AN OCEAN OF EMOTION
Chapter Six
A Few Weeks Later
Victoria
Rose’s baby was in full bloom. He
was the kind of baby I wished mine would turn out to be once he made his debut
into the world next month. According to Rose, James never cried, and when he
did, he was easy to console. I had the pleasure of watching James while Jack
took Rose into town to buy some supplies for the house.
"You and my baby are going
to be wonderful friends." I stopped talking to look down at James. His big
blue eyes were focused on me. He gurgled and smiled at me. I smiled back.
"You really are a good baby. Do you mind having a talk with Uncle Harry’s
and my baby? I want our baby to be as good as you. Otherwise, you can come live
with me." James’ eyes were still fixated on me. "No. I really don’t
mean that. Your mama and daddy love you very much." I shifted James to
where his head was on my shoulder. I tried to squat down to get a cloth out of
the bag Jack had brought over, but my stomach being as big as it was, it just
wouldn’t let me. "See what I have to go through?" James’ response was
to gurgle some more as a small puddle of drool was let out on the shoulder of
my dress. "Normally, I’d be mad at things like this. But my, how the right
husband can change people." I finally managed to squat down long enough to
get the cloth and laid it over my shoulder after I moved James one more time.
"Better?" I walked around the house, still holding the baby, trying
to get him to go down for his afternoon nap, but he was not the least bit
tired. "Want me to tell you a story?" I shifted James down to where I
was cradling him again so he could stare at me as I was talking. I found a
fleece blanket in the bag and wrapped James in that. Seeing no expression, I
continued, "I’ll take that as a yes. Any suggestions as to what to tell?
I’m afraid I’m not up to date on my childhood fairy tales. Guess I need to get
a book from the library, don’t I?" I thought for a moment before deciding
to tell James a little about my life. I started with my mother. "My
mother, also known as your Great Aunt Angela, was a wonderful lady. I had the
pleasure of living with her for ten years. She became pregnant with my sister
and the pregnancy just wore her out." I stopped to think a moment.
"She’s not here anymore physically, but she’s here. I can feel her. But
you do get to meet your great uncle tomorrow. He’s going to come visit.
Shannon, your aunt, will also be here. She’s taking a break from school. I sent
her a letter the week you were born telling her all about you. Did you know
you’re named after my father?" James just continued staring at me. I
walked over to a chair by the window and continued telling him everything.
Harry must have come home from his trip sometime during my story about the
Titanic, because I was interrupted as I spoke of how Jack and Rose met.
"How much are you telling
him?"
I tried my best to wiggle myself
around to see my husband, but the position James was in added in with my
stomach wouldn’t allow it. Harry saw me struggle and came around to sit in
front of me. "I missed you." Harry leaned in to kiss me as he spoke.
"This was a short trip, but even the shortest of trips always make me miss
you."
"We missed you, too." I
hated it when he left me, but it was part of his job and I had grown to accept
that. "And I’m trying to get him to go to sleep. Rose said he needed his
nap, but so far, this little one has been unresponsive to my story." Harry
motioned for me to hand him the baby. I gladly did as I stood up to stretch my
back. "What are you going to try?"
He cradled James in his arms and
started to softly sing. I listened to the words for a moment before Harry
looked up. "It’s a song my mother used to sing to me when I couldn’t
sleep. I still can hear her singing it to me every day. It’s how I sleep when
I’m away from you. I picture my mother singing it to me and then I think about
you and the baby and how every day I am away from the two of you is one day
closer to me coming home." I listened some more as I closed my eyes. I
could just see Harry as an infant with his mother holding him as he was holding
James. The singing stopped as I opened my eyes. "There. See? Works every
time."
I checked on Harry and James.
James was fast asleep with his eyes tightly closed. Harry tucked the blanket
James was wrapped in a little tighter for James’ comfort. "Look at you.
I’ve been trying for an hour to get him to sleep. You come in here, sing a
Welsh nursery rhyme, and out he goes. You’ll have to teach me the song."
Harry handed the baby back to me
so I could put him upstairs in our baby’s crib to sleep. "I will. I’m sure
we’ll both be singing it many times in the next little bit. You’ll have plenty
of time to learn it."
Ruth
"Ma’am?"
I didn’t respond. I was too busy
thinking of Rose and our reunion once Charles found her. I heard another
request for my attention.
"Yes?" My thoughts
lately had been of nothing but Rose.
She gingerly entered the room.
"Mr. Nathan Hockley and his son have advised me that dinner will be served
in a moment. He has a special guest tonight and he wants you to meet her. Will
you be ready?"
I glanced at the clock hanging on
the wall. "Tell him I will be down in a few moments. I just need to
freshen up a bit."
The servant curtsied and excused
herself, softly shutting the door behind her. I checked my reflection in the
mirror, put on my earrings, and headed downstairs. As I opened the door, I
could hear Nathan and Cal talking.
"Miss Rose, it is so nice of
you to join us. How on earth have you been?"
I could hear a faint female voice
answer back. My attention snapped from my earrings to hearing my daughter’s
name. They had found her, and Rose had come home. I ran down the stairs as fast
as I could and stopped dead in my tracks at a redheaded woman standing in front
of me. "Rose! At last you have come home!"
The redheaded woman spun around.
"Excuse me?"
I froze. "This isn’t Rose.
Where is Rose? I heard you talking to her!" I moved by the redheaded woman
and into the parlor. "Where is Rose?" Frantically I searched, looking
for my daughter.
Nathan looked at Cal, then at the
redheaded woman, then at me. "Mrs. DeWitt Bukater, I’m afraid you are
mistaken. This isn’t Rose, your daughter. This is Miss Andrea Rose, one of my
business acquaintance’s daughters. She is joining us for dinner. Cal wanted to
meet her and he wanted you to meet her as well."
My head started to spin as the
room became black. "No. That is supposed to be my Rose at the table, not
her. Where is my Rose?"
Cal and Nathan exchanged glances
again. Cal came to my side and helped me sit down on the bench by the front
door. "Ruth, Rose is dead. Your daughter died. Remember? She died about
ten months ago on the Titanic. Remember that?"
"Do not patronize me, Mr.
Hockley. I remember the sinking!" I snapped back. I stood up, remembering
we had company, and regained my composure. I did not want Nathan or Cal to know
about Charles and my mission to prove Rose was alive and well. "I do
apologize, miss." I walked over to Andrea and held out my hand. "My
name is Ruth DeWitt Bukater." Andrea exchanged glances with Cal, who
assured her it was all right. "I do apologize for that. My daughter, also
named Rose, was killed on board the Titanic. It is just so hard some days.
Hearing your name just brought back so many memories I was not inclined to deal
with at this time."
Andrea, who was trying to be
nice, just nodded. "I understand. My grandfather died a few months ago. It
is still so hard on my grandmother. It is all right." Cal walked up to
Andrea and extended his arm. Andrea, thankful she didn’t have to speak to me
anymore, gladly took it, and together they walked towards the dining area.
Nathan escorted me, but I could tell it was because I was the only other woman
in the room. He would have much rather escorted one of the attendants over me.
I sighed and tried to regain my composure.
I sat through a boring dinner
with Andrea trying her best to impress Cal. With every word out of her young
mouth, my anger and jealousy became even worse. I thought to myself that should
be Rose sitting there, not some other girl. Rose should be here now, not
wherever she was. I knew Rose was alive, but I couldn’t say anything out loud.
"And what do you think,
Ruth?"
I snapped back into dinner and
turned my attention to the plate in front of me. "Begging your pardon, but
I was just enjoying this delicious lamb so much, I was not even paying attention.
Where on earth did you find this? Why, it’s the best lamb I’ve ever had."
Cal nodded, obviously buying my
lie. "I believe our chef found it in Pittsburgh and had it delivered here
especially for this occasion. I’ll be sure to tell him that you enjoyed it so.
My father was just asking if you thought the new college in town was as
spectacular as everyone had made it out to be. Miss Rose’s father was part of
the company that constructed it."
I grimaced as I heard my
daughter’s name being used again. "Yes." I stopped to take a sip of
wine, hoping to wash down the lump in my throat. "It is truly a marvel.
Your father’s company should be proud."
Andrea blushed and nodded in
agreement. Nathan, Cal, and Andrea went back to their chitchat and I could see
that Cal was genuinely interested in Andrea. I could only hope that when I
brought my Rose home, Cal would be sorry that he had even entertained the
thought of another woman.
I stayed at the table for a few
more moments. I caught a glimpse of the clock over Nathan’s head. "If
everyone will excuse me, I’d like to go for a short walk before bedtime. This
meal was wonderful, but I’m afraid if I don’t get some fresh air before bed, I
might never fall asleep." Cal and Nathan stood up as I did. "Miss
Andrea, it was a pleasure meeting you, and again, I do apologize for my rather
interesting debut. Please forgive me."
Andrea nodded, and I left the
dining area as fast as I could. I had received a letter from Charles asking me
to meet him on this day in the park.
I walked briskly to the
designated area. I was the first to arrive and sat down on the bench. The air
was a little chilly, but the thought of any good news this man might have about
my daughter kept me warm.
"Sorry to keep you waiting,
ma’am."
I turned around to face Charles,
who was walking towards me. He had a brown envelope in his hands. "I trust
you have information on the whereabouts of my daughter?"
He nodded. "I might have
something. Do you recognize this?" He showed me a photograph of a
necklace.
"It’s exquisite." I
studied the photograph again. "I’ve seen this somewhere before, but, wait!
My daughter had this necklace. Cal gave it to her on board the Titanic. Where
did you get it?"
"I can’t reveal my source on
where I got it, but I do have news about who had it. As you suspected, a young
lady gave this necklace to the First Bank of Pittsburgh as a down payment on
two homes about ten months ago. The First Bank sold this necklace to a jewelry
store here in town a few months ago. I just so happened to be window-shopping
with the wife and she eyed it. Of course, this necklace is way out of my price
range and I even told the wife that, but still, you know how women are. I had
to hear about it the whole way…"
I could tell this was going to be
a long story. "Will you please tell me what you know about the
necklace?"
"Sorry, ma’am. I tend to get
off track easily." He cleared his throat and pointed at the necklace.
"It got me thinking. How would someone come upon this necklace if they
weren’t rich? I asked the jewelry shop owner to let me see it. He didn’t want
to, but he did. We got to talking about it and he said he had bought the
necklace from a banker from the First Bank. Upon further talking, he handed me
this." He handed me a yellowed piece of paper. "See the
signature?"
I squinted as I tried to make out
the name. "Looks like Dawson." I realized what was going on.
"Oh, God!" I stood up as fast as I could as I read the name again.
"Jack and Rose Dawson. He married my girl. That bastard married my girl.
What was she thinking? Why on earth would she marry him? He had to have done
something to Rose to make her marry him. Where is she now?"
Charles shrugged his shoulders.
"That’s all I know for now. Looks like your motherly instincts were right.
I can go to Pittsburgh and try to track it down, but it’s going to cost
you."
I sat back down on the bench.
"Tell me how much. It’s yours."
Charles gave me a figure of two
hundred dollars and I promised to have the money to him by the end of the day
tomorrow. "Meet me here tomorrow, same time, and you’ll have your
money." I knew Cal kept emergency money hidden in a safe in the study.
Getting it would not be a problem. He’d barely miss the amount that Charles was
asking for. "I’ll double the price if you can get me an address while
you’re there so I can see my daughter. Triple the price if I get to see her by
next month’s end." Today was January twenty-third, so I know that there
was no way I could see her by the end of this month.
Charles stood up with his eyes
bright as sunshine at the thought of making six hundred dollars for finding my
daughter. "Anything you wish, ma’am. I’ll see you here tomorrow."
He turned to leave, as did I, but
this time I was lighter in my step, knowing I was one step closer to seeing my
daughter and bringing her home where she belonged.