Chapter 4

"Elinor, are you okay? You have barely said one word since breakfast."

She looked at her brother and shrugged. The siblings had been walking the deck for what had to of been an hour by now. Her mind was thousands of miles away, thinking about how mean the women she had dined with that morning had been about Molly, and every so often her thoughts would be taken back to Harold when she had seen a man on deck that was dressed like him. "I was thinking of Mrs. Brown," Elinor said slowly, "And how rude they were to her."

"Aye," Dafyyd nodded his head, "It did seem a little odd that they behaved so rudely."

"Sometimes people can behave so oddly," She shrugged again, "I think I want to lay down before I go to tea."

Dafyyd nodded, "I am going to enjoy the sunshine a bit longer, is that okay?"

She nodded, "I will see you later." Elinor smiled warmly at her big brother and then returned to her stateroom. When she arrived in the room, she noticed an ivory colored envelope sitting on the table, with her name written in script. Elinor picked it up, carrying it with her into her bedroom, where she sat down on the side of the bed. The handwriting seemed oddly familiar to her, and as she carefully opened the envelope, a picture fell out of it, confirming who she suspected it was from. Elinor picked the photo up from where it had fallen on her lap and she turned it over carefully in her hands. The image that stared back at her was one she had not thought about in a very long time. She was in the picture, thirteen years old with her hair a wild mess of frizz and curls. Her brothers were wrestling in the photo while she looked at the camera, calm and demure, despite her outward appearance. On the other side of her brothers, stood Harry. He had a slight smirk in the way he looked at the camera and Elinor remembered that day vividly. It was the first day of summer holidays, he had just returned from his boarding school and the four Davies children and Harry had gone down to the shops to buy candy. A photographer was opening his business and had asked if he could take their image. They had each gotten a photo, one slightly different from the last. Elinor had always loved the one Harry had gotten, because of how calm they both had been, and that smirk he had worn. She sighed at the memory and reached for the piece of paper that had been carefully folded and placed inside of the envelope.

Elinor, I have been unable to think about anything else since last night.

It is consuming my mind. I wish I could go back and do it all over again.

I should have fought for you. I know our parents and friends always kind

of laughed at us, because we were just kids, but I truly loved you-I still

love you. I will never stop loving you. I will do everything I can to make

it up to you. Your sailor boy, Harry.

Elinor sighed and looked down at the photograph in her hands. She could not believe that he had kept it after all of these years. She felt a storm of emotions between her head and heart, because the fear of being hurt again overwhelmed her tremendously. She carefully propped the photo up against her bedside lamp and put the note away in her nightstand. Elinor fell asleep, unable to think about anything else except for Harry and what could have been.

–

"Well you seem to be feeling better," Will smiled at Harry, "What has happened?"

Harold shrugged, "Well sir I have decided to fight for her, so as to show her my feelings for her have never ceased and to show her how sorry I am."

"Good man," Will beamed.

"Fight for who?"

Harold turned to see Boxhall who was looking at the pair with a skeptical glance.

"The girl I have been in love with since I was fourteen years old is on this ship," Harold told him, matter of factly.

Joseph's eyes went wide, "Really?"

"Well if you were so in love with," Moody had decided to join the conversation, "Why didn't you marry her?"

Harold sighed, "It is complicated."

"Alright, so you're gonna fight for her then," Joseph walked over and leaned across the railing, looking down at the deck, "What do you have in mind?"

Harold opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again, he actually had yet to think that far ahead. At least, not beyond the letter that he had written. "That is a good question."

"So you're gonna fight for her," Jim began slowly, "But you don't know how?"

Harold scowled, "Well I was thinking-"

"Gentlemen!"

They all spun around to see the Captain standing with Bruce Ismay beside him. The voice had been Ismay's and he looked positively enraged, "I assure you the White Star Line is not paying you to stand around and chatter."

The officers quickly dispersed into different directions, Harold walked down the deck, muttering something about checking a rope, Joseph headed for the map room, and Jim began acting like he was checking the time and then took off towards the mail room.

"I apologize sir," Will began, "But they were actually preparing to go on a break."

Ismay rounded on him, "Then they should have done so and then returned to work. I will make note of this when we return to England."

"Yes sir," Will gave a curt nod of his head and remained silent as the Captain and Ismay walked around the bridge.

Harold had gone half way down the deck before sitting down in a secluded area and began wracking his brain for ideas. What on Earth could he do? Maybe he could invite her to a romantic supper, or show her the ship-If the Elinor he loved was still in there, and he believed she was, then he could take her to the restricted, crew members only parts of the ship, for he knew she would love the excitement of it. He had also heard talks about the wild party that had happened in third class the night before, lots of dancing and merriment, while not necessarily romantic per-say, she might enjoy the opportunity to go dancing and let loose. The first thing he decided to try was to arrange a supper for the two of them. Harold got to his feet and headed for the Verandah Cafe. He had worked with some of the staff there before and knew they would help arrange for a meal.

He arrived at the busy cafe within a few minutes, and immediately sought out Giulio Casali, one of the waiters who worked there. Harold quickly explained the story to Giulio who smiled while he listened to the story, "Lowe, I wanna help but I have to say the officers dining area is hardly romantic. How about you bring her here tonight?"

"Well," Harold said, looking around the crowded area, "I want it to be somewhat private and intimate."

Giulio thought for a minute, "The Verandah on the Starboard side is usually pretty empty in the evenings. Mostly mothers and their children come there during the day, but hardly at night. We can ensure the privacy you desire."

Harold beamed, "Really?"

"Yes, we can make it truly romantic and lovely for you both."

Harold slapped the man on the back, "Thanks for that. I truly appreciate it. I will be back at six-thirty."

"Good luck!" Giulio told him, smiling.

Harold took off out of the cafe like a lightning bolt as he rushed back to the bridge. To his relief, Ismay had long since gone so he was able to slip into the map room and find paper and a pencil. He wrote a quick note asking Elinor to join him at the cafe for supper. He then found a steward who was able to help him track down which room was Elinor's and he slipped it under her door, before taking off again for the upper decks.

–

Elinor woke up some time later, her sleep had been rough and plagued with thoughts, and she seriously hoped the entire trip would not be so restless. She climbed out of bed and found Louisa sitting in the parlor room, "Louisa, I need help dressing for tea."

Louisa smiled, "Of course. Also," she picked up a piece of paper off the coffee table, "This came for you while you were sleeping."

Elinor picked up the paper and read it quickly, "Supper?" she asked, perplexed.

"Oh Elinor, what is the worse that is going to happen?" Louisa asked, clearly exasperated.

"My heart gets broken again," Elinor told her, simply.

"Only if you let it. It is just supper, go and have fun and try to relax." Louisa followed Elinor into her bedroom and began going through the different tea dresses, "This lavender one is pretty."

"What about the pink one?" Elinor asked, "With the lace slip on jacket?"

Louisa found the dress hanging up that she was referring to, "This one always looks very pretty on you as well."

"I guess," Elinor sighed as Louisa brushed out her hair and restyled it, "Go ahead and inform Mr. Lowe that I will join him tonight."

Louisa beamed, "Oh I am so happy to hear that."

"And hopefully I will not live to regret it," Elinor mumbled. She finished preparing herself and left to join Molly for tea, her mind somewhere else all together. She was nervous and scared to be allowing Harold into her life, she was so completely convinced that he would hurt her again, that the idea was almost paralyzing. As she walked, the thought became more and more stressful to her and Elinor began mumbling lines aloud from plays she had performed before, "By the two Goddesses, now can't you see, all we have to do is idly sit indoors, with smooth roses powdered on our cheeks." She arrived at the Persian Cafe a moment later, feeling better after having run through lines in her head, and immediately found Molly and joined her at her table with JJ and Madeline Astor. Elinor's anxieties were, for the time being anyway, pushed far from her mind.

A/N- I apologize for the spaced out time between chapters and for it being shorter than the last few. It has been a long week and it is finals week at that! I graduate in one week which is really weird and freaky to think about...oh and I'm packing up my apartment (well I'm supposed to be)

Reviews are cool because they keep me motivated. Let me know what you like or don't like, what you wanna see, stuff like that.