Chapter Seven

James left in the morning, just as Charlotte came in with my breakfast. She wasn't surprised to see him, and she even offered him breakfast. But he refused, and ran off, his shirttails hanging out of pants, telling his story.

Charlotte refrained from mentioning my midnight guest after that, knowing my mother could barge in on us at any time.

"Is Rose back?" I asked as I buttered a piece of toast.

"Yes, she came back about an hour after Mr. Robinson arrived. She went straight to bed, and she's still sleeping. Mr. Hockley's in a state about where she was last night. You see, Miss Margaret, he had Mr. Lovejoy follow her, and apparently she was at a party in Third Class, with that Mr. Dawson who saved her life two days ago," Charlotte told me, laying out my Sunday dress, a hideous black thing Mother had insisted I buy.

"No, not that one today, Charlotte. It's too ugly for words, and I want to look nice today," I told her. She understood, and put the dress back, going through my closet for something more acceptable. "Is Cal angrier than usual?"

"Yes, ma'am. Though by now he's managed to contain himself slightly. You should have seen him last night, though, when Mr. Lovejoy told him where she was. I was serving him tea. He practically exploded, and I swear that I heard your mother stirring in the other room. He probably woke the people in the other suites, too, that's how loud he screamed. It was horrible, he cursed so bad and told me to get out of sight or he'd fire me on the spot. I didn't need any prompting, let me tell you," Charlotte said, only too happy to tell her story.

"Wow, I can't think of one time I've seen Cal really angry. Even when Mr. Dawson supposedly raped Rose, he wasn't half as angry as he sounds when you describe it," I told her. "I don't think I'll ever be able to look at him in the same way again, Charlotte."

"You'd best watch your step around him from now on, Miss Margaret. He'll probably be watching you like a hawk, to make sure neither of you girls steps out of line again. After all, you will be his sister in a few weeks, and I'm sure he doesn't want either of you ruining his reputation. And he probably doesn't think Mr. Robinson is controlling enough of you," Charlotte said, pulling out a dark purple skirt and white blouse. "Will this do, Miss Margaret?"

"Yes, that's fine. Can you find a shawl or something to go with that, though? It seems lacking something," I told her. "I don't think it's any of Cal's concern how controlling James is of me. He's my fiancé, and he can take care of me however he pleases. And he's doing a fine job, if I may say so."

"Of course he is, Miss Margaret. A finer man I've never seen, I'm sure," Charlotte agreed, taking out a blue shawl and then hastily putting it back in its place.

"Margaret, are you up?" Mother demanded, coming through my door without even knocking.

"Well, if I was asleep, I doubt I'd be now," I told her, glaring. "Have you ever heard of knocking, Mother?"

She ignored me, and got straight to the point.

"Do you know where your sister was last night?"

"Yes," I said, not even bothering to tell her my source. I was sure she wouldn't care.

"Then why on earth didn't you tell me? You could have saved our family name! It's in shambles as it is, what with you getting engaged to that Robinson boy, and with the way Rose acted at lunch the other day… You're as much at fault as she is, Margaret! And don't say anything in your defense, I don't want to hear it. Just take this as a warning. I've never had any trouble with you before, Margaret, so I will overlook this lapse of judgment on your part just this once. But from now on, even the smallest thing will get you severely punished," she said, venom in her voice. I knew that Rose was in for it.

"Yes, Mother," I said, not wanting to cross her just yet. She was out for blood.

"Hurry and dress, or we'll be late for church. Mr. Lovejoy is going ahead to save seats for us near the front, but if we're too late his efforts will be for naught."

She left, leaving us in a stunned silence.

Rose was silent throughout the service, and I knew Mother had spoken to her. Mother was ignoring her, and Cal was more serious and snobby than usual, perhaps in an attempt to make himself feel better. But there was ice in our pew as Captain Smith read through the service, and I could hardly wait until it was over and I could get away from it all.

James was sitting across and two pews down from us, and though he winked at me, I barely managed to smile back. It was as if I was breaking the ice that lay about us, and an even thicker layer covered the pew because of my slightest expression of warmth.

I was glad when it was over and we went to lunch. But lunch was torture, too. Mother still wasn't speaking to Rose, who seemed to be heading once again into a depression. James held my hand under the table, and kept squeezing it, probably in an attempt to comfort me, sensing that something was wrong in my family.

When lunch was over, Mr. Andrews offered us a complete tour of the ship. Cal readily accepted, and Rose and I followed glumly. I promised to meet James on the deck as soon as it was over, and I kept that thought in my mind as I followed the group, trying to listen to Mr. Andrews as he explained the difficulties of designing such an enormous and luxurious ship. It was extremely boring, but Cal and Mother seemed fascinated, and though Rose was usually interested in this type of thing, today she was lost in her own little world.

We met Captain Smith in the wheel house, where Mr. Andrews explained to us the intricacies of each gadget. Just as we were about to leave, a messenger came and delivered an iceberg warning to the captain. We all turned to stare at him, shocked. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up.

"Oh, not to worry, it's quite normal for this time of year. In fact, we're speeding up. I've just ordered the last boilers lit," Captain Smith said, trying to reassure us. It did nothing of the kind for me. In fact, it only made me feel sicker.

Mr. Andrews led us outside onto the deck, and we followed unquestioningly. But I noticed a queer look on Rose's face, and I wondered what was wrong.

"Mr. Andrews, forgive me. I did the sum in my head, and with the number of lifeboats times the capacity you mentioned, forgive me, but it seems that there are not enough for everyone aboard," Rose said. I looked from her to Mr. Andrews, my stomach clenching with fear. I couldn't help putting Captain Smith's iceberg warning and Mr. Andrews' lacking boats together. What if we should hit an iceberg? What then? Would they have to pick who should live and who should die?

"Not enough by half, actually. Rose, you miss nothing, do you?" he asked, laughing a little, trying to brush it off as if it were nothing. I stopped listening to him, staring out at the ocean. It looked so calm and peaceful from here. But from up close, the waters seemed so terrifying, almost as if they had a will of their own. And they surely did. "…which can carry an extra row of boats inside this one, but it was thought, by some, that the deck would look too cluttered, so I was overruled."

"It's a waste of deck space as it is on an unsinkable ship," Cal said pompously, tapping the lifeboat with his cane.

"Sleep soundly, young Rose. I've built you a good ship, strong and true. She's all the life boats you need. Keep heading aft, the next stop will be the engine room," he said, and hastened his pace to catch up with Mother and Cal, while I did likewise.

"Do you intend on building other ships, Mr. Andrews?" Mother asked.

"Of course, ma'am. I love designing them; it's magical to create something that can float on water and sail across the oceans," Mr. Andrews said. I thought there must be some truth to his words, but I was nonetheless still queasy about what he had said about the lifeboats.

"I might need a fine man like you in my company," Cal said, puffing his chest out ridiculously and making himself seem even more pompous than he usually was.

"I'm honored, sir," Mr. Andrews said, though I was sure he was not. "If I am ever in Philadelphia, I'll be sure to look you up."

Cal smiled smugly, satisfied with this answer. I rolled my eyes at him, causing Mother to pinch me most painfully.

"Margaret, where's your sister?" she hissed in my ear. I spun quickly, sure that Rose was behind me. I looked around the deck, not sure where she had gone.

"I don't know, Mother," I said unnecessarily. It was pretty clear that I didn't.

"Well, go look for her. We'll be in the engine room," Mother said, hurrying to catch up with Mr. Andrews and Cal.

I walked back to the lifeboat where we had been standing when Rose brought up the subject of capacity, and I looked around. She was nowhere to be seen. Just as I was about to give up and return to Mother, I saw Rose coming out of the gym, looking sad and worried. She didn't even see me.

"Rose-"

She looked up, surprised to see me, and then glanced ahead, searching for Mother and Cal.

"Margaret, where are the rest of them?" she asked. She grabbed my arm and led me away, in the direction I had come from.

"They went to the engine room, we're supposed to meet them there," I said, turning my head to see Jack coming out of the gym room, looking just as sad as Rose. I wondered what had happened, but I didn't bring up the subject, not wanting to harm her more.

We walked in silence towards the engine room, and before we reached it we had caught up with the rest of our group. Rose was silent, as she had been before, and I kept staring at her, full of curiosity as to what they had been talking about. Mother didn't comment on Rose's absence, and neither did I, so it was as if nothing had happened, and so we were left to our own private thoughts.

We had lunch in the tearoom, with some of Mother's friends. They talked about my wedding, my plans for the wedding, Rose's plans, and Mother could not help but gossip about everything that had gone wrong for Rose, except the tiny problem that Rose was opposed to the marriage. The women all seemed scandalized, mostly by my impromptu engagement, though they didn't say so.

Rose was distant all throughout the meal, and I had to pinch her a few times when a question was addressed to her, so that she would answer it.

As soon as lunch was over, I rushed to the deck to find James. He smiled at me when he saw me, and wrapped me up in an embrace.

"Cal talked to me today," he said. "He warned me about your free spirit, and told me I should learn to rein you in now, before it all gets out of hand."

I laughed, but it was a hollow laugh.

"Surely you didn't take him seriously?" I asked.

"Of course not; I told him I'd talk to you about it," he said, and laughed.

"Thank you for defending me like that," I told him, letting him wrap his arms around me, ignoring the disapproving looks thrown at us by some of my mother's friends. "There were some problems in my family last night, concerning Rose and her liberty. You don't need to know them, they're so silly, but apparently Cal seems to care a lot about the matter."

"I'm not sure I'd like to have him as a brother," James said, frowning. I laughed.

"You wouldn't have him as a brother, you'd have him as a brother-in-law, law," I giggled. He kissed my forehead, laughing.

"Where do you want to go? We still have a few hours before dinner," James said.

"Take me somewhere safe," I told him. "Somewhere we won't be found." James laughed.

"I have a stateroom, if you want," James said, grinning.

"That'll do just fine," I told him, taking his hand and letting him lead me away from the deck.