Chapter 2

January 20, 1891*

Cora gave Robert her hand and stepped carefully out of the coach, the stiff leather soles of her kidskin boots scraping against the chilled cobblestones. He left her in a hurry, directing the porter to the bags in the next carriage and Cora turned up the fur collar of her cloak, reaching back into the relative warmth of the hansom for her muff.

The air coming off of the water found its way between each stitch and thread of her clothing. It touched her skin with it's frozen fingers, as intimate as a lover's caress and Cora burrowed down deeper into the protection of her wools. A light snow fell, adding a serenity to the wintry landscape, and the steam puffing from the ship's enormous stack mingled with the sunless grey of the sky. Southampton looked much as it did almost a year ago, the last time she had been a passenger at sea, a young girl on the verge of marriage.

It was odd to think about the time that had passed from that moment to this. Cora felt as far away from that girl as she did the characters in the novels she loved to read. She was no closer to feeling like a viscountess either.

The light touch of Robert's palm between her shoulder blades shook Cora from her thoughts. She glanced up at him, forced her face to imitate a smile and then turned her eyes to the ship waiting in the harbor. The RMS Victoria* loomed before them, a giant tin whale inciting a groan from its moorings as it bobbed gently on the surprisingly calm sea. Robert had mentioned the ship's recent christening, and though this wasn't her maiden voyage, she was new enough that the hull was still pristine, unblemished.

"My Lord, I've the room assignments." Jones approached, papers in hand and gave them to Robert before joining the posse still unloading their luggage. Robert's valet, along with her maid, took command of the scene and soon Cora watched case after case being wheeled up the ramp towards the ship.

A long, thick sigh mingled with the noises on the dock and Cora glanced over to Robert. His gaze was focused upward to the sky before it flickered to the brick warehouses extending away from the harbor. Something about the downturn of his lips, the gloomy curve of his shoulders, something about the way he looked about him, his hungry eyes already starving for the land he hadn't yet left, made Cora pull her cloak even tighter. Within the sanctuary of her inner most thoughts, Cora had dared to hope Robert's trip was a gesture born of some deeper emotion, one that had developed under the radar of her notice. Now confronted with the sour pucker of his expression, she was no longer sure.

When he finally looked down at her again, another large sigh expanding his chest, Cora turned away. The silence lengthened, it yawned and settled while Cora refused to look back, pretending she couldn't feel the weight of Robert's eyes. Her fingers clenched together within the cocoon of her muff.

The squeal of the gigantic ship's horn sent Cora's heart upward, stealing her breath and attention. She took in its expansive, metallic body, the spattering of tiny windows circling its middle and any excitement she had harbored seemed to drain from her body, leaving her dizzy and claustrophobic. Visions of their honeymoon, the last time it had been just she and Robert and a country full of strangers, came unwelcomed into her mind. They had been just as unfamiliar with each other as the foreigners they met along the way. Now there would be so much more expectation, the gaps that still remained in their knowledge of one another more harshly obvious and discomforting.

And then there was the baby, which they refused to speak of.

The uncomfortable quiet that had emerged between them continued for the length of another heartbeat before Robert broke it. A barked half cough cleared his throat and Cora winced, the sound rubbing her rawly.

"Shall we board?"

The words were said with a nonchalance that was practiced, false. As though they hadn't just stood in each other's company and shifted around like two awkward acquaintances. Cora nodded and Robert extended his hand, waiting for her to pass by. She traveled the length of the ramp, holding her skirts in her hand and looking at her feet, trying to think of the end of the journey, of seeing her parents once again, instead of the sixteen days she and Robert would spend at sea, the two of them pushed together without the buffer of his family. Only months before it would have been a thrilling prospect, all that time in his company without interruption.

"The rooms are this way my lord. Milady." Jones had appeared at the first landing as they stepped onto the deck and Cora followed the older man as he led them through a pair of ornately gilded doors and into the grand lobby of the ship.

Cora slowed down, allowing Robert to pass her and speak lowly to Jones while she took a moment to gawk at their surroundings. Some of the oppressive glumness that had been squeezing its arms around her loosened as she took in the elegant appointments of the porter's station, the grand staircase, the rich carpets. In the beauty of the ship's bowels Cora wondered if something had changed within her, something fundamental in her psyche to be so easily wooed by moodiness. She should have been happy, gloriously giddy since Robert's announcement of their trip, instead of devising reasons for Robert's aloofness on the dock.

"Cora?" Robert called from over his shoulder, stopping and Cora, who had been too deep in her own thoughts, walked into his back.

"Easy," Robert chuckled and in the span of those syllables, the color of his eyes finally shifted from the murky grey of the morning to the sparkling blue that captured her so completely. Cora couldn't tell if it was a swell in the water that rocked the floor under her feet or her own breathlessness at the way Robert's skin crinkled at the crease of his eyes when he smiled down at her, like a parenthesis around his face. And despite the rocky start to their journey, she smiled too.

Cora and Robert walked side by side down the rest of the corridor until they reached the door Jones had passed through. Entering the stateroom, Cora saw Mitchell already making quick work of unloading her cases and Jones disappeared through the adjoining room, presumably to do the same with Robert's. Turning in the spot she stood, Cora was happily impressed with her surroundings, the room a good foot or two larger than the last cabin she was in. A snort of sorts escaped her as she thought about it.

Robert stopped his movement towards his own room and cocked his head. "What's so funny?"

Cora shook her head, embarrassed. "Not funny, really. Just thinking of the last time I was on a ship and how different it all is now."

Robert stared blankly for a moment before his mouth opened. "Ahh. Yes." Robert said before flicking his eyes away from her and studying the hat he held in his hands. "I hope it isn't dreadfully different. Your life now."

The tips of his ears blushed under Cora's scrutiny and she could see the pulse in his neck quicken as Robert stood perfectly still, waiting. The uncertainty in his words permeated the air and any lingering unhappiness lifted from Cora's shoulders. Robert could do that to her, turn her mood from one breath to the next. And now, clutching his hat and refusing to meet her eyes like a chastised school boy, she only wanted to embrace him close and whisper reassurances in his ear.

"Not dreadful. Not by a long shot." Cora said quietly. Robert looked up quickly, his eyes wide and dancing. The corners of his lips curved up into the flesh of his cheeks and he took a step closer to her, glancing at Mitchell behind her before placing a chaste kiss on her forehead.

Cora closed her eyes, leaning slightly into the touch, before Robert stepped away.

"I should oversee Jones." Robert explained, though he took no action to leave.

"You should." Cora agreed, though she did not want him to go.

"Yes," Robert said absently, still staring into her eyes. Cora's skin buzzed with the desire his look stirred.

"Milady," Jones's voice broke through and Cora glanced away. "Would you like to change into a tea dress?"

"Yes, yes." Cora answered before searching for Robert again, only to see the shadow of his back exiting into his room.

Cora sighed. "Actually Jones, I think I would like to see the ship off from the upper deck. I'll change later."

Jones tsked. "Milady, it's quite cold out."

Cora smiled demurely. "I'll be fine." And with those words, she left the room, intent on exploring her home for the next sixteen days before it set sail.


Robert rose onto the tips of his toes, hand to forehead as he studied the backs of the people gathered at the railing. The ship's horn bellowed angrily behind him, another warning call that the time was upon them to depart. The startling sound rattled him and he quickly walked further toward the bow, waiting to see Cora's familiar outline in the crowd. When Jones had found him, confessing that Cora had left her room to wander the ship, he had stopped his own business to find her.

Dodging other passengers, Robert leaned into and out of the small groups spattered on the deck, searching the faces for hers. He took a deep breath but the absurd quickening of his heart did not slow down.

"She isn't a child," Robert muttered to himself, deliberately relaxing his steps. He could only imagine he looked like a madman dashing about the boat frantically in search of a grown woman, but lately, being away from Cora set his insides askew, a feeling of wrongness settling in and making him uneasy.

Standing off by herself, Robert spotted her finally, and only then did he feel a calmness take over. Chasing down a waiter with a tray of drinks, Robert took one for each of them before approaching Cora from behind. The wind had picked up a bit from when they had been on the dock. Cora stood with her bare hands gripping the railing, looking down at the harbor and the people gathered to bid them farewell. A few of her curls had been tugged loose by the wintery breeze and they floated around her face, the ebony strands a contrast to the milk of her skin. Sometimes, when Robert looked at Cora, he couldn't quite believe the reality of her, like a rare bird one only ever saw in books suddenly seen in the wild. He simultaneously wanted to bury himself in her and place her carefully behind glass.

Somehow, Cora heard him coming for she turned in his direction before he fully reached her. There was a dreamy, sad look to her eyes, one he had seen quite often in the last few months and as it had every time before, it strangled the words from him, so that all he could do was stare at her dumbly, feebly.

And as she did all those times before, Cora saved him by smiling widely and speaking first.

"You found me." Cora said.

"I almost thought I wouldn't." Robert replied. "It's a jolly turnout."

Cora laughed. "It's always struck me as odd, everyone standing up here and waving to complete strangers down below. And yet here I am."

Robert chortled. "Yes, it does seem strange."

Robert handed Cora her glass of champagne and they both took a small sip, slipping into a comfortable introspection. He watched her over the rim of his glass, the alcohol and her soft face making his belly warm. The apples of Cora's cheeks blossomed as she noticed him looking at her.

"To Egypt." Cora offered, clinking her glass against his.

"To safe travels." Robert answered, taking another sip of his drink.

Cora nodded and they both went back to the railing, shoulder to shoulder as the ship's horn made one last blast into the air. The deck came alive with shouts and movement as did the dock below. The ship lurched away while deckhands scrambled to untie it. Once free, Robert felt the propellers under them chug to action and surge the ship backward, Southampton getting farther and farther away. Feeling slightly untethered as well, he searched for Cora's hand beside him, gripping it tightly. He felt her shift but she did not look up at him, only stepped closer, and though her fingers were chilly, the heat of her body was close and comforting.

*One passenger line that operated at the time, the Peninsula and Orient Steam Navigation Company, ran ships out of Southampton to Alexandria and it left port at 2pm on the twentieth of every month. With a stop in Malta to deliver and pick up mail, the entire trip took sixteen days.

*The Victoria was a ship in the Peninsula and Orient line built in 1890, but I'm not entirely certain that it actually sailed the Egypt route. I haven't been able to find much in the way of a specific ship that did the Southampton to Alexandria trip in 1890 so I took some fictional liberties here. The Victoria was, however, top of its class at the time and offered the most up-to-date amenities when it came to luxury and technological advances. It was the first cruise ship to offer electricity in some of the cabins and in public areas and one of the first to have water closets for staterooms.