A knock sounded on Rose’s bedroom door before the key turned in the lock and Cal entered with a smug smile on his face. Rose looked up at him from her vanity mirror. She was dressed in a green dress with black netting and beads on the shoulders. She wore her hair pinned up, and emerald earrings and an emerald and diamond bracelet.
“You look lovely, Rose.” He came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. She felt her skin crawl, but outwardly she faked a smile at him, anything to make herself appear happy. “There is something I have for you, Rose. Something which I hope you like.” Cal sat on the edge of her vanity table. From inside his pocket, he produced a ring box. Looking at it, she felt sick, knowing what was inside. “I want you to wear this tonight as a token of my love for you.”
She opened the box. A large diamond ring sat inside. Large wasn’t the word. Ugly was. It was a gaudy, hideous thing. Rose shakily touched the ring. “Good gracious.”
“Perhaps it will remind you of how I feel about you.” He smiled at her. He removed the ring from the box and took her left hand in his. Rose’s wedding and engagement bands still sat on her finger. Cal quickly removed them. Rose felt her breath become caught in her throat, but she said nothing and allowed him to put the ring on her finger. She looked at the diamond and felt nothing at all. It felt out of place and too big for her tiny hand.
“Fifty-six karats of diamonds.” Cal grinned at her, as if bragging about how much money he had paid for the ring. An excessive amount, she knew, enough to feed several small countries.
“I love it, darling.” She quickly stood and moved away from him.
“Oh, Rose, I know you’ve been melancholy, and I know why. But this evening will be the beginning of our lives together.”
Rose tried to find something to concentrate on other than Cal. She ignored the feeling in her stomach and tried her best not to heave right there at that moment. “I am looking forward to the gala,” she told him, hoping it would steer the conversation away from the ring and that it would keep him happy.
“Good. So am I, Sweetpea.” Cal came towards her. He kissed her cheek gently. “Shall we go downstairs? I think you should be well enough to.”
Rose felt like screaming at him. Did he actually believe that she was mentally unstable because she didn’t wish to marry him? She was glad that after tonight she would be away from him. “Of course.”
*****
Throughout the evening, Rose continued her false pretense. She played the recovering insane girl that Cal had told everyone about. When people asked how she was feeling, she told them she was well and looking forward to the wedding. She played Little Miss Perfect Bride-to-Be and she was good at it. Her mother was pleased that she had accepted Cal’s proposal. She felt it was wise and that maybe it would help her to forget Jack.
*****
Incessant knocking sounded on the front door of the DeWitt Bukater residence. Trudy wondered who it could be. Leaning the mop against the kitchen wall, she removed her apron and broke into a run to answer the door in time. A tall blond man was at the door. He appeared slightly scruffy, with stubble, and was obviously not from the neighborhood.
“Is Rose in?” he asked informally and rather rudely.
Trudy didn’t know the man at all and hoped he wasn’t bringing any sort of trouble with him. “No. I’m afraid she isn’t. Can I take a name and a message?” she asked, knowing full well that Rose wouldn’t be coming back to the house, but still playing the role of the personal maid.
“I’m Jack Dawson. I’m her husband.”
Trudy almost dropped the apron she was holding. Had she misheard something? “I’m sorry. I do believe you are mistaken, for Miss DeWitt Bukater told me herself her husband had passed away.”
Jack felt anger inside him. After traveling here on the train and taking almost a full day to find the DeWitt Bukater residence, a silly housemaid was telling him that he was dead. “Look, Miss, I am her husband. I feared Rose to be dead, too, but I saw her name on the list. Please, can you tell me where she is?”
Before Trudy could reply, Lovejoy opened the door further and eyed Jack suspiciously. “Is everything all right?” he asked, knowing something wasn’t quite right.
Trudy’s heart quickened, knowing that if Lovejoy knew this was Rose’s husband, he would kill him. “It is, Mr. Lovejoy. This is Derek, our mailman. He would like me to go to the post office to sign for a parcel.”
Lovejoy frowned, but nodded and walked away, seemingly having bought the lie. Jack shook his head, confused, at Trudy. In a low voice, she whispered to him, “I’ll get my coat. If anyone else comes to the door, you are the mailman.”
Jack nodded and played along, hoping he would get some information on where Rose was. Trudy found her coat and informed Lovejoy she was going to the post office to sign for the package and would be back within half an hour. Once outside, she led Jack in the direction of the post office in case they were being watched. The Grand Hotel, where the engagement gala was been held, was in the opposite direction, but Trudy would have to tell everything to Jack first.
“Where is Rose?” he asked several times, but Trudy simply hushed him. He felt frustrated. It was only once they had reached a small church that Trudy sat in the churchyard beneath a large tree and indicated to Jack to sit beside her. Then she spoke. She turned her attention to Jack and spoke directly and quickly.
“Rose is attending an engagement gala at the Grand Hotel.”
“What?” Jack was hushed by Trudy.
“She is attending the gala with Cal. She believed you to be dead. How can you be alive?” she asked him, shocked, her eyes wide.
“I survived and was taken to the ship’s infirmary on the Carpathia. I searched for Rose in New York, but saw the engagement announcement a couple of days ago, so I just came here,” Jack told her.
“Listen to me. Rose plans to run away tonight. She is at the gala to please Cal, but it is also an excuse to be out of the house. As soon as Cal’s back is turned, she is going to run away. I am to meet her at this church at eight o’clock this evening with a bag of her belongings.”
“Where was she going to go?”
“Santa Monica.”
Jack felt a small smile come across his face. She was going to go to the place that meant so much to both of them. He knew he was going to be leaving with her tonight. She wasn’t going alone. They would go together as husband and wife.
“But Cal is very powerful. He watches Rose like a hawk. Lovejoy, the man who came to the door at the house, is an ex-Pinkerton and Cal’s valet.”
Jack narrowed his eyes. This would be trickier than he had thought. But he knew he wouldn’t just leave Rose at the gala alone—he would go to see her. “Miss—”
“It’s Trudy.”
“Trudy, could you get me a suit or something formal, anything to mix in with the crowd? Only Rose knows my face, so as far as anyone else is concerned, I could just be some rich bastard celebrating their engagement, too, right?”
Trudy nodded a little. “Yes. I can purchase a suit. Something just smart enough to blend in.”
Jack nodded, glad this woman was working with him. “Yes, exactly. Then I will find Rose, tell her that I am alive, and get the hell out of there.”
*****
“And we are to marry within the month. Rose has yet to pick a dress or bridesmaids, but it will be a very large affair, with all of you invited.” Cal stood, finishing his speech at the gala. Rose stifled a yawn. Her mother sat beside her, listening intently to Cal. Nathan Hockley sat beside Cal and he, too, looked rather bored. Cal’s brother, Ethan, sat opposite with his pretty new bride, Caitlin. “Finally, I would like you to raise your glasses to my bride-to-be, Rose DeWitt Bukater. I know that I can make her happy.” Cal beamed and the room began to applaud. Rose faked a smile and stood, feeling slightly dizzy as she looked around at the five hundred members of society, wearing their finest clothes and jewelry and clapping for her and Cal, actually believing that they were happy. Quickly, Rose kissed Cal’s cheek.
“Darling, would you excuse me? I am going to the powder room,” she told him quietly. She felt like running to the door, but knew she would have to keep her image and not let it falter until she reached the exit.
Upon reaching the ladies’ room, she quickly locked the door, leaned against it, and sighed a large breath of relief. This was her chance. She would have to be careful climbing out the window, but she was going to be free in a matter of minutes. The netting on her dress began to blow wildly in the wind as she flung the window open.
Suddenly, a knock sounded on the door. Rose jumped. She assumed it was Cal. “I’ll be out in a minute, Cal!” she called, but the knock came again.
Quickly, she closed the window and fixed her hair. Rose thought she could hear a voice whispering, but she was mistaken. There was another knock and then a voice, one that she had thought she would never hear again.
“Rose, it’s me! Open the door!”
Rose felt her heart beat quicker. The voice belonged to Jack. She thought that maybe she really had gone insane. Shakily, she put her hand on the doorknob and turned it, expecting to see no one there, but when the door was fully open, she saw him standing there, as plain as day—her Jack.
She put her shaky hands over her face and took him in. He was there before her. She felt tears in her eyes. Jack stepped inside the door quickly and looked around behind him to make sure no one had seen them.
“What…how?” Rose was speechless. “I thought you were dead!” she cried.
He put his arms around her, holding onto her for dear life. He hadn’t been near her since he had put her in a lifeboat aboard the Titanic. He could feel himself shaking. She clung to him, scared that he would disappear.
“I’m right here, darling. I’m not leaving you again.”
Rose pulled away from Jack and touched his face, as if checking that he was really there. “I thought you were dead,” she repeated, throwing herself at his chest. He kissed her hair gently. Jack knew they had to move. They couldn’t stay where they were forever. They had to leave.
“Rose, listen to me. I’m not dead. I am right here.” Rose went to say something, but Jack hushed her gently. “Listen to me, Rose. I saw your engagement in the paper when I was in New York, so I took a train here. I met your maid, Trudy, earlier—she is going to help us escape here—together.”
Rose put her hand over her mouth, trying to take all of this information in. Maybe she was dreaming and she would wake up in the morning alone, locked in her room.
“She allowed me to borrow this suit so I could get in here unrecognized. I saw Cal making his pathetic speech, and I felt like killing him right there.”
Rose took both of Jack’s hands and squeezed her eyes shut. She knew they had to move now if they were going to escape, because Cal would know something was wrong with her being gone for so long.
“Trudy said to go home. She has packed a small bag for you. Quickly change your clothes and then we will go.”
“Go home? But what if Cal follows us?” Then Rose remembered something. She gasped aloud and looked down at her finger—her weddings bands were at home on her vanity. “I need to get my rings.” Rose indicated her finger and Jack looked at the gaudy item of jewelry that Rose wore. Did this Hockley need such fancy things? Did he need to literally buy women?
“Come on. Let’s go, Rose.”