TITANIC: A STORY TOLD
Chapter Twenty-Three
As she undressed for bed Rose saw Cal
standing in her doorway, reflected in the cracked mirror of her vanity. He came
toward her.
Cal spoke to her in an unexpectedly tender
voice. "I know you’ve been melancholy, and I don’t pretend to know
why."
From behind his back he handed her a large
black velvet jewel case. She took it, numbly.
"I intended to save this till the
engagement gala next week. But I thought tonight, perhaps a reminder of my
feeling for you..."
Rose slowly opened the box. Inside was the
necklace..."Heart of the Ocean" in all its glory. It was huge...a
malevolent blue stone glittering with an infinity of scalpel-like inner
reflections.
"My God...Cal. Is it a--"
"Diamond. Yes it is. Fifty-six
carats."
He took the necklace and placed it around her
neck. He turned her to the mirror, standing behind her.
"It was once worn by Louis the
Sixteenth. They call it Le Coeur de la Mer, the--"
"The Heart of the Ocean. Cal,
it’s...it’s overwhelming."
He gazed at the image of the two of them in
the mirror.
"It’s for royalty. And we are
royalty."
His fingers caressed her neck and throat. He
seemed himself to be disarmed by Rose’s elegance and beauty. His emotion was,
for the first time, unguarded.
"There’s nothing I couldn’t give you.
There’s nothing I’d deny you if you would not deny me. Open your heart to me,
Rose."
Of course, his gift was only to reflect light
back onto himself, to illuminate the greatness that was Caledon Hockley. It was
a cold stone...a heart of ice.