AMANDA Miranda Alternate Ending
On the last night before we were due to go back to New York; I took Lady Eleanor for a walk in the grounds. This was the last chance that I would have to tell her and remove the veil of deceit that I had been wearing throughout my stay.
"Lady Eleanor" I began.
Lady Eleanor looked puzzled. "Why do you call me Lady Eleanor? You are my daughter; should you not call me Mother?"
"I call you Lady Eleanor because-"
"She calls you Lady Eleanor because she is not your daughter."
I spun round to see who had interrupted me and gasped. For standing beside the mere was Amanda Whitwell with a babe in her arms.
"Miss Amanda" I started "Are you not dead in the sea with the Titanic?"
Amanda took a deep breath in, "No Miranda. I am not dead in the sea, as you have put it. I was asleep when Clem Sawyers' stateroom was filling with water. Mr Sawyer died helping me escape, or rather escaped before me, left me to fend for myself, and died in the process."
"But that still does not explain why you are here alive?"
"I heard you talking with the steward. There was an extremely small space between the ceiling of the cabin and the water. Mr Sawyer pushed me towards the ceiling, and then went under to open the lock on the door. I felt the ship tip upwards, and prayed for him to hurry with the lock. He got the lock open, but unfortunately died before he reached the surface. The cabin was filling steadily up with water so I made my escape, with the help of the steward, who had dropped his cap into the water. He dived in and saw me in the cabin. Then one of the funnels fell and the steward and I were knocked overboard. He helped me climb onto an overturned lifeboat, where we waited for a ship to pick us up. A few hours later, we were still waiting and the steward was dead from the cold. Just when I felt that, I too was going to die; an angler's boat saw us and picked us up. He dropped me off at the port, then helped or rather carried me to the nearest hospital where I was put in a bed to warm up. John Thorne was at the hospital waiting for his arm to be bandaged after he cut it while working on his house. When I heard that, you were traveling to England to see my mother I got on the next train and travelled here with John and Elizabeth, my new daughter. That is how I came to be here and that is all I have to tell."
Just then, we heard a gasp and turned towards Lady Eleanor. She had fainted when she heard her daughter's story and was just regaining consciousness. I helped her up and led her to Amanda. They embraced each other and she cooed over her real granddaughter. As we were walking back to the house, John Thorne stepped out of the shadows and circled his arms around Amanda's waist.
Amanda turned towards us, "Mother, Miranda. This is my new husband, John Thorne. We were married in New York and he is Elizabeth's father."
We both nodded in unison, stunned. Then we walked into Whitwell Hall; mother, daughter, and maid reunited.
THE END.
P.S. Amanda, John, and Elizabeth bought a house next to Miranda's and Elizabeth, Ted, and Eleanor all became friends. Elizabeth and Ted ended up marrying and had three beautiful daughters together. Eleanor married a rich merchant and traveled around the world, but she always found time to visit her family. They had four children, two boys and two girls. As for Amanda, John, Miranda, and Gregory, they lived out the remainder of their lives in New York happy and content.