11th April, 1912

A knock at my door woke me early the next morning. I fumbled around, dragging myself out of bed and pulling a dressing gown on. It couldn't be Will, could it? No – Will would be sleeping. He would be on duty again at ten, and I knew nothing would drag him out of his cabin until then.

I opened the door to reveal Bruce Junior. He was smiling, holding a single rose in his hand, which he presented to me.

"For you, Miss Banks."

He paused, but I didn't comment.

"I hope you're enjoying the journey so far, Miss Banks."

"Yes. It is better than I expected."

"Good, good. I must be frank, Miss Banks, I am here to ask you if you would like me to accompany you to lunch."

"Mr Ismay, it is not proper to propose such a thing to -"

"I am asking out of mere friendliness, Miss Banks."

"I do not think I will be taking lunch, Mr Ismay."

"Ah. Well, if you change your mind..."

He tipped his hat and walked away. I shut the door, frustrated. When would he leave me alone? That was part of the problem I was having with this voyage.

Will was insisting on asking what was bothering me, but I didn't feel comfortable citing Bruce Junior in a list – he was Will's employer's son! Besides, I knew Will would just shrug it off and tell me I was worrying about nothing.

I had just finished dressing, preparing to make my way to breakfast, when Will dropped in.

"Listen, lovvie, I ran into Mr Andrews earlier and he suggested that you have lunch with him while I'm on watch. I believe he's eating with Molly Brown, so you won't be among strangers."

He took my hands and kissed my knuckles lightly, then smiled at me.

"You know, lovvie, you get more beautiful every day."

"Will..."

"Yes, lovvie?"

I paused, on the brink of mentioning Bruce Junior. I shook my head and sighed – I couldn't do it.

"Nothing."

"If you're sure." He kissed my nose. "That walk on deck last night has done wonders!"

He winked at me and I blushed slightly. Blushing around my fiancé? What was the world coming to?

"Anyway, Mr Andrews will drop in to find you at around half twelve."

"What will you be doing?"

"Now? I'm on watch until two, remember? I'll be having a bite to eat in the mess." He looked down at me. "You're missing land, aren't you?"

"More than anything." I sighed.

"You've a long way to go yet, lovvie! But just think of it – disembarking, arm in arm, in New York – America, land of the free!"

"But not the land I want to stay in for too long!"

We laughed, before he turned to go.

"I'll find you when I finish my watch at two – don't go too far!"

He grinned and waved as he walked outside, leaving me on my own.


I hadn't been too sure what else I should do with my day – until lunch, that is. I was sick of walking on deck, but I needed some air. Hopefully I'd see someone I knew up there – anyone other than Bruce Junior, that is. I picked up a book, deciding to sit and read. May as well make use of the deckchairs.

It was a beautiful, clear day. There was a breeze of course, but it was still warm – I found this strangely odd. My sister had warned me about the cold air across the Atlantic Ocean, but I decided that the worst was yet to come. It didn't matter anyway, I thought, as I wandered up the first class promenade towards the bridge.

I stopped at the gate which prevented passengers from entering the crew area, considering – while the sign clearly stated that passengers were not to enter, I was sure the same rule wouldn't apply to me. After all, I practically felt like part of the crew after 'living' on Titanic for over a week. Then again, I argued, I might just get in their way.

As a compromise, I sat near the gate in front of the gymnasium. I could see Will from where I was sitting – he was gazing out ahead, and I could tell from his posture that he felt proud of the ship. Well, he should be – he had worked so hard since the beginning of April. Suddenly I saw Lights poke his head around the corner.

"Ada!"

"Morning, Lights. Still on the run from Henry?"

"No...he chewed me out over that already. Weren't even Davy's fault, you know. Anyway, come with me a minute."

He grabbed my hand, pulled me to my feet and hurried in the direction of the crew's mess. I was a bit confused – surely there would be no one there? And therefore nothing to see?

I was almost right. The mess was empty at first, and I just stared at Lights blankly. He had a huge grin on his face.

"Lights -"

"Shh! Just listen!"

I just looked at him, listening. But listening to what? I could hear Will in the background, calling an order to Jim.

"All ahead full, Mr Moody!"

"Very good, sir!"

Then nothing else, just miscellaneous ship noises. I looked at Lights, opening my mouth to ask when we heard footsteps approaching. The door flew open and Harry Lowe walked in. He glared at Lights, made some tea, and left.

"Come on!"

Lights grabbed my hand, ran outside and leaned around the corner. Harry was handing the tea to the captain, before returning in our direction. I suddenly noticed Lights' shoulders were shaking – it was obvious when I looked at him that he was trying to stifle his laughter. Poor Harry. He approached us and shook his head ruefully.

"I'm a glorified steward, I am!" He paused. "I hate you, Lights."

"How was I to know you'd agree to do it? The captain wanted tea and I didn't think you'd do it while Jim was standing there!"

"Apparently Jim has been told by a senior officer that he should stand up to me as I'm..." he paused for a moment. "What were his exact words again? Oh, yes. I'm 'the same rank as him anyway'!"

Lights couldn't control his laughter any longer, and creased up, trying to hide behind the corner. I could see the captain and Will turn to see what the noise was about, but they didn't see any of us. Harry tried to change the subject by talking about technical ship things – in between glaring at Lights, who sniggered through the entire conversation. I didn't really understand what was going on – apart from the fact that Lights was easily amused and obviously had too much time on his hands.

"I heard Will on the bridge just now," Harry was saying. "We're going at twenty one knots, apparently."

"Twenty one?" I asked. "Isn't that a bit fast?"

"Fast for what? The engines need to be tested and eased in, so..."

He continued to talk about the engines, but I wasn't listening. I didn't care anyway – I was just staring at Will's back as he remained on the bridge, standing proudly and staring off into the distance ahead of us. Towards our future.