AN OCEAN OF EMOTION
Chapter Nine
Ruth
The photographs that I had of my
daughter were burning a hole in my bureau drawer. Cal hadn’t been home enough
over the past week for me to show them to him. When he was home, his father was
with him. I wanted to show the photographs to him when he was alone. Silently,
I waited until the right moment. I heard Cal and his father downstairs,
discussing what seemed to be a never-ending parade of business. I glanced
towards the drawer in my bureau where the photographs were. I arose from my
chair and opened the drawer. I already knew the order of the photographs in the
envelope. The first one was of Rose, the Metcalfe girl, and the baby. The
second was a shot of Rose bending over to pick up a toy. The third one was a
shot of a simple cobblestone house with a white fence and a rather large hedge
towards the side. The front windows had what appeared to be white drapes that
were closed when Charles took the photograph. The last photograph was another
one of Rose holding the baby. I took that one out of the envelope.
"My daughter has a
baby." I ran my fingers over the glossy finish of the photograph Charles
had given me. The dark-colored coat hid the baby’s face well, but I could tell
by what little I saw that the Dawson boy was the father. I felt my blood start
to rise. You should have been a Hockley heir, not an heir to nothing. But we
can fix it. Once my daughter is back here, we can pass you off as a Hockley.
We’ll figure that one out when the time comes. I heard the front door slam.
As I looked out my window, I saw Nathan’s manservant opening the back door of
one of the many Renaults they used and watched as it disappeared from sight.
Gathering up the photographs and my strength, I made my way to Cal’s office.
Cal
"Yes?" I called out at
a knock on the door. Ruth entered. "What is it, Ruth?" I noticed that
as she shut the door behind her, she had a look on her face that I hadn’t seen
since before the Titanic sailed.
"I believe I have something
for you that you may want to see." She waved an envelope around.
"And what is it?" She
handed the envelope to me without saying a word. I dumped the contents onto the
desk in front of me. "Ruth, what is this?"
She pointed to one of the
photographs. "Rose. My Rose. Look."
I squinted my eyes to see the
photograph better. It was Rose, and she had a baby. "Where did you get
these?"
Ruth looked smug. "I hired a
private investigator. It looks like my gut feeling was right, Mr. Hockley.
Rose, that Dawson boy, the Metcalfe girl, and whomever she married live in New
York. The address is in the envelope."
I opened the envelope one more
time and a yellow piece of legal paper fell out. "And I take it this is
the address?" Ruth nodded. "Does this investigator have any
credentials? Did you check him out? Are you sure he can be trusted? How do we
know this really is Rose and not some girl who…well…looks a lot like her?"
Ruth’s face began to turn red.
"Mr. Hockley, this is my daughter. If you are too blind to see it, then I
will travel to New York and bring her back myself."
I stood up from my chair and
walked around to the front of the desk. Leaning against it, I glanced through
the photographs again. "And this is the Metcalfe girl?" Ruth nodded.
"And who does the baby belong to?"
Ruth shook her head slightly.
"I’m not sure, but the Metcalfe girl is still pregnant. The baby is too
young to be hers. It has to be Rose’s."
I stopped looking at the
photograph. "And how are we supposed to explain this bastard child? If
this is Rose, anyone with half a brain and a basic understanding of simple
mathematics will know that this isn’t my child. I can’t have that sort of thing
tarnishing my reputation."
I was taken aback by his comment.
"Mr. Hockley, I am sure that with your powers of reasoning and persuasion,
we can think of a way to pass off the child as yours. Perhaps it was adopted
after the sinking? A man’s wife perished after becoming violently ill after
being caught in the icy waters and the man, too distraught to keep it, gave it
up for adoption?"
I felt my brow wrinkle as I took
in what Ruth had said. "Maybe, but…well…I don’t know, and besides, we need
to find out if this is Rose or not. I mean, come on. Look at this." I
waved the photograph. "How sure are we?"
"Mr. Hockley, do I need to
spell it out to you?" Ruth snatched the photograph out of my hand.
"The Metcalfe girl and my daughter formed a bond onboard. Do you honestly
think that after the sinking, the Metcalfe girl found another friend who looks
exactly like Rose?"
She had a point. "Where did
she get the money for the house? I know that Dawson boy has nothing, and that’s
a pretty good-sized house. And what is he doing for a job? Working in a factory
or on a mail ship out of New York?"
Ruth looked at me, surprised.
"That one I do not know the answer to. The whole time the investigator was
following them, he saw no sign of a husband, though clearly they both have
one."
"A blind man could see that,
Ruth." I stopped to look at the photograph. "So, what do you propose
we do?"
"I want to go to New York. I
want to see Rose. I want to know why she left me, why she left you, why she
left this life. I want to know what that Dawson boy did to her to make her
leave us!"
I nodded slowly. "And what
do you think will happen?"
Ruth looked at the floor, then up
at me. "I’m not sure. I really am not. I’m hoping that she realizes she made
a mistake and that she still loves you and comes home. My daughter does not
deserve to live life like a pauper, married to whatever he is who can do
nothing for her. Look at her, Cal. Look. She looks horrible. Her hair isn’t
fixed, and the dress she has on I wouldn’t even put on my servant. She needs
me. She needs us."
"She’s hardly the girl I
wanted to marry. And what if she doesn’t come back? What if she tells us she’s
happy or if she tells us that she doesn’t know us? Then what? She could have us
sent to an insane asylum for bothering her. Have you thought of that?"
Ruth looked at me. "My own
daughter could never deny me. She would never deny me. She loves me. She loves
you. That Dawson boy has just gotten her off-center. We have to help her. Now,
again, will you go to New York with me?"
"I will need to be in New
York next week for business, anyway. Hockley Steel is expanding to take over a
smaller operation in New York. If you want, you can come along with us."
Ruth nodded her head as a smile
spread across her face. "Just let me know when I need to be ready."