With the inquiry finished and out of the way, the Titanic survivors could finally rest. Will and Allison were heading back to England for Captain Smith's memorial service. Once they reached England, they headed for the large house that once belonged to Allison's parents. The house was just as she remembered it to be. The house had several rooms and was beautifully furnished. Allison had brought Anna and few other maids and butlers with her. As soon as news got about that she was back in England, old friends of the family stopped by to offer their condolences for her loss. The first person to stop by was her grandfather's oldest and dearest friend Joseph Anderson and his wife Eleanor. Joseph and Edward had known each other since they were children. Edward was best man at Joseph's wedding to Eleanor and Joseph was best man at Edward's wedding to Allison's grandmother. Allison was glad that Joseph had stopped by because she had something she wanted to ask him. The minute he and his wife stepped into the house, they embraced Allison with Will and Anna watching on.
"Allison I was so relieved to hear of your survival. I am so very sorry to hear that Edward didn't make it. He was my dearest friend." Joseph said to Allison as he released her and his wife moved to give Allison a hug.
"Thank you Joseph. That means a lot to me." Allison said as she was released from Eleanor's embrace.
"If there is anything we can do Allison dear, please let us know." Eleanor says.
"Thank you Eleanor. I will keep that in mind." She looks over to Will and Anna. "Will, Anna come over here. I want you both to meet my friends." Will and Anna approach the trio. "Will, Anna I want you to meet Joseph and Eleanor Anderson. They were good friends with my grandfather. Joseph, Eleanor, this is Anna Stewart, my head maid and one of my best friends," Eleanor and Joseph greet Anna, "And this is my fiancé William Murdoch."
Joseph and Eleanor greet Will enthusiastically. "It is very nice to meet you Will."
"It is nice to meet you also Mr and Mrs Anderson." Will said as he shook their hands.
"Please call us Joseph and Eleanor, Will." Joseph says.
"I will go and fetch everyone tea, Miss Allison." Anna says to Allison.
"Thank you Anna. That would be lovely." Anna goes off to get tea for everyone. "Let's retire to the sitting room everyone." Allison guides everyone into the sitting area. Her and Will sit on a chair across from Eleanor and Joseph. Anna comes in a few seconds later with tea then departs the room.
Whilst slurping on their tea, Joseph decides to ask how Allison and Will met each other.
"So Will, Allison, how did you to meet."
"I served on board Titanic as her first officer. All the officers were on the bridge making final preparations before setting sail when the Captain came to introduce us all to dear Allison here." He says taking hold of Allison's hand.
"A friendship was formed quickly between us both," Allison continued as she kept a hold on Will's hand. "The more time we spent with each other, the more we fell in love. I tried to hide it at first from my grandfather, unsure of how he would react if he found out about Will and I." Allison took a drink of tea before continuing with her story. "Eventually, he found out about us and to our surprise, he gave us his permission to court one another."
"How did you become engaged?" Eleanor asked the couple.
"The Captain gave me a letter, just before the ship went under, to give to Allison. He asked me to take care of her." Will explained.
"In the letter, he gave us his permission and blessing should we decide to get married and here we are." Allison finished.
"We're very happy for the both of you." Joseph spoke up.
"Thank you so much, Joseph." Will said.
They continued conversing about small things and talking about fond memories of the Captain while drinking their tea. Once they were finished their tea, Allison decided to ask Joseph something very important. Will and Eleanor were at the other end of the room talking about Will's career as a sailor.
"Joseph I wanted to ask a favour of you."
"Of course Allison. What can I do for you?"
"As you've read in the papers, I am holding a memorial service for my grandfather and I wanted a beautiful plaque to be made for him. I was wondering, since you specialise in this area and because you were his best friend, if you could build the memorial plaque."
"Allison dear, of course. I would be honoured to do this for you and for Edward." Allison embraces him and he returns it. "Oh and you don't have to pay a single penny for it. I will do this free of charge."
Allison steps out of the hug. "No I couldn't do that Joseph."
"Allison it's least I can do."
"Are you absolutely sure, Joseph?"
"Of course I am Allison."
"Joseph, your generosity knows no bounds. You and Eleanor must stay for dinner." Allison says to him.
"We would be honoured to come over for dinner." At this moment, Eleanor and Will return to their partner's sides.
"We must be going now. What time would you like us over for dinner." Joseph asked Allison.
"Is six o'clock alright for you both."
"Six O'clock is absolutely fine. We shall see you both then. Will it was an absolute pleasure to meet you." He shakes Will's hand.
"It was wonderful to meet you both."
They bid goodbye to Joseph and Eleanor and went back into the living area.
"They seem like really nice people." Will told Allison.
"Yes they are. I've known them my whole life so far. They've been married for a very long time." Allison responded.
"Just think Allison. That will be us in the future. Happily married with children." He paused before asking, "After we're married, how would you feel about having children."
Allison raised her head from it's position on Will's shoulder to look him in the eyes. "I would love to have children with you Will. As long as you do of course."
"Of course I do Allison. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He captures Allison's lips in a romantic kiss, which she returns.
"I love you to Will and I want nothing more than to be your wife." They spent the remainder of their time until Joseph and Eleanor arrived talking about their upcoming wedding.
"I've been doing a lot of thinking about where we're going to get married." Allison says to Will. "And I would like to get married in your hometown of Dalbeattie."
This statement took Will by surprise. He looks at Allison and says, "I expected you would have wanted to get married here." Allison continues to smile at him. "Are you absolutely sure this is what you want, my love?"
"Of course it is. I've given it a lot of thought and it's what I want."
"Well if that what you want, then that is what you shall get."
Allison embraces Will. "Do you have any idea who you'll ask to be your best man?"
"I was thinking about asking Charles to do that honour. I've known him for a very long time and we feel like brothers. Have you thought about your bridesmaids, my dear."
"I'm going to ask Anna and Molly to be my bridesmaids. Anna has been my friend for many years now and I really bonded with Molly on the Titanic."
"So it's settled. We'll ask them if they would like to do those honours."
A few hours later they got ready to have dinner with The Andersons. Will was wearing a tuxedo, which made him look extremely dashing, in Allison's opinion. She wore a cream coloured evening dress with a pair of white gloves. She decorated her hair with a couple of diamond clips. When she came down the stairs to meet Will, he was in shock. He didn't think it was possible that she could be more beautiful.
"Allison, you look absolutely beautiful." He says as he takes her hand and places a kiss upon it.
"Thank you Will and may I say you look quite dashing and very handsome."
"Thank you, my dear." He offers her his arm, which she takes and escorts her into the sitting room until The Andersons arrived. The Andersons arrived just a few moments later and dinner was an enjoyable occasion for everyone. After The Andersons left, Will and Allison immediately got ready for bed. Anna helped Allison to get ready and Allison decided to ask Anna the question.
"Anna we've known each other for a very long time." Allison started of.
"We have indeed miss." Anna responded.
"I feel like we're sisters."
"Thank you miss. I appreciate that."
"You know that Will and I are engaged to be married."
"I do indeed miss."
"What I would like to ask you Anna is, will you do me the honour of being one of my bridesmaids?"
"Oh Miss Allison. Of course, I would be honoured. Thank you for considering me."
"No Anna. Thank you for accepting." The two embrace each other and Anna finishes getting Allison ready for bed. Anna takes her leave just as Will is about to knock on the door. She bids them both goodnight, closing the door behind her.
"I asked Anna to be my bridesmaid." Allison says to Will as she gets into the bed.
"What did she say?"
"She accepted."
"That's wonderful, dear." He kisses the top of her head and they drift off to sleep.
Three days later, Joseph came round to the manor and brought the plaque that Allison had requested. He gently laid the box on the table and opened it for Allison to inspect.
"Oh Joseph, it is absolutely beautiful." She ran her hand over the beautiful gold plaque which read
In loving memory of Captain Edward John Smith
(27 January 1850 - 15 April 1912)
Husband to Sarah
Father to Brian
Grandfather to Allison
You will be greatly missed
Allison started to get tears in her eyes. "Thank you so much Joseph. I am forever grateful to you for this kind gesture."
Joseph placed his hand on Allison's shoulder. "Think nothing of it, my dear."
Will walks into the room, after having finished writing a letter to his family letting them know what was happening, and he found Allison crying a little with Joseph comforting her. Will approaches her and places a soothing hand on her back. "Allison, darling, what's the matter?"
She looks to Will and says, "Joseph has very kindly brought my grandfather's memorial plaque around for me to see. I was crying because it is so beautiful."
Will looks down into the box and sees the plaque. "It is wonderful. A very fitting tribute to the Captain."
"Thank you, Will." Joseph says as he puts the lid back on the box. "I must be going now. It was lovely to see you again Will. He shakes Will's hand. "Take care Allison." He takes the box with him so he can give it to the gentleman who will be putting it onto stone.
The following day, Allison put a notice into the paper about her grandfather's memorial service. It would be held in two weeks time at Swanson Park. She chose that place as it was where her grandparents first met. She wrote letters to Charles, Harold, James, Herbert, Joseph Boxhall and Molly Brown, inviting them to attend the service. She received replies from everyone saying they would attend. When everybody arrived a day before the service, Allison gave them rooms at her mansion as she had plenty. Allison and Molly were having tea on the veranda when Allison asked Molly to be one of her bridesmaids.
"I'd love to Allison, dearie." The two embrace and continue drinking their tea and eating their biscuits. Allison talks to Molly about her wedding. Where they're getting married, the reception, everything.
It was the day of the service. Everybody was up early and ready for breakfast. Anna had finished getting Allison ready and went to get herself dressed leaving Allison alone. She walked over to the window and thought about everything that had happened leading up to this point. The day she boarded the Titanic, the moment she met and fell in love with Will. The day her grandfather gave her and Will his blessing. The sinking, the inquiry, Will proposing to her. It had all come to this. Today was the day she officially said goodbye to her grandfather. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear Will come into the room. He put both his hands on her shoulders causing her to jump in fright.
"Will, you scared me." She says clutching her chest.
"Sorry dear, it wasn't intentional." He gave her a cheeky grin before continuing what he was going to say. "The cars have arrived."
"Will I want to say thank you." She takes his hands in hers. "Thank you for being there and supporting through all of this. If it weren't for you, Anna and Molly, I don't think I'd be where I am today."
"There is no need to thank me, Allison, my love. I love you and I'd do anything for you."
"As would I. I love you so much Will." They share a quick kiss before going to the cars.
The memorial service was a very heartfelt and touching moment for all who were in attendance. Speeches were given by John Brown, the town leader, Allison, Joseph, Will and the other Titanic officers. Allison unveiled the plaque in the Captain's memory and flowers were put all around it, along with a photo of The Captain.
The day after Will had finally asked Charles to be his best man. He accepted with sincere gratitude. Allison asked Joseph to give her away at her wedding with Joseph replying that he would be honoured to walk such a beautiful young lady down the aisle. Things were going well for Will and Allison at last. Will suggested that they travel to Dalbeattie so Allison can meet Will's parents and prepare for their wedding. Allison was nervous about meeting Will's family but at the same time was looking forward to meeting them. So two weeks later, they are on a ship heading for Dalbeattie, Scotland.
Hey guys. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. There will only be three more chapters left then that's the end. I hope you enjoy reading this. Sorry but it might get a little boring towards the end but I will make up for that when in the next chapter Allison meets Will's family. Happy reading.
Lady Wesker xx