Emily and Sarah headed back to their rooms. Sarah decided she would visit the library on-board the ship whilst Emily would go up on deck and look around.
"See you later Sarah" Said Emily walking out of her room
"Bye Emily, don't forget to look out for your officer" she smirked
Emily pulled a face
Emily headed up on deck to take in the fresh sea air. She felt so alive. All she could think about was Henry and secretly hoped he'd come up behind her.
Somebody did come up behind her but to her disappointment it wasn't Wilde but Moody
"Hi Miss" James smiled offering his hand
"Hi Mr Moody, I'm Emily, please call me Emily" She smiled
"Call me James. I just want to apologise for my accident earlier, I am clumsy. I hope you and your friend weren't hurt" he said
"No, we are fine thanks James" she smiled "Cheer up!"
"Sorry Emily, it's just...well..." James stuttered
"What James?" she was growing frustrated at him
"I kind of like your friend, I think she's very pretty" James said embarrassed
"She thinks you're cute James" Emily smiled
"Really? Oh that is so awesome. Do you know where i can find her?" He asked
"She was going to read in the library" Emily replied
"Thank you Emily, can i have your hand?" he asked
"Sure" she replied, he then bent down and kissed it "See you later Emily" James then walked off to find Sarah
Somebody up on the bridge was watching slightly jealous at James kissing Emily's hand. It was Henry.
On the bridge
"Penny for you're thoughts?" asked the Scottish first officer William Murdoch
Henry was distracted and didn't say anything he was too busy staring down at Emily
William went over to where Henry was to see why he was distracted.
"Henry?" asked William waving a hand in front of Henry's face
"Sorry Will, what were you saying?" henry said out of his trance
"Don't worry Henry. What are you staring at down there?" William said inquisitively
"Nothing" Henry said quickly and defensively
"Yes you were" William sniggered
"OK, fine, do you see that girl down there in the red dress?" Henry asked
"Yes, I remember seeing her and her friend in the dining room earlier when Moody bumped into their table" William replied
"I think she's really pretty" Henry replied
"Go talk to her after your shift" William smiled at his friend
"I want to, but i just don't know if i can" Henry said sadly
"Is this because of Mary?" William said putting his hand on his friend's back
"Yes it is" Henry said
"She'd want you to move on and meet someone else Henry" William replied
"I guess so, thanks Will" Henry smiled
It was the end of Will's and Henry's watch. Henry checked to see if Emily was still on the deck, and she was sat in a deckchair taking in the sunshine. He decided to approach her.
"Hi Emily" said Henry nervously
"Oh hi Henry" replied Emily smiling she sat up "What can i do for you?" she then asked the shy officer
"I just thought i would check you are enjoying yourself and by the looks of it you are, I saw you from the bridge" he smiled looking into her blue shiny eyes
"Oh, were you watching me Mr Officer?" she smiled flirtously
"And what if i was?" Henry replied in the same cheeky manner
"I might have to tell the captain that one of his officers is eyeing up the passengers" Emily replied
"And are you complaining if i was eyeing you up?" henry asked
"Well no, you are cute Mr Wilde and i don't mind if a cute man is looking at me" she smiled
"Thank you Emily. Would you care to join me in the officer mess for a cup of tea and chat?" he smiled offering his arm
"I'd love nothing more Henry" she got up and took his arm as they entered the officer's mess
Henry's fellow officer Will was in there having tea.
Hi Henry, who is this?" smiled a gentle Will
"Will, this is Emily Walker, Emily this is first officer William Murdoch" Henry explained
Will took Emily's hand and kissed it "Pleasure to meet you love"
"Nice to meet you too Will" Emily smiled
Will said "I can make you a drink if you'd like and you can both sit over there and talk"
Emily had her suspicions that Will knew more than he let on.
"Sure, thanks Will" Henry said patting his friend's back
Henry took Emily's arm again and let her to a table away from Will. He let her arm go and pulled out a chair for her to sit down on.
"Thank you Henry" She sat down
"My pleasure, my fair lady" Henry then winked at her
Will then brought their cups of tea over and they both said thank you
"So Henry, what would you like to talk about?" taking a long sip of her cup of tea, she thought it was delicious and wanted to know Will's secret
He took her hand "I would like to know more about you Emily" he stared deep into her eyes
"Ok, well I'm Emily Walker, I'm 25 years old, I live in Southampton and i am travelling to New York with my best friend Sarah to make a new life" She explained
He felt sad because he thought she had a fiancé waiting for her in New York and that is why she was going to make a new life "Are you engaged to be married Emily?" he said with concern in his eyes
"Nope I'm not, my family aren't into all that money rubbish" She said
Henry felt relief "That's good to know" he said
"Tell me about yourself Henry" taking another sip of this lovely cup of tea even though she secretly knew about already
"Ok,i 'm Henry Tingle Wilde, i am 39 years old, I'm widowed with four children" he said sadly
Emily took his hand "I am so sorry i had no idea" she said sadly, she could see the sadness in his eyes
"It's ok Emily, it happened Christmas before last, my wife died just after our fifth and sixth children died" he said trying to hold back tears
"We don't have to do this Henry if this is too painful" she put her hand on top of his
"I want to talk about it, especially to you" he could see the genuine care and kindness in her eyes. He hadn't been able to open to anyone about this
"We already had four children Jane, Henry, George and Nancy. And we decided to try again for a fifth, and to our amazement we found out it was twins, my wife Mary gave birth on 19th November 1910 to our sons Archie and Richard but they died just days later from congenital debility. You see, they were born slightly earlier than they should have done because my wife was already sick from pneumonia" He had to stop to compose himself for a minute
Even though Emily knew all this she still had tears "I'm so sorry Henry"
He then composed himself enough to continue " She died on Christmas eve 1910,she had phlebitis"
He then burst into tears, Will came over to check on him" Are you ok Henry?" Will asked but Henry couldn't talk
"He's told me about his wife and sons. He just needs a few minutes to compose himself" Emily smiled at Will "By the way Will, I want your tea recipe"
"I'll write it down for you Emily" Will smiled going back to finish his supper
Fie minutes later Henry smiled at Emily "I'm really sorry for that Emily. It's just so hard to talk about it when it didn't happen all that long ago"
"Do not apologise to me Henry. You will never ever have to apologise to me" Emily said staring into Henry's sad empty eyes
Emily wished there was some way of taking Henry's pain away
"I like you Emily, you're so different, so refreshing and you are so damn beautiful" Henry smiled
"Thank you Henry and i think you're handsome, especially in the uniform, it suits you" she smiled
"I just wish things could be different" He said sadly
"How do you mean?" she asked him
"I cannot love you like i want too, and how you want me too. My heart has always and will always belong to my wife" Henry said sadly
Emily felt devastated and she walked off without saying goodbye.
Henry and Will got up
"What happened Henry?" Asked Will
"I told her the truth, I cannot love her the way i would like to" Henry said sadly
"I am sorry mate" Will said "But at least she knows why"
Henry felt like shit and hoped Emily could forgive him and accept him as a friend
Meanwhile
Emily ran all the way back to her room and tore her hair down and sobbed into her pillow. She loved this man but he could not love her back. She felt like her whole heart had been ripped out of her chest