April 11th
"You seem to be in good humor today, Miss Sullivan." This observation was given by Mr. Andrews at breakfast the next morning.
"It is simply wonderful to be on such a grand ship, Mr. Andrews." Emily knew that this reply would be suitable, as Mr. Andrews was the designer of the Titanic. "It took until this morning to fully comprehend how lovely it is to be at sea." This remark earned Emily approving glances from the other diners.
"Yes, she certainly is magnificent, Mr. Andrews," Rose agreed. This shocked Emily somewhat; until now, Rose had remained unsociable and taciturn at meals. Emily glanced up at Rose, who was seated directly across from her, and met the slightly older woman's eye. To Emily's surprise, Rose smiled at her like an old friend. "I was wondering, Miss Sullivan, if you would care to join me for a walk around the deck after breakfast?"
"Of course, I would love to." Emily smiled at Rose, then both ladies went back to their breakfasts.
Rose finished her breakfast ten minutes later, and stood up from the table. "Are you finished?" she asked Emily politely.
"Yes, of course." Emily had, in fact, been finished for near five minutes. The two ladies excused themselves from the table and left the room together. Once they were out on the deck, Emily decided to ask something that had been on her mind since Rose's invitation. "Might I ask why you asked me to join you?"
Rose laughed. "To be perfectly honest, it is because you seem to be the only one in our party that has any common sense." Emily laughed as well. "And, since we are very nearly the same age, I thought that it would be nice for both of us to talk of things other than politics." Emily fervently agreed on this. "So, Miss Sullivan, tell me more about yourself. Where did you grow up?"
"Please call me Emily." Rose smiled in agreement. "As to where I'm from, I grew up in Southampton. I've lived near the Masons all my life." This story had been carefully rehearsed by Emily and the Masons.
"Ah yes, the Masons." Rose looked over at Emily with a knowing look in her eyes. "That Edward Mason seems to have taken a fancy to you."
Emily felt herself blush. "You must be mistaken," she mumbled, looking out at the ocean.
"Oh I'm not mistaken," Rose laughed. "Believe me, if you don't get a marriage proposal from him in the next month, I shall be very surprised."
Emily blushed an even deeper crimson. Wishing to get to a topic other than herself, she searched her mind for something to say. Looking back at Rose, she asked, "Are these the kind of looks that you received from Mr. Hockley?" To her surprise, Rose simply scowled.
"No," she said shortly. "I never got looks like that from Cal. Ours is simply a marriage of convenience."
"Do you not love him, then?"
"No," Rose said again. "To be perfectly truthful, I can't stand the man. Mother agreed to let him marry me simply because we have little money, and Cal has all of it." Rose gave a very bitter laugh and looked out at the ocean.
Emily did not know what to say, so, instead, she wordlessly laid her hand on Rose's arm.
"I feel so trapped, Emily," Rose confessed softly, "Like I have no place to go, no one who cares enough to ask me if anything is wrong."
"Rose, my cabin number is B-44," Emily said decisively. "You can come in anytime you feel the need to. Don't bother knocking."
Rose looked startled as she glanced over at Emily, then, slowly, she smiled. "Thank you, Emily," she said quietly.
That night, Rose seemed very distant at supper. She was very polite, of course, her upbringing wouldn't allow anything else, but she was quiet, and spoke only when spoken to. She left the table early, saying that she had a headache, and needed to retire. Emily watched her leave, unable to explain the sense of foreboding that she felt watching her new friend leave.
"Emily?" The sound of her name startled her out of her thoughts. "Emily, supper is through." Emily looked up to see Edward standing next to her chair. "May I escort you back to our cabins?"
"Oh, no thank you, Ed. I think I'd like to take a walk out on the deck."
"Alright, then. I'm going to join the others in the smoking room. I'll see you tomorrow morning, Emily." He took her hand and kissed it, giving her one last, lingering look before departing to the Smoking Lounge with the other men. Emily stood up from the table and exited the room, taking a deep breath of relief when she stepped onto the deck.
Emily had been wandering about for what seemed like hours, but, in reality it was merely minutes, when she heard the scream. She knew, instinctively, that it was Rose, so she ran as fast as she could towards the bow, where the scream had come from.
Upon reaching the bow, she saw Rose dangling over the side, clutching desperately at the hands of a man that Emily had never seen.
"Rose!" she screamed, rushing to the railing to stand next to the man. Reaching down, she grabbed Rose's wrist.
"Pull!" the man instructed, and he and Emily pulled at the same time. It took them five minutes, the longest minutes of Emily's life, but they got Rose over the railing and back on the solid deck where she belonged. Unfortunately, the manner in which they landed was very compromising, and it was with the rescuer on top of Rose that two officers of the White Star Line found them.
"Get away from 'er!" one of them growled, rushing forward to pull the man roughly off of Rose.
"Sir, please, it's not what it looks like," Emily protested, reaching out to grab the officer's arm.
"We'll see about that." Turning to the other officer, he barked, "Get the Master of Arms."
The Master of Arms, along with Caldon Hockley, Mr. Lovejoy, and Colonel Gracie, arrived shortly thereafter, and Cal looked simply furious.
"How dare you lay a hand on her!" he shouted, gathering Rose close to him in a sickening display of false affection.
"Cal," Rose protested, "he saved me."
"He-he saved you?" Cal sounded shocked. "What were you doing that you needed saving?"
"I was leaning over the railing, to see the propellers, and I slipped." She looked frantically at her rescuer, telling him with her eyes not to say anything yet. "I would have gone overboard, but Mr. Dawson here saved me."
"Well," Cal, for once, sounded as if he was at a loss for words. "Well," he said again, "I suppose I should be thanking you then, Mr. Dawson. Lovejoy," he gestured to his hulking bodyguard, "a twenty should do it."
"Is that the going rate for saving the woman you love?" Rose asked in a mocking voice.
"Ah, Rose is displeased. What to do? Ah, I know," he walked over to Mr. Dawson. "Mr. Dawson, how would you like to join us for supper tomorrow night? You can regale our group with the tale of your heroic rescue."
"I'll be there," Mr. Dawson promised. Cal nodded once, then he and Rose left. Emily glanced back at Mr. Dawson once before following them.