AN UNEXPECTED TURN
Chapter One
Gwendolyn Ann Wilde was a
beautiful young girl of seventeen. As she stepped out of a vehicle with
assistance from her father, she looked up at the ship that lay before her. It
was six o’clock in the morning and she was still feeling groggy from waking up so
early. The ship was a sight for sore eyes. Gwendolyn--or Gwen, for short--had
beautiful brown hair and blue eyes. Her father had always told her that she had
inherited her mother’s beauty. This made Gwen happy, but she didn't think she
could ever live up to her mother’s name. Just two years ago, when she was but
fifteen, Gwen had watched as her mother and twin brothers died from scarlet
fever. When her father had gotten the job on the Titanic, she hated the thought
of leaving her siblings behind, but her father was offering her the chance to
sail on a beautiful ship, to sail to America on the Titanic's maiden voyage and
then return to Southampton and make the journey to London, where her
grandmother and grandfather were caring for her siblings.
"Are you all right,
dear?" her father asked.
"Yes, Father. I’m just
marveling at her beauty," she answered.
"Well, there will be plenty
of time for that later. And when we are on ship, I will have to introduce you
to Mr. Andrews, the master shipbuilder. I only met him yesterday, but I believe
you would enjoy his company," her father said as he pulled an elegant box
from the car.
Gwen reached for the box, for it
held some of her most personal possessions, and then, after waiting for a
moment for her father, she was told to go ahead because the man who had packed
the cars with their things was a complete idiot and it might take awhile. She
nodded and then headed for the gangplank that led up to the ship. She was about
to walk up it when she was stopped.
"Miss, we haven't begun
boarding yet," the officer said.
"Yes, and thank you for
telling me this. I'm not a regular passenger. You see, I'm here with my father,
Henry Wilde. He told me to go ahead onto the ship. Is that going to be a
problem, sir?" she asked, worried.
"Oh. Then if your father is
Henry Wilde, then you’re...Gwendolyn. Is that correct?" the officer asked.
"Yes, sir. I am
Gwendolyn," she answered.
"Ah…all right. I'm so sorry
for the mix-up. Yes. Right away. You have suite A-35," the officer said.
"Pardon me for just a second
longer. But did you say A-35?" Gwen asked.
"Yes. Is that a
problem?" the man answered.
"No, but that means we have
completely different quarters. I was not aware of this," Gwen replied.
"Oh. Well, your father said
it would not be a problem. Now, miss, would you care for me to escort you and
your box to your suite?" the man asked.
"Well, you can escort me to
my suite. I will escort the box. It holds precious things, things that are very
precious to me. I would prefer to carry it on my own. Thank you, though,
sir," Gwen said.
He nodded his head and stepped to
the side to admit Gwen onto the gangplank. She began to walk up onto the ship
and he followed close behind. He led her through the room and to the halls with
the first class suites. Gwen soon found out that this man was Officer Moody. He
took her to her suite and, after making sure she had seen the whole room, he
left Gwen so that he might return to work.
The girl looked around the
beautifully furnished room. The mantle was a beautiful mahogany color. The
furniture was placed in such an elegant fashion that she felt she might faint
from all the elegance. Gwen was used to elegance and formality and all of the
things that came with being the daughter of a chief officer and the granddaughter
of one of the richest men and women in all of England. Their wealth was so vast
that it was almost greater than the royal family’s. And through it all was
shock and horror that she did not want so much wealth and everyone knowing her
as Henry and Mary Anne Wilde's oldest daughter. She explored the suite and
stared at her bed. It was huge, though not quite as big as her bed in London,
but pretty close to it. Just as she was putting her hat in the wardrobe, there
was a knock on her door.
It's seven o'clock in the
morning. Who’s knocking on my door? she thought. She went to the door, and on the other side stood
several men with her trunk and few other cases she had brought with her, along
with her maid, Judy. They had left Judy at home and told her to sleep a while
longer. After the crewmen left them with the message that her father was doing
some work, the two women looked at each other.
"Miss, I will unpack your
things for you and then you can tell me what else to do," Judy said.
"Well, let me help you,
Judy. You know I don't like you doing all the work yourself. I looked at my
bedroom and I think I know right where I wish to put my things. Oh, and wait
until you see your room. It's just through there. I can't believe this suite.
It's beautiful," Gwen said as she picked up a hat box and carried it to
the wardrobe. Judy picked the trunk up on the end and pulled it into the
bedroom.
"Aye, miss. It is a
beautiful room. That Mr. Andrews fellow did a beautiful job with the
designing," Judy said, setting the trunk down. She opened it and opened
the doors to the wardrobe.
Gwen stood over the trunk and
began to pull out the gowns, which were still on the hangers. She lifted them
up and handed them to Judy, who hung them up. They unpacked Gwen's
undergarments, corsets and such, and put them away. Once the trunk was empty,
they put it into a corner of the wardrobe and put her jewelry away. By the time
they were completely done, there was yet another knock on Gwendolyn’s door.
Judy rushed to it to see Officer Wilde standing on the other side.
"Good morning, sir,"
Judy said, curtsying. She stepped to the side and admitted the man into the
room.
Gwen came out and looked at her
father. "Are you finished with the main part of the work?" she asked,
a smile tugging at her lips.
"Ah…now, dear, we both know
that I never get a break. Not if I want to be named captain. Well, if you
haven't noticed, it’s close to departure time. If you'd like, we can go up to
the deck. Afterwards, they will be serving lunch, and…well…you have not had anything
to eat since dinner last night," her father said.
Gwen didn't answer, but now that
she thought about it, she was indeed hungry. "Yes, Father, I am a bit
hungry," she admitted.
"Very well. I won't be able
to join you at lunch, but I want you to go and introduce yourself amongst the
passengers. It will be good for you to socialize with new people," her
father said, smiling slightly.
Gwen nodded. Judy retrieved her
hat for her and they walked up onto the deck. Stopping on the first class deck,
Gwen and Judy looked down at all of the people who were standing on the dock to
bid them farewell. As she looked at the people, Gwen wondered if these people
knew the people on the ship or if they were there just to be there for this
momentous occasion. Titanic's maiden voyage. This would be in some sort of book
down the road if anything was written about the history of the White Star Line
and their prized ship, the Titanic. Finally, she looked down and saw men
untying the ship from the dock, and finally felt the ship moving.
"We’re finally
leaving!" Gwen said happily.
"Oh, it is a happy day,
miss. Soon, I will be with my family, and then you will be with yours!"
Judy said, smiling.
About fifteen minutes later, a
man came out with a bugle and announced lunch.
"Oh, my word. What? Are we
going to war? It's just lunch," Gwen said, annoyed by the sound of the
bugle and how close to her ear the sound was.
"I will be returning to our
suite now, miss," Judy said with a curtsy.
"Oh, yes, of course. Feel
free to look around, Judy. I don't mind," Gwen said to the maid.
"Well, you go and have some
lunch. I have some meetings and hopefully they will not keep me busy this
entire journey," Gwen's father said.
He gave his daughter a kiss on
the cheek and Gwen walked gracefully to the dining room. She looked around and
saw a table with two officers, and finally, a familiar face. She did not much
enjoy the company of this familiar face, but right when she was deciding
against joining the table, the familiar face noticed her.
"Miss Wilde!" the voice
called happily.
The other people who were seated
at the table looked up as Mr. Bruce Ismay came up to her.
"Hello, Mr. Ismay," she
said, smiling.
"Come join our table. There
is one seat left. You look so confused and frightened," he said, pulling
her along to the table.
Gwen wanted to hurt him for
assuming she was confused and frightened. It was lunch. If she didn't find a
place to sit, she would just order some lunch to go, as simple as that. Before
taking a seat, Bruce looked at his tablemates.
"Everyone, this is Gwendolyn
Wilde. Her father is Chief Officer Henry Wilde. Miss Wilde, this is Colonel
Gracie, Lady Duff-Gordon, First Officer William Murdoch, Fifth Officer Harold
Lowe, and Mr. Thomas Andrews, our shipbuilder, of course," Mr. Ismay said,
acting like he knew everything.
He pulled out the chair
separating himself and Colonel Gracie and she sat down. She was seated beside
Colonel Gracie and across from Officer Murdoch and Officer Lowe. Lady
Duff-Gordon was beside the Colonel, then Mr. Andrews. If this was the first
officer, then she honestly wanted to know why he wasn't in the meeting that her
father was involved in. Instead, he was having lunch with Ismay, the man who
had a mustache that looked like one could fit a snake in there without even be
able to see the whole thing. Oh, this is going to be so much fun. Why, Mr.
Ismay? Why? she thought as lunch began.