PHILADELPHIA IN SPRING
Chapter Two
"Rose, Cal's coming for dinner
tonight..." Ruth walked into her daughter's room as she adjusted the
strand of pearls around her neck.
Rose was sitting at her desk, writing in a
leather bound journal. In response to her mother's statement, she slammed the
book closed and stared straight out the window in front of her.
Ruth walked up behind her and placed her
hands on the back of the chair.
"Rose, did you hear me?"
Rose responded with no expression on her
face. "Yes, mother, I heard you." She placed her hands on the desk
and pushed the chair back, standing up.
Ruth moved back and sat down on the corner of
Rose's ornate bed.
"Rose, you're getting married next
Sunday."
Rose had let her hair down, and she reached
up to put a strand behind her ear. She sighed and folded her arms across her
chest. "So?"
"Rose, come sit down." Ruth's face
was stern and cold, and Rose was almost scared of what was going to be said.
She stayed where she was.
"What is it mother?"
"Rose, when you're married, there are
certain things...there are certain ways of acting."
Rose glanced up at her mother in confusion.
"What's the point of this mother? I have to dress for dinner."
"Okay, Rose, I'll be blunt. Mr. Lovejoy
told me about something that disturbed me greatly."
Rose knew what was coming.
"Rose, I guess you know what I'm talking
about- the park today. Rose, when you're married, you can't go around...talking
to other men like that, flirting with them..."
Rose turned abruptly and crossed the room, an
angry look in her eyes.
"Mother- I refuse to be controlled by
that manservant of Cal's. Why did he have to come with me in the first
place?"
"Rose, that's not the point." Ruth
stood up and walked over to her, placing her hand on Rose's waist.
"Mother, what happened in the park was
nothing. I just...I just talked to an artist that was drawing there- he just
showed me some of his work." Deep inside, Rose knew she was lying- talking
to Jack had meant so much more than she was letting on. In fact, she hadn't
thought about anything else since.
"Well, Rose, I know you didn't mean
anything by it; let's forget it; just as long as it never happens again."
Rose turned to look her mother right in the face. Her eyes were wide as she
spoke.
"Mother, there's no reason why I
shouldn't be able to talk to whomever I please- even when you do make me walk down
that isle on Sunday, excuse me." Rose walked passed Ruth and crossed the
room. She opened her door and motioned for her mother to leave.
As Ruth made her way across the room, she had
one more thing to say.
"Rose I want you to treat Cal like your fiancé
tonight- not like a stranger as you have been." And then she was gone,
walking briskly down the hall.
Rose sighed and closed the door, leaning up
against it. It seemed to get worse daily. Her mother seemed more like a
cheerleader for Cal- not that they'd ever been close as mother and daughter,
but somehow, even their relationship was different. Tenser.
She just hoped Ruth or Lovejoy didn't tell
Cal about the park- Cal would definitely blow it way out of proportions, just
as Ruth had. She was to marry him in one week, yet he seemed such a stranger.
At the beginning of their courtship, it had all been about gifts and flowers,
nights out at parties. Then he had proposed at dinner one night, in front of
Ruth. She had had to say yes, and at that time, it didn't scare her as much.
Partly because she didn't really know him yet, partly because then it had been
so far way. As time progressed, his true colors shone through.
Rose had wanted to go on with her schooling,
she was only 17 after all, but her mother would not hear of it. After next
Sunday, her title would solely be Caledon Hockley's wife- his possession.
She walked back over to her window and sat
down on the sill cushion. It was growing dark outside- and for some odd reason,
she wondered what Jack was doing at that very moment.
Rose laughed to herself. "Why am I so
stuck on him?"
She sighed and leaned her head against the
warm window. She closed her eyes, and relived the scene in the park. For a few
glorious minutes there, she'd actually been happy. That was so rare for her
these days. Jack was such a stranger to her, but something kept him on her
mind. The way his eyes had looked into hers, had made her tingle all over.
Whenever Cal looked at her, she cringed.
Cal would be there in a few minutes, so Rose
tore herself from her thoughts and walked over to her closet. She shifted
through the designer dresses, glimpsing her wedding dress in the corner. It was
so elaborate, so ornate, it was almost horrendous.
She spotted a lavender dress in the back of
the closet. Her mother despised the color, but she felt like being a little
rebellious tonight. The dress was a light shade of the color, with a low neck
and a high waist, delicate etching on the sleeves.
After she was dressed, she put her hair up
and picked out a pair of earrings- making sure they were not ones Cal had given
her.
And then she headed down the stairs- towards
her two masters.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jack slid his key into the lock of his tiny
apartment. He'd had a long walk from the park, and he was exhausted. The door
opened, and he entered the small room. He'd just recently been able to afford
to rent this place, and it remained almost empty. He'd been forced to take on a
job during the week, working as a waiter at a small hotel cafe. He had never
worked like that, and it had taken some getting used to, but it did mean a
steady paycheck. And of course, on the weekends, he was able to sketch
portraits in the park, which he enjoyed and often found himself looking forward
to during the long work week.
He put his portfolio down and crossed the
room to his tiny kitchen. He made himself a cold sandwich and sat down,
propping his feet up in front of himself.
Today had been quite a day. He'd had a steady
flow of customers, and then, of course, his run in with Rose. He'd thought
about her the entire way home. Of course he had met a lot of people before, but
she was different. In a way he couldn't explain at all. He smiled to himself
when he recalled the incident. But he wondered hopelessly about this fiancé of
hers. He'd seen her walk away with an older man, in his late fifties probably,
but that couldn't possibly have been her fiancé. And when he'd delved into the
subject, she'd gotten that sad look in her eye...
"Dawson, what are you doing to
yourself?" he shook his head back and forth.
Coming to Philadelphia had been a smart move,
he guessed. He'd entered New York late in April. He'd barely missed being on
Titanic, after he lost a poker game the day it sailed. But of course, now he
was extremely glad he had. His best friend Fabrizio had decided to stay in New
York, but Jack wanted to keep moving, only to end up here. And then he had
decided to try settling down. Wandering since the age of fifteen, he hadn't had
a real home since then.
Yes, this Rose was definitely something
special.
"And she's engaged, Jack." he
laughed to himself. "And obviously very rich."
Trying to shake thoughts of Rose from his
mind, he stood up and decided it was time to head for bed.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Trudy, could we get some tea?"
Ruth called to their maid.
Rose, Ruth, and Cal were just finishing their
dinner. Their very silent dinner. Ruth had tossed some very frustrated looks
towards Rose, but Rose herself had not succeeded in saying one word the entire
time. Then Ruth had retreated to talking about what she always did- the
wedding. She repeated things, plans she'd shared hundreds of times already.
"Are you okay, sweetpea?" Cal
looked at Rose, an almost sarcastic expression on his face.
Rose looked down at her still full plate.
"I'm fine."
"Your mother tells me you went to the
park today."
Rose cringed. But Cal said nothing else.
"I think I'll go outside for a
while." Rose stood up and pushed her chair in.
"Rose, come back here..." But she
was already out of the room, headed for the front door.
"I'm sorry Cal. She's been like this all
day."
Cal nodded sternly. "She's been like
this a lot lately, Ruth. The marriage is Sunday."
"I know Cal, and trust me, I'll have a
talk with her. Don't worry."
But deep inside, Ruth was scared that she
wouldn't be able to get through to her daughter. The wedding would be a
disaster if the bride frowned through it.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Rose sat on the soft grass outside the front
door. The long driveway to their house stretched below her. Her mother would
soon have this whole house to herself. And Rose would take residence at the
tomb Cal called home.
Dinner had been a horrible experience, as it
usually was these days. And her thoughts began to drift back to her
conversation with Jack.
He'd asked her if she loved Cal. Did she?
Rose didn't know if she ever really had.
And with the stark and disturbing realization
that she was to marry someone on Sunday that she did not even love, she cried
with her hands covering her face, her knees folded tightly under her.
There was no way to stop it. She felt as
though she was standing in the middle of a crowded room, screaming at the top
of her lungs, but no one would even look up.
She wiped her eyes with her hands and stared
straight ahead. Maybe, just maybe, Jack would be in the park again tomorrow.
He'd said every weekend, but maybe something would bring him back, just like
something was telling her to return there the next day.