Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 11

Rose led Lizzie down a few streets, without a word out of her mouth. Lizzie followed in silence as Rose walked about the town with her head bowed down low. Why was she acting like this? In all of her photographs back at the Manor, Rose always looked like such a perfect first class lady. She always had her head held up high, with her nose pointed above the others. This wasn't the same person. She was a different person. What could've made her so different in such a short period of time?

Soon, Rose led Lizzie into a quieter section of the city. It was a residential area, with houses and trees. There weren't any noisy streets with cars in this area. It was rather sweet, actually. Every house looked identical to the other, with one large oak tree in the front and daisies in the garden. They were all small houses, of course, but they were beautiful none the less.

"Is this your home?" Lizzie asked quietly, breaking their long silence. Rose turned around to look at Lizzie carefully. She's so young. Maybe 17 at the most. She looks awfully sweet. Why has she gotten her life so mixed up right now? She needs to be told the truth. Rose smiled and nodded slowly.

"Yes, it is. I worked very hard for this home and I managed to stay in an hostel for some time before the found a job and made enough money for it." Rose led Lizzie up the stone sidewalk and up the steps, onto a wood porch. There were two wooden chairs on the wooden porch and a potted plant on the edge of the steps. Lizzie looked at the plant and smiled.

"Do you like to garden?" Lizzie asked politely. Lizzie liked nothing but to give life from a tiny seed in the ground. She loved watching that tiny seed grow into a beautiful flower, petals and all.

"When I have nothing else to do, I try to make my home look as welcoming as I can. I only just moved in so the house is quite empty. I don't have many belongings anyways. They were all…"

"…lost at sea…"

There a long silence, and they both bowed their heads in prayer. Everything was lost at sea, including everyone. Harmless people, children and families were shattered because of the Titanic. They all had their first look at a bright future in the States, before everything came crashing down on them. Lizzie heard a few muffled sobs from Rose and they both looked back up.

"Yes, lost at sea. Absolutely everything, except-"

"Yes? You have something?"

"No, never mind. It's not that important." Rose said, shaking her heads and avoiding Lizzie's questioning gaze. "Would you come in and have some tea?" Rose asked politely. Lizzie nodded.

"I would love to."

Rose opened the screen door and allowed Lizzie to pass through before closing the door shut again.

The lobby was quite empty, as Rose had said. It had a small carpet in front of the door, a wash bowl and basin in the corner, a mirror and a long staircase that led straight up into another floor. While Rose was unbuttoning her jacket, Lizzie wandered into the living room beside the staircase. It was empty as well. It consisted of only a brown couch, a coffee table, a lamp and some plants that looked like they needed some watering desperately. On the coffee table were letters and important-looking documents spread all across. On of the sheets had the White Star Line logo stamped across the top. Maybe Rose was still in contact with the ship workers. Lizzie bent down and took the letter into her hands, and read it quietly to herself.

Dear Ms Dawson … Ms Dawson, did it say? Rose's name wasn't Dawson. It was Dewitt-Bukater. But Dawson did sound oddly familiar.

"What do you think you're doing with my letters?" Rose asked, a sound of anger in her voice. Her emotions seemed to be building up in her face when Lizzie looked at her.

"I'm, I'm, I was just looking at it. I didn't read anything. I'm so sorry." Lizzie apologized, handing the letter to Rose. Rose nodded and took the letter into her hands and read it two times over and smiled.

"So you know who I am then?" Rose asked. She set the letter back down onto the table and walked into the kitchen just a few meters away. Lizzie followed her into the small kitchen and watched her gather tea cups.

"Yes, you are Rose Dewitt-Bukater and you were engaged to Caledon Hockley just before you both boarded the Titanic together, with your mother. The ship sunk and the both of you were separated since then, am I right?" Lizzie asked. Rose laughed quietly as she placed a small kettle on the stove and turned it on. She brushed her hands off gently on her dress and placed them on her hips.

"Were you ever told about what exactly happened on the ship? Were you ever told why I am not searching for Cal right now?" Rose asked heatedly. Lizzie thought carefully to herself. She really didn't have any idea what happened on their trip.

"No, I wasn't. I just assumed that Cal and yourself were on a trip before your wedding arrangements. I didn't know something else happened."

"Yes, of course you didn't know about what happened, or who happened." Rose said. She exhaled loudly and placed a platter of biscuits on a tray. "Come. Sit down, please. The tea is nearly ready."

Rose set the tray on the table and pulled out two seats for the both of them. Everything seemed to be more quiet then t had been earlier. Lizzie was much too afraid to say anything else about the topic of Titanic and Rose … well, Rose wasn't exactly ready to say anything just yet. Nothing had been confirmed so she wasn't going to jump to conclusions just yet. Suddenly the tea kettle wailed and Rose jumped from her seat to retrieve the kettle. Lizzie made room on the table as Rose brought the kettle ands et it down. Still silence. Rose poured them both small cups of the steaming tea and sat back down comfortably. This silence was beginning to irritate Lizzie so she ventured towards Rose.

"Um, Rose, could you maybe tell me more about the Titanic. What I mean to say is-"

"You want me to tell you about what happened between Cal and I, don't you?" Rose said, ignoring the fact that Lizzie was trying to make eye contact with her. Lizzie smiled and laughed.

"Yes, that was what I was trying to get at. I hope you don't mind. I mean, if it's too difficult for you then by all means …" Rose stared at Lizzie was a very long time. What was it about this girl that made Rose think about Cal? She had promised herself that after the Titanic had sank that Cal would never even cross her mind for as long as she lived. But as Lizzie sat in front of her nothing else was on her mind except him.

"You know, you're nothing like him and yet, you're in love with him, am I right?"

Lizzie nodded shyly. "He's very kind to me. He defends me if I ever get in trouble at the manor and he's fun. My life at the manor revolved around my work for the longest time but nonce I met Cal, life didn't seem so bad. I now have a roof over my head and work doesn't seem so bad now that Cal is with me." Rose continued to listen. "Please just tell me why you and Cal are not together. He's perfect. Why would you turn someone perfect away?"

Rose took one last zip of her tea and sighed. "Maybe…maybe I'm not the person to tell you this." Rose whispered carefully. Lizzie shook her head.

"Miss…I'm still young and I already plan to spend the rest of my life with this man. Please. If there's something I should know about Cal, then tell me before it's too late." Rose stared at the girl before her. She looked so desperate. There was nothing else Rose could do. She had to be told the truth now.

"Fine. The least you could tell me right now is your name." Rose said jokingly. Lizzie blushed.

"I completely forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? My name is Elizabeth Sheldon and I am a working housemaid at the Hockley Manor." Lizzie said proudly. Rose ran a hand across her face lightly as she remembered all the times she had spend weekends with Cal at his family manor.

"My goodness. It's been quite a while since I was last at the manor. It would be wonderful if I could…" Rose trailed off in an instant. She was beginning to feel light headed and paused for a moment.

"Are you all right, Rose? You're skin has suddenly changed into a very pale shade. Would you like me to get you something to help?" Lizzie asked helpingly. Lizzie stood but Rose sat her back down again and laughed quietly.

"You're a very lively girl, aren't you? A perfect match for Cal. Does he ever argue with you?" Rose asked. Lizzie smiled and shook her head. "Impressive. Maybe Cal has changed for the greater good because of my death." Lizzie quickly took Rose's hands into her own.

"Please. Don't prolong me any longer. Just tell me the story of Titanic now. I have errands to run and tonight's the Hockley family gala. If I come back late with the groceries, I'll be fired." Lizzie said, tears slowly forming in her eyes. Rose sighed and nodded.

"You're right. Come. I'll help you finish your chores and on the way I'll explain everything to you."

And with that, Rose began her story for Lizzie and they both made their way back into the busy streets of New York City and the Hockley Manor.