FORMALITY
Chapter Seven
April 13, 1912
"You go in first," I
said, holding Rob’s hand, standing on the edge of the swimming pool.
"No, you," he said,
sending me over the edge screaming and pulling him with me into the cool
saltwater.
"You’re going to get
it!" I laughed when we came up above water. I splashed him playfully, and
he did the same to me, laughing so hard he could hardly breathe. We both
stopped splashing and moved closer. My teeth started to chatter with the chilliness
of the water.
"I’m guessing you’re
cold," Rob said, still smiling from the splashing spell. I smiled and
nodded, my teeth still chattering. He took me in his strong arms, so we were
cuddled together with no space between us. Was I dreaming? No, I couldn’t be. This
was so real. What would Mother do if she found out? A sly smile spread over my
face.
"What’s the nasty smile
for?" Rob asked.
"I’m going to get in so much
trouble for all this," I said, chuckling. Rob just laughed.
"Don’t you care about that?
I mean, you don’t mind the punishment?" he asked, the familiar twinkle in
his eye.
"Well, see, I don’t care
because I’m with you. I could take any punishment they send my way without
flinching. I know that I can come to you," I said seriously. He leaned in
farther and kissed me passionately. After the kiss, we swam around, talked
about various things, and laughed a lot.
"I don’t mean to pry into
your personal life, but are things working out with you and your father?"
I asked from the other side of the pool.
"You’re not prying. I told
you last night we dined in our rooms and talked. Things are much better. We
know how we all feel about things. It’s all out in the open. I guess we just
needed to communicate more, and with my father always gone it was hard,"
Rob explained, slowly swimming my way.
"That’s wonderful!" I
exclaimed. "I’m so glad you worked everything out."
"Thank you for
everything," he whispered in my ear, his breath tickling my ear.
"You’re welcome."
After a while, we got out and
used the showers, and went up on deck. My hair was still a little wet, so I
welcomed the wind up top happily.
"Come with me," Rob
said, taking my hand. He took me all the way forward and out onto the bow. My
hair streamed behind me, blowing the sweet scent of my shampoo behind me where
Rob stood.
"Look at the clouds!" I
said, looking up at the puffy, cotton-like clouds. "Do you ever wonder
what it’s like to float on a cloud? Just kick back and relax, looking down on
everyone?" Rob chuckled.
"Honestly, no. But that
would be wonderful. A castle in the sky like that one." Rob pointed to a
cloud in the shape of an old medieval castle. "Just you and me."
"But every castle has a
dragon," I said, indicating a dragon-shaped cloud that appeared to be
attacking the castle.
"Then I shall be your knight
in shining armor and fend off the dragon with my trusty sword," Rob said
in a phony accent, pulling out an invisible sword and swinging it at the air
towards the dragon. I couldn’t stop laughing. Soon our castle and dragon melted
away. We walked along the decks, enjoying each other’s company. I felt like I
was on top of the world--I was on the Titanic in first class and I was with the
man that I loved. I’d only known him for four days, but I knew that I loved
him. You can just tell.
"Let’s go find that squash
court," Rob said as we approached the Grand Staircase. We had no idea
where it was, so Rob asked the lift attendant, and he directed us to it. Just
as the gates to the lift were closing, I saw my sister staring at me, her mouth
open in awe. I quickly put my finger to my mouth, signaling her to be quiet. I
could hear Mother in the background, talking to one of the other ladies. The
gates closed and we descended, shielding me from my mother’s view. I sighed in
relief. Now, if only I could trust my sister to keep her mouth shut. Rob looked
at me curiously with a smile on his face. I smiled back.
"My sister just saw me with
you. I just pray to God she stays quiet." Rob nodded and squeezed my hand
as the gates opened to D Deck. We walked down a hallway, took a few rights,
went through a door and down a few more flights of stairs until we reached the
squash court.
Meanwhile, Unknown to
Isabelle…
Marie couldn’t move. She just
stood there. Now she knew why her sister was always off with that man. He
didn’t look too bad, she thought to herself, still staring at the closed
gates of the lift.
"Marie, aren’t you going to
join us?" her mother called after her. Marie blinked and looked up,
startled.
"Um…yes, in a moment,"
she said, walking out the door to the covered promenade. Should I tell
Mother? Marie asked herself. It wasn’t proper to be running about like her
sister was, but she couldn’t blame her. Marie had always dreamed of marrying
rich, but now it was like money wasn’t even an issue for her anymore. Maybe
love really mattered in life. She decided she was too young to tell. She was
only fourteen. But she would do one thing for her sister. She’d keep her mouth
shut. She sighed, went back inside, and headed for the a la carte restaurant.
*****
I walked up to B Deck and quickly
walked down the long corridor to my room, where there was note on my door. It
read:
Isabelle,
Your sister and I are meeting
in the a la carte restaurant. Please join us. Lady Lucille Duff-Gordon will be
chatting with us today.
Mother
I sighed. I knew when Mother said
"join us, please" it really meant "be there or you won’t be
happy." I proceeded to the restaurant after changing, reliving the squash
session in my mind. Rob was so much fun. I didn’t want to leave him to dine
with my mother. I entered the room and saw my mother and Lady Duff-Gordon
happily chatting in a corner table, with my sister, as well.
"Well, there you are, Belle.
I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten a touch of mal de mer," my
mother said as I took my seat.
"No, I’m quite well,
actually," I said smiling and sitting down. My mother frowned and turned
back to the conversation.
"Anyway, as I was saying,
Rose slipped while leaning over to look at the propellers, silly girl! She
almost went overboard, when out of nowhere a young steerage fellow appears and
pulls her over. The rumor is that she didn’t slip at all, that the young man
was taking advantage of her..." My mother went on and on, and I instantly
knew she was talking about the girl that I saw last night. It was Rose? What
was she doing? I felt sorry for her, everyone gossiping about her.
Afterward, my mother and I walked
back to my room.
"Now, we’re going to be
dining with the Wellingtons tonight. I’m sure you’ve heard about Arthur, the
drinker. They have a son, Robert. He’s rather rambunctious. He refuses to take
on the family business. I don’t want you to have eyes for him, you
understand?" Mother glared at me as we entered my room.
"But I thought you wanted me
to be interested in looking," I said, about to cry.
"Not this boy. He’s bad
news. Just ignore him." With that, she left. I wiped the tears from my
eyes that refused to fall. I don’t care what she thinks. I’ll show her.