Harry woke me up early the next morning, telling me that we needed to buy the dress as early as possible so he wouldn't be late for the inquest. The stress of the last few days was starting to take its toll on me, and as soon as I moved to get out of bed I could feel all my muscles aching. I was exhausted, but I cheered up a little bit when I looked in the looking-glass and realised I didn't look quite as tired or ill as I had on the previous day.

Still, I couldn't take in anything about the city. It was cold outside and I soon became utterly miserable. Harry had suggested that I leave Will's coat behind so no one would connect me to the Titanic and start harassing me. I knew that what he said made perfect sense, but it didn't change the fact that I felt incredibly cold and lonely without the coat – it kept me warm and reminded me of Will. Instead, I was wearing my dress which now looked very grimy and cold, and the summer-coat which wasn't much use in this weather.

We went into a boutique which was fairly close to the hotel, and I selected a dress which I felt was practical – I didn't really care what I looked like, not at that stage. As long as it would fit and as long as it was suitable for wearing anywhere, I didn't care. Harry paid of course, as he had offered to the previous night, and I asked if I could change there. The woman gave me a pitying look, obviously assuming that I was a pauper, probably living on the streets. In all fairness to her, however, if I had not known the officers she would probably have been correct.

When we got back to the hotel, Lights and Pitman had just finished eating breakfast and were on their way out of the door. They expressed surprise when they saw Harry, as – so they said – they had thought he was already on his way to the inquest. They waited a while as Harry ran to get changed.

"Ada, Mr Boxhall is staying here with you today. He's in your room, I think," Lights smiled.

"Why is he in my room?" I demanded. The last thing I wanted was a man I didn't really know in my room with me. Not after that night...

"I asked him to go in there to keep an eye on you," Lights replied. "It's alright, he doesn't bite. Anyway, he has some newspapers to read and he'll probably be sleeping quite a bit. I assure you that he won't be disturbing you."

I grimaced, but I knew Lights was just trying to do the right thing. Eventually, Harry came running back towards us, and paused to catch his breath.

"Are you sure you're quite ready, Harry?" Pitman questioned, watching him curiously.

Harry simply nodded in reply, obviously not really feeling up to speaking just yet. As they walked outside I waved them goodbye, then wandered back to the stairs. As I had been out with Harry, I had temporarily forgotten that I had lost Will. Now that I was on my own again, it all came back to me. I bit my lip, thinking about him. The letter! What had he said again? I stopped and briefly felt around for a pocket, before remembering that it was in Will's coat, which was in my room.

Once I reached my room, I gingerly turned the handle and walked inside. I couldn't see anyone – no, there he was. Mr Boxhall was sitting in a chair in the corner, his face obscured by a newspaper.

"Good morning, Mr Boxhall," I said, as brightly as possible.

He barely looked up and grunted something in response. I frowned and walked over to my bed, where Will's coat was lying. I rummaged through the deep pockets and pulled out the letter. It was crumpled and creased – not a surprise really. After all, it had been in that pocket for days. I wandered over to the dressing table, sat down and gently unfolded it and smoothed out the creases.

It was awful, reading that letter again. I felt tears well up in my eyes, but I wiped them away – I had to read it. I want you to be...the beautiful, confident woman with dreams and aspirations beyond marriage and the home. He was right. I had always wanted so much from my life, until I met him. It wasn't his fault, it was mine. I had become so dependent on Will that I had forgotten about what I had wanted from life before. You once told me you wanted to be a teacher... I bit my lip and gazed up at the wall. A teacher. I had wanted that before – and if Will had thought me capable of it, I could at least try. I looked down at the letter again, my eyes fixing on the next paragraph. I have caused a terrible accident.

I turned around to look at Boxhall, who was still holding the paper in front of his face.

"Excuse me, Mr Boxhall, but Will wrote me a letter before the ship sank and he says 'I have caused a terrible accident'."

"What of it?" He grunted.

"Well, what does he mean by that? Surely he couldn't be blaming himself for what happened?"

"Why not?"

"Why would he?"

He lowered the paper before responding. "He was on the bridge when we hit the iceberg."

I stared at him blankly. What was he talking about? "Iceberg?" I asked stupidly.

"Yes."

"Don't be ridiculous. Surely you're not trying to say that Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg? They said she was unsinkable, an iceberg could not sink her!"

"Really? I think that particular iceberg might disagree with you. Haven't you read the papers?"

"No."

He slowly stood up, stretched his arms and walked over to me, brandishing the paper. I took it and scanned the front page. Titanic sinks after hitting iceberg.

"What of it?" I demanded. "It's not Will's fault!"

"I told you, he was on the bridge and he gave orders which caused her to hit!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" I snapped. "Will always did what he thought was right."

"I know," Boxhall shrugged. "But this time he was wrong. If he had been right...well, he would most likely be here now."

I scowled at him, then shoved the paper back at him. How dare he? At least Will had gone down with the ship instead of taking the easy way out in a lifeboat! There was a small amount of comfort in that, but it didn't change my loneliness.

As Boxhall took his seat again, I resolved to just ignore him and focus on more important things. I turned back to the letter. Make sure my mother gets the other letter. I smiled to myself as I planned it out – I would return to Dalbeattie to deliver the letter, then I would return to New Zealand. I hoped my old schoolteacher would still want me there, although it had been a few years since she had offered to give me a place as a teacher there.

A few hours later, the other officers returned. I heard Boxhall sigh with relief when Lights walked in.

"How did it go?" I asked.

"I'm not too sure. I felt like a criminal in there!" Lights looked exhausted, but he was still smiling. "Now, I hope Harry mentioned dinner to you?"

"He did," I nodded.

"Good. We are just going to refresh ourselves, then we will be going out – so be ready in half an hour!"