"Yes, this dress suits your figure perfectly." Madam Mason stood back to look at Emily, a smile playing on her lips. Emily took as deep a breath as her corset would allow and turned to look at herself in the mirror. The dress was deep blue, matching her eyes wonderfully, and made of soft satin. Over the skirt was another half-skirt of black lace that fell to mid-calf. The top was low-cut, making Emily somewhat uncomfortable, and the sleeves were layered: dark blue to the elbows, then white lace to the wrists. If Emily had not watched this transformation take place, she would not have recognized herself. "Let's go down to supper, shall we?" Emily nodded and picked up the white satin gloves that Madam Mason was requiring her to wear until her nails grew back. Slipping them on as she walked out the door, she could not help but wonder about the mysterious son that she was about to meet.

They reached the dining room, and the first thing Emily saw was a very handsome young man seated at the table, who stood as soon as he saw the women enter the room.

"Mother," he greeted in a low, rich voice. He kissed his mother on the hand, then turned to Emily. "And who is this charming young lady?" He took her hand next and kissed it tenderly.

"This is Emily, my new companion. Emily, this is my son, Edward."

"You can call me Ed." Emily curtsied, hiding the blush on her cheeks. Edward certain was handsome; very tall, probably close to a foot over Emily's own five foot four, handsome, with the rugged, careless good looks of one who did not have to try to be good looking. Ed held out his arm for Emily, and she laid her hand delicately in the crook of his elbow as he escorted her to her seat at the table. Holding out her chair for her before walking around the table to seat his mother, then sit in the seat directly across from Emily.

"Emily, tell me more about yourself," Madam Mason instructed. "I know so little about you."

"There really isn't that much to tell, ma'am."

"Nonsense. Tell me about your family."

"As I've already told you, ma'am, mother died when I was two, from influenza," Emily said, looking down at the soup that had been set in front of her. "My father was a worker at the quarry, so he couldn't take care of a child. He left me on the front step of the Home, with a note telling my name and situation, and he left." Emily couldn't keep the slight note of bitterness out of her voice. "I don't even know if he's still alive," she added quietly.

"That's terrible," Edward said, and Emily glanced up to meet his eyes across the table. He smiled kindly at her and she blushed again, busying herself with her soup to hide her red cheeks. She heard Ed chuckle quietly, and she dared to look up, only to see him studying her, his eyes crinkled at the corners as he grinned.

The night passed quickly, with Madam Mason retiring early, leaving her son and Emily to get better acquainted.

"Ed, what happened to your father?" Emily asked timidly after hours of talking about the upcoming journey.

"He died when I was twelve," he said simply, with a strange lack of sadness in his tone.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, looking down at her gloved hands. "How did he die?"

"He killed himself." Still, there was nothing in his voice to betray that he felt anything but detachment towards this subject.

"Oh!" Emily exclaimed, looking up in shock. "I'm terribly sorry!"

"I was never very close to him. He was not around enough for me to know him." Emily looked at him, trying to determine why this young man was so blasé about his own father's death. "Look at the time!" Ed exclaimed suddenly. "It's about time I got you to bed. If what mother says is any indication, you have a full day ahead of you."

Indeed, Madam Mason had said that her wardrobe fitting, and etiquette and voice lessons would begin the very next day.

Ed stood up from the armchair he had been seated in, and held out his hand to Emily, who took it after a second's hesitation. He walked her up to her room, depositing her at her door with a kiss on the hand. She opened the door to her room and closed it with one last look at the handsome man on the other side. As she undressed, pulling her corset off with difficulty, she couldn't help but smile as she thought of Edward. Her thoughts were still filled with him as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

X

The next month passed by in a whirl, not giving Emily satisfactory time to remember anything clearly. Her voice and etiquette left her with the poise and manners of a refined, first class young woman, and her new wardrobe only reinforced that image. She had begun to notice that Ed Mason was looking at her differently, and she was not entirely pleased with this new attention.

A week before Titanic was to set out on her maiden voyage, they started their packing. If it had been a month earlier, Emily would have thought this too soon to pack, but, with her new wardrobe, she knew that it was almost not soon enough.

Emily was sitting on her bed the night before the voyage when she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

"Come in," she called, her new refined voice sounding strange to her ears.

"Mother says that supper is ready." Ed Mason stuck his head in door, smiling at Emily as she set her book down and stood up.

"Best not keep Madam waiting," she said teasingly, with a laugh in her voice. She knew, of course, that she was only half joking. During her month's stay with the Masons she had begun to realize that her first impression of Madam Mason was very wrong; while she had thought that Madam was a kind elderly lady, she had turned out to be very manipulative and demanding, making Emily think less and less of high society.

Emily took the elbow that Ed held out for her and they went down the stairs together. As they walked, Emily could not help but think that this young man was far kinder than his mother.

"Ah, there you are." Madam Mason was already seated at the table when Ed and Emily made their appearance. As he did every night, Ed held out Emily's chair for her. Emily could not stop the small shiver that dance up her spine as Ed's hand lingered for a moment on her back. "Now, Emily, I have know you for a month, and I have yet to ask you one very important question: What is your last name?"

"Oh," Emily gasped in dismay. She had been dreading this inquiry for some time now. "I don't know, ma'am."

"You don't know?" Madam Mason sounded scandalized. "How could you not know your own last name?"

"Because I do not know my family, ma'am."

"Of course," Madam Mason murmured, taking a small spoonful of soup in her mouth. "Well, in that case, I shall introduce you as Emily Sullivan. That was my dear friend's surname, but he has passed now, so no one shall question when I tell them that you are his daughter." Emily nodded, taking a sip of her glass of wine. "You are packed then, dear?"

"Yes ma'am, all of my luggage is ready to be put in the motorcar." Madam Mason nodded in approval before going back to her supper.

"Now, Edward, your things are packed as well, I assume?"

"Yes, mother." Emily glanced up and met Ed's eye across the table, quickly spooning more soup in her mouth to quell the laughter that threatened to spill out.

When supper was through, Ed hurried around the table to help Emily out of her chair. Emily smiled slightly, enjoying the close proximity to him. He escorted her to the sitting room, where they stay every day after supper, simply talking, until it was time for bed. Today, however, their time was cut short, since they needed to retire early in order to get up in time to get to the ship.

Ed took Emily to her room, where they parted with the usual kiss on the hand. This time, instead of simply leaving her at the door after this kiss, he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. She stared at him as he turned and entered his room, casting her one smiling look over his shoulder before closing the door. Emily shook her head to clear it and entered her own room. She set about putting her night clothes on, her heart still fluttering from the unexpected kiss. She sat on the vanity stool, picking up her hairbrush and running it through her long black tresses as she examined her flushed cheeks in the mirror. The smile faded as she thought more about Ed.

What was it about Edward Mason that made her so uneasy? He was a refined gentleman, and she was sure that if she was higher up on the social ladder that they would be engaged by now. He was always congenial, perfectly polite, but there was something that still warned her away. Maybe it was that he had become friendlier since her etiquette and voice lessons had turned her into a lady. Whatever it was, Emily decided to worry about it later. She crawled under the cover of her bed and smiled again as she drifted off to sleep, visions of Titanic and the ocean filling her dreams.