Philadelphia, June 29, 1916.
Eliza sighed, and swung her legs idly in the chair. She had been told by one of the maids to sit there and wait for Cal to come in and see her. He'd been over in Europe since the death of his wife a few months back, and this was the first she was going to see of him since then. She had, however, received a brief note from him for her tenth birthday the month before. The last few months at school had been a little tougher since the fight with Katy. Eliza had been punished on a few more occasions for fighting or swearing, even though she had been provoked by some of the meaner girls, who's insults were getting worse as the time went on, and they thought up things which they knew would annoy Eliza even more. Most esspecially they made fun of her for not remembering all of her past. However Eliza didn't tell them that she was remembering a lot more of her previous life, and her parents. As most of the things she remembered-such as poverty, hunger and sadness-were things the other girls wouldn't be able to appreciate Eliza knew there was no point arguing and telling them that she actually could remember her life in Sweden!
A noise in the doorway made her look up. It seemed to her that he seemed a little older since she had last seen him. He had a few wrinkles, and she spotted a few gray hairs in his head.
"Hello Eliza..how are you?" Cal asked, coming into the room, and sitting behind his large desk.
"I am very good thank you sir. And how are you?" Eliza asked politely, remembering one of the first rules of etiquette she had learnt in school- when you are asked if you are well never, ever forget to ask how the person who asked you is.
Cal smiled slightly at his charge's manners. "I'm as well as can be expected." He admitted candidly. "The reason I had to speak to you Eliza was that I've received a few reports from your school in the last few months."
Eliza looked down at the floor.
"Fighting, swearing.Eliza, surely you know that these kind of things are not ladylike?" Cal asked her. "I know that in the last four years you've learnt a lot about the proper way to behave, but maybe you haven't learnt as much as I had hoped."
"Sir?" Eliza asked timidly.
"Mmm?" Cal asked absently. He was thinking about the reports he had and what exactly he should be doing.
"I only fought with the girls when they made fun of me. They said such terrible things about me and my parents, and even you!" Eliza explained.
"Of me?" Cal raised an eyebrow.
"They did, but I can't repeat them to you. They were very bad." Eliza said, a little embarrassed.
"Be that as it may Eliza I hate to say this, but the headmistress has asked that you not return after the summer holidays." Cal said.
Eliza looked at him in shock, tears filling her eyes. "Not go back? But I love school. I love to learn!"
"I didn't say you wouldn't go to school, I just said you wouldn't be going there!" Cal said. "Actually Eliza I have found a school which I think might suit you better. It's in Virginia, and I happen to have a few friends who have sent their children there. It's a lot more expensive than the one you were attending before, but I don't think money is exactly a problem for me.."
Eliza brushed her tears out of her eyes. "I would miss Annabelle!" She said.
Cal sighed, and leant his head in his hands. He knew people were definitely going to talk when they heard that he was sending Eliza to somewhere such as the school he was planning! They had already began to say that they thought he had done his duty in helping an orphaned third class girl and that he could probably put her to work now, knowing that she'd had a better life and opportunity that she would have had he not helped her! But for some reason he couldn't bring himself to do that. Whether it was because he was actually now fond of the girl, or whether it was still because of Rose, he didn't know.
"I am sorry Eliza, but the headmistress was pretty explicit in her instructions. And she wasn't the only one. I had a letter from Mr. Williams, who was most upset about the trauma suffered by his daughter, and he suggested that he could possible sue us. Of course I wrote back to him telling him I thought that this was a bit too excessive for an argument between two schoolgirls. He agreed with me on that point but I have a feeling that he has exerted strong pressure on the headmistress in this case. No, I am sorry Eliza, but it is out of the question that you return."
*****
Later that evening Eliza walked into the sitting room, and stopped dead. Cal was in there, and he had something in his hands-a newspaper clipping perhaps- and he was staring at it as if he had seen a ghost. She must have made some noise which she was unaware of, because his head jerked up as if he had received an electric shock.
"Eliza!" He said, sounding almost out of breath, and strangely hoarse. "I didn't see you."
"Sorry." She replied. "I was just coming to get a drink of milk to help me get to sleep."
"Come here for a moment.." Cal said.
Eliza walked hesitantly over to him. Something in his demeanor scared her a little. He smiled slightly at her, and then handed her the paper, which turned out to be an advertisement for a play opening on Broadway. The woman in the photograph was staring into the camera smiling, and her long wavy hair was loose and flowing over the cowgirl costume she was wearing.
"Do you know who this woman is?" Cal asked Eliza.
Eliza looked at the name. "Rose Dawson." She said.
"Rose Dewitt Buckator would be more accurate.." Cal said.
Eliza widened her eyes.
"I guess my darling fiancée survived the titanic disaster after all." Cal said coldly. "But I wasn't good enough for her. An actress of all damn things!"
Eliza didn't know what to say. "Are you..will you see her?"
"See her? No. No, she chose to let me believe she was dead, so in my heart she is dead. And besides, the name Dawson, that was the name of the gutter rat. Maybe he survived also.." Cal frowned at this thought. "Maybe I might make some inquiries, but that is all. I never, ever want to see Rose again. Not now." And he suddenly seemed to realize who he was speaking to, and he changed the subject, brusquely telling her to get her drink and get to bed.
Up in her room Eliza thought about what she had learnt. The fiancée who Cal had mourned for the last six years was not really dead. She was now an actress and perhaps married to someone else. It must have really hurt Cal to hear that. The poor man, she thought, it never ended for him. She didn't think about what she, a mere child, had been through. It was strange because Cal had never given her more affection than he would a distant person, but he showed that he cared about her by the way he acted, and treated her. She knew he didn't love her, not the least because of her third class status and his first class status, but she knew that he was used to her. And that was all she could possibly ask for, as she knew that life would have been a lot harder had he not agreed to take her in when the government asked him to. She remembered the lady from the government telling her about it; "When we asked Mr. Hockley whether he would be prepared to take you in and look after you he was more than happy to agree. Isn't that nice?" And it was nice, she thought now. He was a nice man for all he had done, so it was such a shame that he had been through what he had in his lifetime! The little girl fell asleep to these thoughts.
[Authors note: I am well aware that Cal didn't agree to take Eliza in happily like it says above, but you'll find out later that there is a reason for me writing it like this.]
Eliza sighed, and swung her legs idly in the chair. She had been told by one of the maids to sit there and wait for Cal to come in and see her. He'd been over in Europe since the death of his wife a few months back, and this was the first she was going to see of him since then. She had, however, received a brief note from him for her tenth birthday the month before. The last few months at school had been a little tougher since the fight with Katy. Eliza had been punished on a few more occasions for fighting or swearing, even though she had been provoked by some of the meaner girls, who's insults were getting worse as the time went on, and they thought up things which they knew would annoy Eliza even more. Most esspecially they made fun of her for not remembering all of her past. However Eliza didn't tell them that she was remembering a lot more of her previous life, and her parents. As most of the things she remembered-such as poverty, hunger and sadness-were things the other girls wouldn't be able to appreciate Eliza knew there was no point arguing and telling them that she actually could remember her life in Sweden!
A noise in the doorway made her look up. It seemed to her that he seemed a little older since she had last seen him. He had a few wrinkles, and she spotted a few gray hairs in his head.
"Hello Eliza..how are you?" Cal asked, coming into the room, and sitting behind his large desk.
"I am very good thank you sir. And how are you?" Eliza asked politely, remembering one of the first rules of etiquette she had learnt in school- when you are asked if you are well never, ever forget to ask how the person who asked you is.
Cal smiled slightly at his charge's manners. "I'm as well as can be expected." He admitted candidly. "The reason I had to speak to you Eliza was that I've received a few reports from your school in the last few months."
Eliza looked down at the floor.
"Fighting, swearing.Eliza, surely you know that these kind of things are not ladylike?" Cal asked her. "I know that in the last four years you've learnt a lot about the proper way to behave, but maybe you haven't learnt as much as I had hoped."
"Sir?" Eliza asked timidly.
"Mmm?" Cal asked absently. He was thinking about the reports he had and what exactly he should be doing.
"I only fought with the girls when they made fun of me. They said such terrible things about me and my parents, and even you!" Eliza explained.
"Of me?" Cal raised an eyebrow.
"They did, but I can't repeat them to you. They were very bad." Eliza said, a little embarrassed.
"Be that as it may Eliza I hate to say this, but the headmistress has asked that you not return after the summer holidays." Cal said.
Eliza looked at him in shock, tears filling her eyes. "Not go back? But I love school. I love to learn!"
"I didn't say you wouldn't go to school, I just said you wouldn't be going there!" Cal said. "Actually Eliza I have found a school which I think might suit you better. It's in Virginia, and I happen to have a few friends who have sent their children there. It's a lot more expensive than the one you were attending before, but I don't think money is exactly a problem for me.."
Eliza brushed her tears out of her eyes. "I would miss Annabelle!" She said.
Cal sighed, and leant his head in his hands. He knew people were definitely going to talk when they heard that he was sending Eliza to somewhere such as the school he was planning! They had already began to say that they thought he had done his duty in helping an orphaned third class girl and that he could probably put her to work now, knowing that she'd had a better life and opportunity that she would have had he not helped her! But for some reason he couldn't bring himself to do that. Whether it was because he was actually now fond of the girl, or whether it was still because of Rose, he didn't know.
"I am sorry Eliza, but the headmistress was pretty explicit in her instructions. And she wasn't the only one. I had a letter from Mr. Williams, who was most upset about the trauma suffered by his daughter, and he suggested that he could possible sue us. Of course I wrote back to him telling him I thought that this was a bit too excessive for an argument between two schoolgirls. He agreed with me on that point but I have a feeling that he has exerted strong pressure on the headmistress in this case. No, I am sorry Eliza, but it is out of the question that you return."
*****
Later that evening Eliza walked into the sitting room, and stopped dead. Cal was in there, and he had something in his hands-a newspaper clipping perhaps- and he was staring at it as if he had seen a ghost. She must have made some noise which she was unaware of, because his head jerked up as if he had received an electric shock.
"Eliza!" He said, sounding almost out of breath, and strangely hoarse. "I didn't see you."
"Sorry." She replied. "I was just coming to get a drink of milk to help me get to sleep."
"Come here for a moment.." Cal said.
Eliza walked hesitantly over to him. Something in his demeanor scared her a little. He smiled slightly at her, and then handed her the paper, which turned out to be an advertisement for a play opening on Broadway. The woman in the photograph was staring into the camera smiling, and her long wavy hair was loose and flowing over the cowgirl costume she was wearing.
"Do you know who this woman is?" Cal asked Eliza.
Eliza looked at the name. "Rose Dawson." She said.
"Rose Dewitt Buckator would be more accurate.." Cal said.
Eliza widened her eyes.
"I guess my darling fiancée survived the titanic disaster after all." Cal said coldly. "But I wasn't good enough for her. An actress of all damn things!"
Eliza didn't know what to say. "Are you..will you see her?"
"See her? No. No, she chose to let me believe she was dead, so in my heart she is dead. And besides, the name Dawson, that was the name of the gutter rat. Maybe he survived also.." Cal frowned at this thought. "Maybe I might make some inquiries, but that is all. I never, ever want to see Rose again. Not now." And he suddenly seemed to realize who he was speaking to, and he changed the subject, brusquely telling her to get her drink and get to bed.
Up in her room Eliza thought about what she had learnt. The fiancée who Cal had mourned for the last six years was not really dead. She was now an actress and perhaps married to someone else. It must have really hurt Cal to hear that. The poor man, she thought, it never ended for him. She didn't think about what she, a mere child, had been through. It was strange because Cal had never given her more affection than he would a distant person, but he showed that he cared about her by the way he acted, and treated her. She knew he didn't love her, not the least because of her third class status and his first class status, but she knew that he was used to her. And that was all she could possibly ask for, as she knew that life would have been a lot harder had he not agreed to take her in when the government asked him to. She remembered the lady from the government telling her about it; "When we asked Mr. Hockley whether he would be prepared to take you in and look after you he was more than happy to agree. Isn't that nice?" And it was nice, she thought now. He was a nice man for all he had done, so it was such a shame that he had been through what he had in his lifetime! The little girl fell asleep to these thoughts.
[Authors note: I am well aware that Cal didn't agree to take Eliza in happily like it says above, but you'll find out later that there is a reason for me writing it like this.]