AN UNEXPECTED TURN
Chapter Sixteen
When they entered the cottage,
Will's mother took her hat off and then began to fix some tea. No one else
seemed to be in the house. Matthew and Colette were allowed to play outside in
the backyard and Peter stayed with his sister for emotional support.
While the tea was brewing Mrs.
Murdoch went to another room and returned with a box. She set it down on the
table and opened it.
"These are the portraits
that we had in the house, I used them at Will's funeral but I decided after the
funeral I did not want so many around. They were just upsetting
reminders," she said to Gwen.
Jane pulled out a medium sized
picture and handed it to Gwen. When Gwen saw Will’s face looking back at her
she found herself fighting back tears.
"That is a handsome
portrait," she said.
Jane observed her, "Gwen
dear you can cry if you like. I...I feel I might as well," his mother
replied.
Gwen shook her head, "No
I...I can't cry. I do not think he would want me spending every second of my
life crying," she said.
Peter hugged his sister.
"It's alright Gwen,"
Peter said.
Just then the door opened. In
came a man who resembled Will and Gwen could only guess was his father.
When he saw Gwen holding the
photo he looked puzzled, as if trying to figure out who this stranger was.
"Hello Jane, I did not know
we had guests," he said to his wife as he hung up his coat.
"Well Samuel this is
Gwendolyn Wilde and her brother. She was on the Titanic and sought us out
before returning to her home in Liverpool because she met Will on the
ship," Jane said.
Samuel's face stayed in the
confused look.
"Oh Miss Wilde, how lovely
to meet you," Samuel said.
"It is lovely to meet you as
well. Over the few days that I was on the ship I grew very close to Will. Until
his death we were inseparable," Gwen said with a soft laugh.
"Ah...inseparable how?"
Samuel asked.
"Well...I do not know if I
can speak of it out loud," Gwen said.
"Was it a romantic
relationship?" Samuel asked.
Gwen slowly nodded her head.
"Oh...well no disrespect
intended miss but I find it hard to believe that my son would fall in love with
a woman he just met. That is...if you were really on the Titanic," Samuel
said.
"Sam! Why would you say such
a thing?" Jane asked.
"Because Jane dear I do not
think that Will would fall in love with a woman who he met on a ship," he
answered.
"Sir if I have to get my
ticket from my luggage then I will. I was on the Titanic, I did know your son
and we did fall in love," Gwen said defensively.
"I am sorry if I offend you
but... if you are who I think you are then you were engaged to J. Bruce Ismay
while on that ship. Why would Will have an affair with a woman who was engaged?
That’s not how we raised our son," Samuel said.
"Well I am sorry that you
think I am lying. I came here because I wanted to feel close to Will. After
seeing what he did as the ship sank I couldn't handle it. I don't know what you
know about how Will died but-"
"William went down with the
ship like a true gentlemen," Samuel interrupted.
"I'm sorry Mr. Murdoch but
he did not go down with the ship. He shot two men, then saluted my father, and
shot himself, in front of me and many other people," Gwen said.
"That’s impossible! My son
died with honor, he would not take the cowards way out! I can't believe that
you would come into our home and make such horrible lies, you are lying to my
wife and then to me. Jane may believe your lies but I see right through you and
your stories. What do you want? Money? Your father died and left you nothing, so
now you are poor and on the streets?!" Samuel demanded.
"Mr. Murdoch, with all due
respect...judging by the way I am dressed do I really look like I am poor and I
am only here because I want money?" Gwen asked.
Samuel was silent for a moment,
Gwen eyed her brother for a moment and thought Peter was about to start
screaming. After that Samuel said no more to Gwen, he retired to his study and
Gwen finished her visit with Jane. Gwen thanked her again for the portrait and
then the four Wilde children left. But instead of just leaving for a room to
stay for the night Gwen left for the train station. She really did not want to
be here anymore. She thought being in the town that the man she loved grew up
in would make her feel closer to him but it did the opposite. She never felt
more alone.
When they got back home late that
night the staff was surprised to see them. Gwen went straight to her bedroom
and laid awake all night.
The next day after Gwen ate
breakfast she had to endure visit after visit of her father's old friends who
felt the need to come by and offer their condolences. Some how word had gotten
around that fast that she was back home. She assumed someone had seen them at
the train station the night before. After the visits were over, she ate some
lunch, got her hat and then left the house to go for a walk to the church up
the street to go to the cemetery where her mother was buried.
Beside her mothers grave stone
was also two little stones with little lambs on each, her mothers stone read
the following;
Sarah Jane Wilde
Born: November 4, 1870
Died: December 24, 1910
Wife of Henry T. Wilde
Loving mother and devoted wife
R.I.P
Gwen crouched down so that she
could brush some dirt off of the stone.
"Mama I wish you were
here," she whispered softly.
Gwen looked over to her brother's
tomb stones, they had named the boys Richard and Archibald. So the one
tombstone read:
Richard Wilde
Born: December second, 1910
Died: December twenty third, 1910
The other stone read:
Archibald Wilde
Born: December second, 1910
Died: December twenty third, 1910
"At least daddy's with you
now," she said to the three graves.
Gwen sighed as she left
everything of the last four weeks soak in. She went from being the happiest
teenager in the world, to engaged and alone, to falling in love with the man
she would of married without her fathers permission if she had to, to being a
orphan and practically widowed.
After another thirty minutes she
stood and left, she walked back home in silence. Stopping once or twice only to
be talked to by someone she once knew. When she got home Peter was running
about playing, and Colette was watching him and reading a book.
She hung her hat up and sat down
in the parlor. No matter what happened, from now on...she would do her best not
to be sad. She did not think that Will or her father would want her to be this
horribly upset.
After she had recollected
herself, she read a book for a while and then the siblings ate dinner.
As the days passed on Gwen found
it just a little easier to get on with life. She just tried to remember all of
the happy times she had spent with her father, and the happiest moments that
she had shared with Will on the ship. She kept her head up and always made it
through. The months went on and Gwen grew stronger, her life did take an
unexpected turn in April but she would always just get on with the day. She
knew full well that Will, her dad, and her mum were watching over her and her
siblings.