Im so happy with the response I got with my story that I went ahead and typed up the second chapter as quickly as I could! Tell me what you think! Thank you for the reviews!


Last time:

As he looked back to his companion, he noticed that Jack had still not taken his eyes off where he assumed the red head had stood. "Oh forget it it boyo. you as likely 'ave angels fly out yo'r arse then ta get next ta the likes o' 'er."

Tommy knew that what he had just said was advice for Jack as much as it had been for himself.


Emma sat in her suite in her ungodly uncomfortable corset, contemplating what dress to wear tonight at dinner. The bruise Cal had left on her arm was thankfully high enough that most of her evening dresses would cover it. She glanced at herself in the mirror and took in her appearance. Her wavy blonde hair was pinned up in an elegant bun that left a few stubborn pieces to fall delicately on her forehead. Her face was made up, something that annoyed her because she felt as if she were hiding behind a mask. Yet, her mask was immovable and did not betray the feelings of discontent. Her eyes were lined in black that made her green eyes stick out even more against her face. Her cheeks and lips were enhanced with red rogue, adding to her perfect mask.

She stared at her eyes and her hair once again. They were nothing like her father's or Cal's or even the woman she had grown up with as a mother. Emma had known since she was a child that her 'mother' was not indeed her own. Cal had told her one day when she was 9, three years after her 'mother' had passed away, because she had asked him why his hair was not light like hers, or why his eyes were simply brown. She remembered the feeling of dread that had filled her entire body as she rushed to her father in tears, demanding that he tell her the truth. Her father had told her what had happened and that her real mother was a maid that had been dismissed after she had been born. Since then, Emma felt like a stranger to all of her father's friends. She was only half of what they are. Her father tried to reassure her that she was apart of the family and tried to make her forget about the woman who had given birth to her. However, after his death five years ago, Cal would not let her forget. In all of her eighteen years of living Cal had never let her forget that she was a bastard.

She looked down to her arm to check the bruise that was there. There were 5 clear finger marks that stood out angrily against her smooth skin. She remembered Cal's words that accompanied the bruising that she got from him:

"You shall never act like that again in front of others. You and Rose know better than to disobey or embarrass me. Get your bastard ass back inside there and apologize for your behavior!"

Emma was used to these words and could not remember a time when she was not treated with harshness from Cal. She had gotten used to his behavior and his calling her names, however he had always done it in privacy or discreetly. She had been so embarrassed to have Cal reprimand her in public, but the thought of that man who had be staring at her watching as she was shaken and yelled at was mortifying. What he must think of me, she thought.

"What dress would you like Miss?" Trudy asked as she bustled into the room taking Emma out of her thoughts.

"The blue and black please, Trudy," Emma answered. The sleeves were long enough so that they covered the bruise. The sleeves were made of a see through lace and black beading that would help hide the darkness of the bruise against her skin.


Emma stepped out into the cool night air, searching for Rose. Rose had left dinner directly after it had ended, feigning stomach aches. Emma knew better. Rose had been silent the entire night and would not go back to her suite, it would be too easy to find her then. Emma found herself wandering to the third class deck where she had seen the man the earlier that day. She found herself in the exact same spot that he had been standing and looked up to where she and Rose had been just that afternoon.

"Looks a bit diff'rent down 'ere doesn't it?" she heard an Irish voice behind her. She spun around so fast that her shoe slipped on the deck and she stumbled a bit into the man behind her. She felt strong arms wrap around her, ensuring that she did not come crashing down to the deck.

"Steady there lass. Wouldn' want ya ta be fallin' in tha' water now." She glanced up and was met with a pair of deep chocolate eyes that had flakes of honey in them. Recognizing from his eyes that it was the man that she had seen earlier, she blushed and righted herself.

"Thank you," she murmured as she glanced into her savior's eyes.

The man stuck out his hand and smiled, "Tommy Ryan."

Emma gave a shy smile as she gave him her own hand, "Emma Hockley." She felt her smile grow as Tommy, instead of shaking her hand, brought it up to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

"Pleased to meet you Mr. Ryan."

Tommy smiled before releasing her hand, "Tommy if ya will. I never 'ave been one ta like formalities."

She smiled and tested the name out, "Tommy then."

Tommy felt his heart leap as he heard this angel speak his name. Her poised and proper accent made his name sound more of a song than a name. He then noticed that her sleeve of her dress had risen a little and he could see the bottom of what appeared to be a very new bruise. A bruise perhaps only a few hours old, a bruise that he believed he had witnessed.

"If ya don' mind me sayin' lass, ya've got quite the nasty bruise there."

Emma quickly looked down to her sleeve to find that to her dismay, her sleeve had ridden up and you could see the first two finger imprints that made up the bruise on her arm. Blushing, she tugged her sleeve down to hide the discoloring on her skin and began leisurely walking down the deck, "I am a bit clumsy at times."

Tommy's eyes became concerned as he followed her and watched as this beauty in front of him practically crawl inside her shell. "It's okay lass, I won' be tellin' a soul."

Emma sharply glanced up at Tommy, "You have nothing to tell other than you know of a clumsy first-class passenger," she bit out sharply.

"Woah, easy there lass. I mean ya no harm. No man should treat 'is fiancé tha' way," he replied while holding his hands up in surrender. This lass of his certainly had a temper to match his.

Emma laughed cynically and shook her head, "He is not my fiancé. Thank the dear Lord above for that. He is my brother. I would not have the strength in me if he were my fiancé."

She noticed that his eyes brightened when she mentioned that Cal was her brother and not her fiancé. "My apologies lass. If it's not too bold of me, no man should treat any woman tha' way. Especially one such as yo'rself."

Emma paused at Tommy's words. Her brother had said all her life that those who were in third class were far more cruel than he could ever be. Yet, here was a third class man saying that she should be treated better than she was. She was worth something, and for the first time in many years, she thought that someone might actually care about her wellbeing.

However her temper flared again, "You do not know me at all, sir. How would you know whether or not I should be treated a certain way? For all you know I could have deserved the way I was treated."

"Beggin' yo'r pardons lass, but I know how ta treat a woman, and tha' was not how I learned," calmly replied Tommy. She had a fiery temper indeed.

Emma caught herself about to reply angrily, but she saw the genuine truth that was in Tommy's eyes. She knew that he was not like other men out there. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh, she was taking all of her anger out on a man she had just met, a man that did not deserve her temper.

Tommy saw her defiant stance melt away and inwardly smiled. The shell was beginning to open. "Where are ya headed ta in America?" he questioned to rid her of her discomfort for getting angry.

"Philadelphia, my brother and his fiancée are to be married there," she sighed out as she looked to the ground sadly.

"Ya don' like the girl?" he questioned after seeing her look of sadness.

"No! I adore her. She is like my sister. But she is being trapped in a marriage that she can escape from."

Tommy noticed how she became defensive of her sister. He understood that she was not sad about her brother marrying someone, but she was sad for her brother's fiancée marrying her brother.

"Do ya have someone waitin' for ya there?" he asked, hoping that she would not have anyone that she was already bound to.

Emma shook her head laughing a bit as she did, " No, there is no one there for me. My brother is determined to marry me off as a business arrangement and has yet to find someone who he thinks will be advantageous for his business."

Tommy shook his head in wonder, "How a man could marry off 'is own sister like cattle will always be a mystery ta me. Ya folks call the Irish uncivilized."

Emma laughed at Tommy's sarcasm. His biting remarks and blunt honesty made Emma feel like she had someone she could talk to. The wind picked up a bit and she shivered against the biting cold night air. She had forgone going back to the suite and instead come straight to the deck without a coat. Tommy noticed her shivering out of the corner of his eye and shrugged off his coat and placed it around her shoulders. Emma glanced up at him but he simply kept his eyes forward as if nothing had happened. Emma gratefully shrugged her arms through the large coat and hugged herself, discretly trying to take in the scent of the coat: tobacco and wet earth. To her it smelled simply of the outdoors and of freedom.

They strolled along the ship in companionable silence for a few minutes before Emma turned as was about to say something when a shrieking scream pierced the air. Tommy looked around confusedly but Emma would know that voice anywhere, "Rose!" she shouted before running off toward the direction of the scream, leaving Tommy to follow behind.

Emma and Tommy got to the stern of the ship just as they saw a young man being held to the ground by an angry looking sailor and Rose trying to right herself, all the while shaking.

"Rose!" Emma shouted once more as she helped her friend get to her feet. Tommy watched in amazement as Jack was being restrained by two uniformed men as a surly looking officer and three well dressed men came stalking behind them. The larger man with the handlebar mustache that followed draped a blanket around Rose as Emma tried to sooth her friend as she trembled. Tommy recognized one of the finely dressed men to be Emma's brother and had to restrain himself for lecturing the man on how to treat ladies, for as soon as this man had arrived, Emma's face took on a shielded look.

Emma watched as Cal began to yell at the young man that was being handcuffed by the master at arms. Rose's guilty face made Emma think that there was more to what she had just witnessed than meets the eye as Rose ran up to her fiancé and placed a placating hand on his arm.

"Cal stop! It was an accident!" she yelled as she was trying to get her fiancé away from possibly hurting the man who had just saved her life.

"An accident?" he asked in disbelief as a sarcastic laugh escaped his lips.

"It was," Rose assured. "Stupid really. I was leaning over and I slipped." Here Rose paused and looked dazed. Emma could tell that she was trying to come up with a story instead of the real story that had just taken place.

"I was leaning far over to see the..uhh..ahh..ohh.." Rose began to fumble with her story and motion with her hands as to distract from her lie while Cal looked skeptical.

"The propellers!" Emma shouted as she nudged her way into the conversation. "It was an innocent bet that I had with Rose. I said that she could not see the propellers from the back of the ship and she said you could. So I dared her to check."

"Yes!" exclaimed Rose as she sent a fleetingly grateful look toward Emma, "and I would have gone overboard but Mr. Dawson here saved me, almost going over himself."

Cal looked in disbelief from his sister and his fiancée, "You wanted to see..she wanted to see the propellers!"

"Like I said, 'Women and machinery do not mix.'" said Coronel Gracie as he came about to ensure that the young man was let out of his handcuffs.

"Was that the way of it?" asked the master at arms.

Jack looked around in a slight daze before settling his gaze on Rose who pleaded with her eyes to go with the story, "Yeah that's pretty much how it happened."

"Well the boys a hero then! Good for you son, well done!" Coronel Gracie commended Jack as he was being released.

Cal meanwhile had turned from Rose to gaze sternly at Emma. He then took in that she was wearing a ratty coat and was accompanied by what looked to be an even rattier third class passenger. Emma saw the anger in his eyes and shrugged out of Tommy's coat and handed it back to the Irish man who simply took in the scene in front of him with concern. Concern because he saw how Emma had lied and taken much of the blame for Rose and how her brother had looked at her with anger.

"I will deal with you in the suite. Go," Cal directed sternly to Emma, who sadly nodded and turned to go, but not before she saw the grateful look that was in Rose's eyes. Emma just stared at her to let her know that she had some explaining to do once she was able to.

Emma turned to Tommy to find that he was no longer there and began trudging her way back to her suite where she knew that she would inevitably be yelled at and if Cal was in a bad mood, maybe even tossed about a bit. Suddenly she felt a hand reach out and grab hers as she was descending the second staircase to head back toward her suite. She was about to scream when another hand clamped itself over her mouth and murmured soothingly in her ear "It's me lass, Tommy."

Emma stopped struggling as she slowed down her racing heart and turned to face him. She saw concern in his eyes for her, "Why did ya lie ta ya brother?"

"Better me than Rose. She has to spend the rest of her life with him. I just have to make it till I am married and pray to the Lord that my husband is not as cruel as he is." Emma squeezed their still entwined hands, "I can take care of myself you know," she smiled good naturedly.

"Of tha' I am sure of lass," replied Tommy with a smile on his face. Emma was certainly a mystery to him. "Can ya meet me 'ere tamarrow at 3?"

Emma began hearing her brother and the others heading in her direction, she frantically looked around and tried to get away but Tommy would not let go of her hand, "Oh no lass, ya not be getting' away tha' easily."

Emma laughed before she turned a whispered in a hurried voice, "Alright! I will!"

Tommy then released her and ran with her a few paces, "Take tha' door on ya left. It will get ya back to ya room faster."

Emma nodded thanks and sprinted off through the ship, trying to make it back to her suite before her brother.


Emma raced back to her room and shouted for Trudy to hurry and help her out of her dress and corset. She hurriedly put on her nightgown and robe and sat in front of her mirror, gently brushing her hair and trying to look like she had been there for awhile when she heard angry footsteps making their way toward her room.

Her door was flung open with a bang as Cal stepped in angrily, "Why on earth would you make such a bet with Rose? Why on earth are you so completely stupid that you would put her in a situation like that?"

Emma started to open her mouth before Cal grabbed her wrist and yanked her out of her chair, her shoulder would be sore tomorrow for sure, "I never want to have you disgrace me the way you have today. You will behave for the remainder of this trip or so help me I will throw you over the side so you can get a better look at your propellers."

Emma stayed silent as she was roughly released from her brother's strong grip, "Do I make myself clear to you?"

She nodded as Cal stormed out of the room and slammed the door so hard that her mirror and the hanging chandeliers shook. She sighed to herself and walked over to her wardrobe and removed her robe. Walking to her bed, she turn off her lights and lay there thinking of her run in with her Irish man and the meeting that they had tomorrow.


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3 Lien-Wan