THE GRACE OF THE SEA
Chapter Nine
April 14th
Raising a Fool
The following morning, Grace
didn’t leave her stateroom until it was time for the Sunday church service.
Cassandra brought her back some toast, as Grace hadn’t woken up when it was
time to go. The fact that she hadn’t come to bed until it was very late had
something to do with her strange sleeping habit for the day.
Upon the conclusion of the
service, Grace and Cassandra quickly walked back to their room so Grace could
spill out the details of Saturday night’s event.
"And the music was just so
lively and energetic! I dragged Tommy out to the dance floor, and we danced
most of the night!" Grace told her cousin, who eagerly listened and
watched as she was trying to decide which dress to wear.
Cassandra laughed. "It
sounds like it was a lovely night!"
"Oh, it was!" Grace
replied, deciding on a light green dress with its share of lace. As she put it
on with Cassandra’s aid, she continued to ramble on about her night.
Their talking stopped abruptly
when there was a knock on the door. Grace immediately recognized it as her
father’s knock that he had used so many times when she was younger. Her eyes
suddenly opened wide and became struck with the fear that her father was going
to reprimand her for her actions last night, which she had feared he would
somehow find out about.
Cassandra approached the door
slowly and then opened it with a cheerful smile. "Hello, Uncle George!
Lovely morning, isn’t it?"
"Hello, Cassandra,"
George Montgomery said, a bit taken aback at her energetic greeting. "Yes,
it’s a fine day, indeed. Cal Hockley is going on a tour of the ship with Rose
and her mother, Ruth, led by Thomas Andrews and Captain Smith. They were
wondering if you would like to join them." Grace was unaware that she was
clenching her fists anxiously until she finally released them as she breathed a
sigh of relief.
Cassandra answered, "That
sounds like a bright idea for such a morning. Come on, Grace." She
motioned for Grace to follow her out the door.
"If you would give me a
moment, Grace," Montgomery said to her, signaling for Cassandra to go on
without her. She turned to Grace and sympathetically bit her lip, showing her
thoughts to her. Grace returned a crooked smile as her breathing became quicker
and shallower. The door closed with a sharp slam, leaving just the two of them
in the stateroom.
"You already know what this
is about, don’t you?" Montgomery said, pacing back and forth in front of
his daughter. "And please do not play stupid, as you have already proved
that with your actions last night."
"Did you follow me?"
she asked, offended at the thought. "How did you find out?"
Montgomery continued to walk
ominously, and kept his temper under control. "That doesn’t matter. What
matters is that you deliberately disobeyed me! I told you earlier you mustn’t
see him anymore. Your whole future is in jeopardy because of your childish
infatuation with this man!"
"My whole future?"
Grace repeated, disgusted with her father.
George continued, "Benjamin
Wilkes is a fine man, and you should be grateful to be given such a husband as
him!"
"I don’t want to be Mrs.
Benjamin Wilkes," Grace sternly said.
"You would rather be the
wife of a poor steerage immigrant? Don’t be daft!" George replied, the
anger audible in his furious tone.
She very calmly replied with,
"If you believe following your heart to be foolish, then I’m sorry,
Father. But it seems you have raised a fool." Grace confidently walked
right past her towering father and into the corridor. "Now, if you’ll
excuse me, there is someone below decks who loves me for the apparent fool that
I am," she said, quickly walking down the corridor.
George shook his head as his only
daughter disappeared around the corner. "I guess I have raised a
fool."
Grace raced down the hallways and
staircases as tears began to stream down her flushed cheeks. Each step brought
her farther from her father and all that she had ever known in her life, and
this thought was frightening. What was she doing?
Her strides lessened and she
began to just walk quickly through the halls, tears still flowing freely as she
held onto the wall for support. She looked behind her, half expecting to see
her mother and father arm-in-arm following her, as they always were in the few
situations when she was truly scared. Grace’s palm swept across her face,
drying her tear-stained cheeks.
She slowly took a step backwards,
allowing her fright to get the best of her. Something big behind her prevented
her from continuing her retreat. She whipped around and saw Tommy standing
there.
"What’s wrong?" he
asked in his kind Irish voice, his face full of concern. Grace threw her arms
around him and sobbed into his shoulder as Tommy held her tightly in his
embrace. "Shh," Tommy whispered to her. "I’m here. Everything’s
okay." For that moment, everything was okay.