoozing and lost track of time, but
hoped some of the girls would still be gathered around chatting in the dining
room.
She stepped on something as she
walked through the doorway, and turned around to see what it was. Picking up
the two pieces of paper, she examined them closely. She opened the picture
first. It nearly took her breath away. For several minutes, she stood there,
studying every line, every detail of the drawing. She didn't even have to look
down at the corner of the paper to know that the initials J.D. were there.
She smiled as she opened and read
the letter, which almost brought tears to her eyes.
"That dear boy," she
whispered.