Ch.8: Preparing to Move On (Cal's POV)
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania (late 1912-early 1913)
After Cal had talked to his father, he started to slowly reenter the first class social scene. As the heir of Hockley Steel, Cal began to take on more responsibilities at work. Business was booming, but he was trying to avoid looking for another fiancé.
Cal knew that he was expected to find another woman, but he just didn't have the heart to do it. After falling in love with Rose and losing her, he wasn't sure what he would do if he got engaged to another woman that didn't love him.
Nathan gave Cal his space, but was getting anxious. Cal should have been married, and preparing to have a family of his own by now. Luckily he had heard that the Boston Dawsons were looking to invest in Hockley Steel, and a brilliant idea came to him.
Nathan had met the Dawson family a few weeks after Cal's revelation. William Dawson had a daughter named Abigail, who had just completed finishing school. Abigail was the same age as Rose, and just as beautiful. William Dawson had admitted Abigail currently had no suitors, and he was hoping to find a suitable husband for her sometime in the future. It would be a perfect alliance if Cal married Abigail Dawson. Nathan began to talk up his son to the young woman in his next meetings with the family, until she was finally interested in meeting Cal.
Nathan was thrilled, and arranged for Abigail to meet Cal at their upcoming Christmas gala in Pittsburg. He quickly returned home to tell Cal of this brilliant stroke of luck.
Nathan arrived and quickly found Cal in the study. Cal was very surprised to see his father in such a pleasant mood.
Cal said, "Well, Father, it's nice to see you in such a good mood. I take your dealings with the Dawsons went well?"
Nathan said, "Oh, yes. The Dawsons have agreed to invest in Hockley Steel. And I invited William's daughter, Abigail, to our Christmas gala. If you can believe it, she wants to meet you."
Cal was furious and said, "You invited a woman to meet me?! She may be rich, but that last name. I don't know if I can handle that!" Cal was already uncomfortable that his father was dealing with Dawsons, but to marry one! That last name just brought back too many memories of the man that stole the love of his life.
Nathan was surprised how resistant Cal was being. Nathan said, "Cal, just meet the young woman. She is pleasant company, and I do think that you will like her. It's not like you have any prospects right now."
Cal said, "All right Father…I'll meet her. But I'm not happy with the fact that my father is trying to play matchmaker again."
Nathan said, "Cal...promise me you will keep an open mind. The Dawsons are a powerful family; if they pull out of this deal it could ruin us. Abigail would be an ideal match for you; she's an improvement over Rose. This would make for a powerful alliance for us."
Cal said, "Great, now I'm feeling like the prize horse being sold. You just want me to marry her to improve our fortune."
Nathan said, "Caledon, you are nearly 31 years old. You should have married in your 20s, but you had to be wild and rebellious in your youth. It was damn lucky that Ruth was desperate to marry off Rose, but you ruined it."
Nathan immediately regretted his words when he saw that flash of anger in Cal's eyes. Cal coldly replied, "How dare you say that… you know how I blame myself for losing Rose. I loved Rose; my heart won't be able to handle another loveless engagement."
Nathan said, "Then focus on being friends with Abigail. Abigail is quite a lovely lady…she is spirited, but she is not as rebellious as Rose."
Cal gave this a thought… no woman would compare to Rose, but he couldn't spend the rest of his life mourning her. His father had a point; the least Cal could do was meet Abigail. He hardly had any friends, so maybe befriending Abigail wouldn't be so terrible.
The next few weeks passed by quickly. Before Cal knew it Thanksgiving came and went. His mother began to plan for the Christmas gala, which would be held a week before Christmas. He then received a letter from Abigail; it was a nice friendly note about how she was looking forward to the gala and getting to know him and his family better. Abigail would arrive the day before the gala, and stay with them for a few days before returning to Boston.
Finally it was the day before the gala. Nathan and his valet headed to the train station to pick up Abigail, while Cal and his mother stayed at home doing some last minute preparations.
Cal was upstairs in the study, when he heard sounds in the foyer. Nathan's voiced carried as he said, "Cal, come on downstairs. Our guest is here."
Cal took a deep breath as he headed to the foyer. As he made his way downstairs, he saw a rather beautiful young woman at his father's side. This had to be Abigail Dawson. As he saw her, he couldn't help but compare the woman to Rose. She was wearing a light pink dress, almost similar to a dress he had seen Rose wear. She had taken off her hat, but she had her dark brown hair pinned up in the latest style. Cal had to admit Abigail was just as beautiful as Rose.
Abigail turned and smiled as she saw Cal walk down the steps to join them. Abigail was a little nervous meeting Cal, but she had to admit that he was quite handsome. She locked eyes with Cal, and did notice he had a look of sadness in his eyes. She had heard that Cal had been previously engaged and lost his fiancé in the Titanic disaster. She couldn't imagine losing someone she loved like that, and figured that Cal must have loved Rose very much.
Before dinner, Nathan convinced Cal to give Abigail a tour of the gardens. Abigail could tell Cal was a bit uneasy and decided to break the ice.
Abigail said, "Are you okay, Caledon? I can tell you seem a bit uneasy." Cal said, "I'm fine, Abigail. But please, call me Cal. Caledon is a bit too formal…after all I expect our families will be seeing more of each other. So you can call me Cal; all of my friends do."
Abigail smiled and said, "Well, if we are going to be friends, then I insist you call me Abby. I never quite liked all the formalities myself. So tell me a little about yourself."
Cal sighed and said, "There's not much to tell. I'm an only child preparing to take over my father's business. "
Abigail said, "You also happen to be a survivor. I had heard you were a Titanic survivor. I am so sorry you had to go through that."
Cal said, "Thank you. I suppose you know that I was previously engaged, right?" Abigail said, "Yes, your father mentioned that you were engaged to a Rose Dewitt-Bukator, but that she died in the disaster. I can see it in your eyes… you are still grieving her. You must have loved her very much."
Cal was surprised how perceptive Abigail was. Cal replied, with some sadness in his voice, "Yes, I did. She was the love of my life."
Abigail said, "Again, I am sorry. I am sure she was a lovely woman. What was she like?"
Cal was amazed that Abigail wanted him to talk about Rose; he was supposed to be getting to know her better. Cal said, "She was quite interesting… I think you would have liked her. She was not only beautiful, but she was intelligent. She had a fiery spirit; always had an opinion about everything. She was hard to figure out sometimes, but I fell deeply in love with her."
Abigail could tell that Cal was holding something back. Abigail said, "There's something else is there? Let me guess…as much as you loved Rose, she didn't feel the same about you."
Cal said, "You hit the nail on the head. Though I had fallen in love with Rose, she wasn't in love with me."
Abigail said, "I don't understand why our world seems to pressure us to marry for convenience, instead of for love. Everyone else can marry for love; why can't we? I know that marriage in our world is a way of making alliances or saving our fortunes. But I wonder how better off our world would be if we married for love?"
Cal was amazed at this woman…it was like he was talking to Rose again. But sadly, Abigail wasn't Rose. But his father was right…Abigail was very pleasant company and Cal looked forward to getting to know her better.
The Christmas Gala turned out to be enjoyable. Abigail loved the dancing and even made Cal dance a few times with her. Nathan was pleased seeing how well Cal and Abigail were getting along. Cal's mother, Elizabeth, was also happy seeing Cal with Abigail. Abigail had managed to make her son smile again; a first in a very long time.
After the gala, Cal and Abigail began to get to know each other better. The next afternoon, Cal was walking in the gardens and found Abby with a notepad sketching away. It turned out that Abigail was a talented artist; she dreamed of being a fashion designer, but she knew it would be impossible. Abigail knew she was expected to marry, and any potential suitor would not support her dream. It made her an oddity, which frustrated her father.
Cal had secretly groaned inwardly finding out about Abby's art talent. First, Jack was an artist and now Abby too? He began to secretly wonder if Jack happened to be distantly related to Abby's family.
Abigail left a few days after the Christmas Gala, but promised to visit after the New Year. Her next visit though would be including her parents. Cal actually felt sad to see his new friend go, which surprised him. They really were starting to become friends…Abby turned out to be easy to talk to, and she didn't mind him talking about Rose. Of course, he didn't plan on telling Abby about what happened on Titanic, but it was nice to open up to someone besides his father.
Abigail returned home to Boston, thinking back on her visit with the Hockley family. She really was beginning to take an interest in Cal, and could easily see herself falling in love with him. She had suspicions that he was a different person before the Titanic disaster, and that he was trying to change his ways. There was a lot about Caledon Hockley that she didn't know, but she was glad that they were becoming friends. Her father had sternly told her not to mess things up; she knew sooner or later the two families were going to try to pair her and Cal together. But she wanted to get to know Cal a whole lot better before agreeing to marry him. She heard of the whirlwind courtship between Cal and Rose, and did not want that for herself. She did not want to agree to a marriage without being in love with her future husband. She didn't want to be another Rose to Cal; she suspected Cal's heart wouldn't be able to handle another loveless engagement. If Cal wanted to court her, she would insist on a long courtship before they even talked about getting engaged.
Cal was looking forward to seeing Abigail again. Even though she was no Rose, Abigail was someone that he could eventually fall in love with. Learning from his mistakes with Rose, Cal decided to take this future relationship slow so he could at least have a chance at a loving marriage.
After the New Year, with some pressure from his father, Cal asked William Dawson for permission to court Abigail. Nathan and William were thrilled… both wanted their children married as soon as possible. The press started taking pictures of the new couple right away; something that Cal and Abby did not like. Most high society gossips were happy for them, but there were some that commented that Cal was moving on from Rose rather fast. Abigail hated that, and so she and Cal made a pact to not even discuss getting married until they made it to their one-year anniversary as a couple.
If it had been up to his father, Cal would already be proposing to Abigail. But Cal was relieved that Abigail wanted to take things slow. Despite the fact that he was still deeply in love with Rose, he was becoming rather fond of Abigail. Cal secretly hoped his fondness for the girl could turn to love, but he would just have to wait and see.
I was able to get this chapter done before I got stuck with writer's block. I'm working on the next one from Rose's point of view. I found it easy to write on how Cal would meet his future wife...but I am having a hard time writing on how Rose will meet her future husband. I have a good chunk of that chapter written, but it may be a little longer till it is to my liking.