Author's Note: Thanks everyone who has reviewed so far, and kept at the story for so long, despite long delays between chapters sometimes, I really appreciate it. As you may already know, the story is now coming to an end, with only a few more chapters to go. It will be a great achievement for me to have finally finished this, I never thought I would get round to it; it is the longest story I have ever stuck at. This chapter is from Lady Horsaw's POV. Robyn x
I had done it. I had survived, and Caledon Hockley was mine. That insolent little girl was probably at the bottom of the ocean now, along with her bratty brother and that scruffy, steerage, miscreant, Jack Dawson.
It wasn't as difficult as I had thought it would be, lying to Cal. It spurred me on to think that, while he thought that Scarlett girl was safe, I knew she wasn't. It had hurt me a little to find that he was still as besotted as ever with her, and also that it brought such joy to him to hear she was safe. However, it managed to get me a seat on a lifeboat, and that was all that really mattered to me.
And now, here I was, safe on board the Carpathia, planning the best way to get what I wanted now; Cal's hand in marriage.
Cal seemed agitated, distracted. He kept looking around at everyone that passed us.
"Can't see her." He muttered to himself. I knew instantly who he was talking about, Scarlett. I had to put an end to this nonsense, once and for all.
"Caledon, dear," I said, "Do let me go and look for that wonderful girl's name on the list of survivors. It will tell us where she will have been put, and then you can find her" And then, mustering up my face muscles, I smiled my sweetest smile at him.
Cal looked reluctant, "Maybe I should go..." he said
"No, no, I insist" I said "Get some rest, I'll go." Plastering that smile back on my face, I half forced Cal down into a chair.
"Oh, alright then." Cal agreed "Monty. Her name is surname is Monty." He added.
"Lovely."
I left Cal, and wondered along the deck. I had no intention of looking at the lists of survivors; after all, there was no chance that her name would be on the list. I would merely tell Cal that her name was not there, and she was presumed dead. That would put an end to all of Cal's feelings for her.
However, as I walked down the deck, a young man came up to me, several pieces of paper rustling in his hands.
"Mornin' Miss" he said, "I've got the lists of survivors from the Titanic here, would you like to check for any family or friends? We've got a record of where they're staying on Carpathia."
Hmm, well, I might as well do this properly, I thought to myself.
"Alright then," I said "I'm looking for Scarlett Monty, she was, I mean is a... friend of mine." I said, choosing my words carefully.
"Monty, Monty..." said the man, running a finger down the long lists.
On the inside, I was practically laughing to myself. There was no way she was going to be on the list; it would have taken a miracle to survive the disaster.
"Ah, yes," came the man's voice, jolting me out of my thoughts "Scarlett Monty, sixteen years of age, correct? That your friend?"
I opened my mouth in a perfect O shape. Scarlett was alive? She had survived? I couldn't believe it. What was I going to do now?
"Miss?" said the man "Are you alright? It's okay, she survived! She's staying in a little room on E deck, with another young man. Would you like me to show you? Or, would you like me to alert her that you are okay?"
I stood for a moment, dumbstruck. It just wouldn't do for Cal to find Scarlett; it would spoil all the work I had already done. I only had one option.
"Oh, no, no. There's no need for that. I shall pay her a visit myself in just a moment. Thank you for telling me." I flashed him a smile, to which he returned and then bustled away with his lists.
The moment he had turned his back, I felt my smile slip from my face. It was time to summon all my best acting skills for this next part; lying to Cal that Scarlett was dead.
I burst into our room, my body heaving with sobs that had taken me a whole five minutes to conjure up. Cal stood up swiftly from the chair, concern etched in his features.
"Oh!" I exclaimed, dramatically, throwing myself into his arms "Oh, Caledon! I...have...the ... most...dreadful...news" I heaved , taking breaths in between each word. "It's Scarlett! Her name wasn't on the list! She's-oh, sh-she's dead!" I burst out, collapsing onto Cal, crying hysterically.
Cal said nothing. Through my squinted eyes, I saw him raise the arm that I wasn't clinging on to, and bring it up to his face. He then pushed me gently aside, and slumped back into the chair, head buried in his hands.
I stopped my noisy crying. I hadn't thought that it would be this hard to tell him such a thing. I perched tentatively on the bed.
"But..." Cal opened his mouth to say something, but words seemed to have abandoned him. He swallowed and tried again, "But, I thought she got on a lifeboat? I thought..." he trailed off.
I didn't really know what to do or say. Comfort and sympathy were not some of my strong points, and I was starting to feel a bit bad, especially considering it was my fault. But, desperate times had called for desperate measures.
I went to put an arm around Cal, it seemed like the right thing to do, but he flinched at my touch, standing up suddenly.
"I need to be alone." He said, shortly, and, without further conversation, he sped from the room.
