Ten minutes later, Molly was leading her guests into her suite.
"Come on in, darlins . Make yourselves at home!" Molly sat her purse down on the table by the door and began to take off her coat. "Rose, I'll run you a bath and order you some food and then have a chat with Ruth while you do that."
"You don't have to go through the trouble, Mrs. Brown," Rose cleared her throat, feeling self conscious about the fuss being made.
"I want to. It's no trouble at all. I would have Sally do all of this, but it's her day off," Molly chuckled.
"Do what she says Rose. Lord knows when we'll be able to enjoy such surroundings again," Ruth replied, her eyes sweeping the room and appreciating the luxurious décor. Oh how she missed high society.
Ten minutes later, Rose was shut away in the bathroom, enjoying a warm bubble bath while Molly and Ruth were in the sitting area, sitting down to a cup of tea. Ruth watched Molly warily, not sure that she wanted to hear what Molly was going to tell her. She had an awful feeling that...that boy that Rose had a dalliance with, was involved.
"Now that it's just the two of us, I guess it's best that I fill you in on what Rose had been up to after the sinking," Molly cleared her throat before taking a gulp of tea.
"That would be ideal. Obviously, you have known from the start of her survival," It was a struggle for Ruth to keep the anger out of her voice. All this time, she had been grieving for her lost daughter, regretting all the things that she should have said and done, just to find out that Rose was alive all along. She had just been hiding from her and this vulgar woman knew! She knew! It hurt and made her angry that Rose had trusted this woman and not her!
"Not from the start I hadn't. I didn't find out until a year had passed and I was as surprised as you."
"Really?" Ruth looked at her over the rim of her cup as she took a sip of tea, not believing Molly at all.
"Really, Ruth. I didn't know. I promise ya."
Ruth was tempted not to believe her, but what would be the point in not doing so? She was here to learn the truth. In order to learn the truth, she was going to have to trust Molly, no matter the temptation not to. "Alright. Fine. Tell me, where was my daughter, what was she doing, and why is she without her memory now?"
Molly sat down her tea cup and looked Ruth straight in the eye, wanting the woman to see nothing but pure honesty in her gaze. "After the ship disappeared into the water, Rose and Jack Dawson, you remember Jack, don't you Ruth?"
"I wish I didn't. But of course I do. After all, this is his fault."
"Now, Ruth. You know that's not true. This is not Jack's fault. If Hockley had been a decent human being, she wouldn't have left him. No matter how handsome and charming Mr. Dawson was. Anyway, Rose and Jack ended up in the freezing water. Lucky for them a boat did go back, just in time to rescue them. They hid out of sight once on board the Carpathia and Rose took on Jack's last name. She had no intention of ever returning to Cal...or to you either I suppose. Anyway, they hid out and headed out for the horizon once the ship docked. Well...you may want to sit back for this, darlin."
Ruth frowned. What was it that Molly was about to tell her? Did she even want to know? How awful could it be? Well, anything involving that boy was pretty awful in her opinion. "Please tell me that she did not marry him."
"Why that's exactly what she did, darlin. Not only that, but they had a baby. A gorgeous baby girl named Cora."
Ruth felt the room spin at the news. She married him. She couldn't marry wealthy, well to do Caledon Hockley, but a penniless, rootless artist that she had only known for a short time! Not only that...they had a baby together! Ruth wanted to rage at this, but instead, she kept her composure. Surely, that wasn't all that Molly had to share and there still was the question of how her daughter had gotten on the streets, away from Jack Dawson and the daughter they had together.
"Are you ok, Ruth? You're looking kind of peaked there," Molly frowned, not liking how the color had suddenly drained from Ruth's face at the news.
"I'm fine. I'm just shocked...she had been so against marrying Caledon...I...I assumed that she didn't want marriage at all...but she turned around and married...him."
Molly just laughed. "I take it that it was Caledon that she was against marrying. Not the act itself."
"Go on. I have a granddaughter?"
"Yes. Her name is Cora Josephine Dawson. She's gorgeous, Ruth. Blond curls, bright blue eyes, and a smile that lights up a room. The sweetest little thing."
"But Rose is not with her...or him."
"No she's not. A year after Titanic sank, some months after giving birth to their daughter….Rose disappeared from their home, leaving the door wide open and Cora alone since Jack had to go to work. Jack returned to find a neighbor taking care of Cora and Rose nowhere in sight. She just up and left them without a word. No letter, no nothing."
"She just disappeared?"
Molly grimly nodded, remembering how a dejected Jack had shown up on her doorstep, desperate to find his missing wife. "At first, Jack assumed that Cal had taken her. He left Cora with me and went to confront the man..."
"Just to find that Cal had nothing to do with it. He had quickly moved on and found himself another bride," Ruth sighed, shaking her head in disgust. "I had thought he'd mourn her long and hard, but it was just business as usual for the Hockleys."
"Right. After that, the poor man was at a loss on what to do or where to look. It wasn't long that he realized that he still had their daughter, Cora to take care of. She needed him more than Rose obviously had...so he went back to Chippewa Falls, where he's staying with some family and they're helping him raise her. We keep in touch often, thank goodness."
Ruth sat back, processing this new information. Not only had she found Rose alive, but she had a grandchild out there. It was a lot to take in. "So are we going to tell him?"
"Of course! He's her husband Ruth! He has a right to know and Cora has a right to her mother! Goodness gracious, darlin', don't you even want to see your grandchild?"
"I suppose….but Rose doesn't know them...not anymore. What are we going to do about that? Something is wrong with her."
"Which is why I'm going to have her checked by a doctor."
"Surely they'd have some idea on what happened...why she had just up and walked away...why she seems to have forgotten all of us...even….that boy..."
"Jack. His name is Jack, darlin'. It's best that you get used to saying his name if you want access to Cora," Molly chuckled.
"Ugh," Ruth grimaced.
"Oh come on, Ruth! Get over it! He's a good boy and he loves Rose...he may be hurt and yes even angry with her right now but he loves her. It nearly destroyed him when she disappeared like that. And he takes good care of Cora. He's kind, compassionate, considerate, and is a great artist. He does all he can for that child…and once he comes to grip with Rose's return, I'm sure he'll do all he can for her too. He may try to deny it…but he still loves her...he never stopped, probably never will.
"Which was why I was so angry with Rose and was on my way to telling you of her survival when she showed up. But seeing her like this...no memory...it's obvious that she hadn't purposely abandoned them..."
"Like she had me," Ruth grumbled, crossing her arms in indignation. She couldn't help but still feel hurt and angry by Rose's deception.
"You didn't give her much choice, Ruth. You knew how she felt about Cal. You knew that she did not want to marry him, but you were insisting on having your way anyway. We all knew it, even gossiped about how selfish you were at the time. Rose wanted her freedom and in order to have that freedom, she had to be dead to you. You brought it upon yourself."
Ruth wanted to argue and deny her culpability, she couldn't. She knew Molly was right. Even after the sinking, when she had believed Rose dead, she had regretted her behavior and had wished that she hadn't been so forceful and manipulative.
"Look, all of that doesn't matter anymore. Rose is back in all of our lives and it's time we all make the best of it. You're getting a second chance, Ruth. Don't squander it."
"Do you think she'll go back to him? What if she never remembers him at all? Maybe it's best if we don't tell him. Let him move on with his life..."
"And what will happen when Rose does get her memory back and remembers the family that she walked out on? What happens when she finds out that it was your idea not to tell Jack and it's another woman taking care of her daughter? She'll never forgive you and you know it."
Ruth sighed, admitting that Molly was right. As much as she disliked Jack Dawson, as much as it would please her to leave him out and get him out of Rose's life for good, it was a bad idea and would cause her to lose Rose forever once her memory did return.
"So how do you plan to tell my daughter that she has a husband and daughter that she had walked out on? And what doctor do we take her to? I want someone state of the art, Molly. The best. Someone that can guarantee that Rose will get her memory back."
"We'll just tell her. I wish I had a picture of Jack and Cora. Let her see what she had left behind."
"About my behavior before and during Titanic...I had only wanted the best for Rose. I didn't want her to know poverty. I thought that marrying Cal was for the best. It would have allowed us to keep our status..."
"Which was not important to Rose. Not at all, and you knew that."
"You can't possibly sit there and say that you wouldn't have done the same thing. If you thought that your children were in danger of living on the street...doing anything for money...you can't say that you wouldn't have done the same."
"I wouldn't have. I would have asked them what they wanted first. If they wanted to marry some rich big wig, I'd be all for it. But if they wanted to run off and live in a garret and be on Vaudeville, I would have supported that as well. You see, their happiness is what's important to me. Not my own comfort."
Ruth looked down at her newly work worn hands and sighed. Molly was right. Rose's happiness should have came first. Well this time...it'll be different. This time, she'll let Rose take the lead and let her do what makes her happy. She'll be the mother that she have always been.
…..
Two hours later…
Rose sat on the couch, her mind reeling with what Molly had just told her. She couldn't believe it...how...how awful! How could she have done that? It hadn't even occurred to her at the time to check the house or ask the neighbors. She had just walked away, thinking it was the most normal thing to do. She had no idea that there had been a baby in the house...that the baby was hers!
She looked at Molly and her mother, tears in her eyes. "I am married? And I have a daughter?"
Molly simply nodded. "We had no clue on what happened to you."
"I just left them...god they must hate me. I hate me."
Molly shook her head and placed a hand over Rose's, her voice gentle and understanding. "Jack doesn't hate you. He could never hate you. He's hurt, he may even be angry...but he doesn't hate you. Something happened to your memory Rose...so your walking off, it wasn't your fault. You're sick. He'll understand that."
"I did it, and I don't even understand it," Rose shook her head. She smiled slightly, suddenly curious. "Is he handsome?"
"Of course. And he's kind."
"Molly, I suggest we get her to a doctor. The sooner we get a diagnosis, the better," Ruth got to her feet, tiring of the conversation. "We need to know what we're working with before even approaching the boy...Jack."
Molly had to grin, unable to resist the urge to tease. "See, was that so hard? It's a one syllable name, so it's rather easy to say."
Ruth just rolled her eyes and sighed. "I am doing my best here."
Rose frowned, confused. "Does she not like Jack?"
Molly chuckled. "Let's just say that you and your mother have different tastes when it comes to men."