That evening, Will arrived at my room to escort me to dinner. His uniform was newly pressed and he would have passed any inspection with flying colours – if only his hat had been on straight. It was tilted to the right, giving him an almost comical appearance. He swept his hat off his head and bowed as soon as I opened the door.

"Will, stop it!" I could see a couple of people stop and stare as they walked past.

"Why, lovvie? I thought you loved..." he suddenly stepped forward, put his hands on my waist and lifted me up. "Romance!"

He put me down and kissed my nose, before laughing and stepping back. I felt giddy as I looked up at him and smiled. The spell was broken when I heard a cry from Lizzie.

"Oh, miss, your hair!"

Will stepped back, looking ashamed. Lizzie held up a mirror for me and I groaned – my hair, which Lizzie had slaved over for the last half hour, had almost completely fallen out of place. Lizzie started fussing again, but Will intervened.

"I do apologise, Miss Lizzie, perhaps I can be of service?"

"You, sir?" Lizzie half-smiled. "Nonsense, you couldn't do a lady's hair! You're a man!"

Will seemed slightly taken aback at this, but it was short-lived.

"Yes, Miss Lizzie, I am a man. A man who has done his sister's hair on many occasions!"

He stepped in, gently pushing Lizzie out of the way. I sighed as he started sticking pins in.

"Will, are you certain you know what you're doing? I mustn't go to dinner if I don't look decent."

"Don't you worry your head about it, lovvie. This is one of my many secret talents! Peg used to tell me she'd never let me leave home because I was the only one who could do her hair right."

I sighed again. Peg. Will's elder sister, and the person he was closest to. When we were in Dalbeattie, I constantly felt jealous of their relationship. I almost felt as though Peg would always be the first woman in his life, despite the fact that he kept reassuring me that I would always be first in his mind. I knew that could never be true. Despite his best intentions, his family would naturally come first. At least, that was how I saw it. I knew I shouldn't doubt our relationship over something so petty, but I couldn't help it. The worst part was that I really liked Peg, which made me feel perfectly horrid whenever these thoughts crossed my mind.

"There we go!" Will exclaimed proudly.

I looked across at my reflection in the mirror and smiled. It was perfect. I turned to look up at Will.

"You do realise you're the most perfect man in the world, don't you?"

"I do my best," he replied, grinning broadly. "Wait, we have forgotten something important -" he slid a comb into my hair. "There. Perfection."

I stood up and kissed him gently on the lips, "I love you so much, Will."


Dinner was as uneventful as the day before. Mr Andrews ambushed us, grinning all the while, and Will groaned when we were loudly invited to join him for dinner again. I couldn't help but laugh at poor Will's discomfort – but he was in luck again. Lights bounded down the stairs towards us, apparently oblivious to the glares from the ladies who were passing by at the same time. Will grabbed his arm and gripped it tightly.

"Lights! What the hell are you doing here?"

"I gave Lowe my watch so I could join you and the exquisite Miss Banks for dinner!"

"You can't just give Lowe your watch!"

"He doesn't mind. I swear to the Lord above Will – he was more than happy to take it on my assurance that I would not ask him for tea or coffee for the rest of the voyage."

Will was about to respond, but he then noticed the stares and mutterings from the mini-audience which had gathered around the staircase. From the expressions on their faces, it was not usual for two men with 'mouths like sailors' to be bickering by the grand staircase. Will pulled Lights and myself to one side, where we huddled as they continued talking in hushed voices.

"And what do you plan on saying if Ismay or Smith are here tonight?"

Lights shrugged blithely, "I'll tell them that Wilde's on tonight. Honestly, Willie, there's no problem."

"There is, Lights! This watch is your responsibility! What if something happens?"

"Least they won't be blaming me then."

"Yes they will, Lights. What happens on your watch is down to you, especially if you leave your post while it happens."

Lights seemed to consider this, then shook his head. "Harry Lowe is perfectly capable of looking after this ship. Anyway, it's certainly not fair if you alone can wine and dine with the upper crust."

I took Will's arm again, trying to pull him away.

"Come on, darling, it's time to eat. Where is Mr Andrews?"

Lights straightened his uniform before following us as we walked faux-serenely into the dining saloon. Will sighted Andrews first, and we made a beeline for him. I heard Will breathe a sigh of relief when he realised that Andrews had chosen to sit with Molly Brown and the Ismays. Of course, neither of us wanted to dine with the Ismays, but at the very least the DuWitt-Bukaters were not there. They were sitting at the next table, the daughter looking rather beautiful, if more morose than usual. I pushed them to the back of my mind as Andrews pulled out a chair for me.

"Thank you, Mr Andrews," I smiled.

Andrews sat to my right again, Molly on his right. Will was on my left, Lights beside him and the two Ismays opposite. Will squeezed my hand tightly, glaring in a most unsubtle fashion at Bruce Junior. His father suddenly looked at Lights.

"Mr Lightoller? Are you not the officer of the watch this evening?"

Lights seemed to reflect on this question for a moment before replying, "I most certainly am, sir. I thought that Fifth Officer Lowe could do with a bit of experience with officer's duties."

"He has had experience with the duties of an officer, Mr Lightoller," Ismay responded smoothly. "I would not employ an officer with no experience on the grandest ship in the world."

"In that case, sir," Lights retorted. "Surely he can manage one watch."

Ismay just looked at him coldly for a moment, before shaking his head and taking a drink.


The meal had gone fairly well. Bruce Junior had avoided meeting my gaze on several occasions – I couldn't help looking over and wondering what was going through his head. He puzzled me; I kept wondering what would possess a gentleman to behave in such a way towards a woman who was soon to be married. Still, my mind had been taken off him by Andrews, who seemed determined to keep me in conversation. I didn't mind – I enjoyed his company. He was such a wonderful, intelligent man, and to top it off I loved his accent. Molly would interject every so often, but she and Lights were spending most of the meal talking across the table to eachother.

"Mr Murdoch?"

We all turned and looked up at one of the sailors. I didn't recognise him, but that point was far from my mind – he was out of breath and almost seemed panicked.

"Yes?" Will asked, with a worried tone.

"The master at arms requires your assistance, sir."

"Now?"

"He says it's urgent. Bit of an incident on deck, sir."

Will looked back at me then up at the sailor again, a frown forming on his forehead. Lights offered his assistance.

"Don't worry about Ada, Will. I'll make sure she's alright."

I nodded, "I'll be fine, Will. You go on."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. You'll come and see me later though, won't you?"

Will nodded, squeezed my hand and stood up.

"I hope you'll excuse me, ladies and gentlemen."

He leant down and whispered something to Lights before following the sailer out of the dining room. Lights leant over to me, across the empty seat – met by frowns from the Ismays, of course – and whispered.

"Will says to keep you away from Junior?"

I nodded, "I'll explain later."

"That's alright," he smiled, then sat back up. Unluckily for him, he immediately caught Ismay Senior's gaze.

"Mr Lightoller, it seems that you were incorrect in assuming that Mr Lowe could handle the duties of a senior officer with only one spare junior officer on watch with him."

"I hardly think so, sir. They wouldn't call the Master at Arms to do an officer's duties. It's most likely another matter entirely."

A/N – this is just another note to again thank the people who have reviewed so far. I haven't had much time for writing in the last week or so, but I will hopefully find more time this coming week to have another chapter up. Finally, I must thank everyone who has read this far – you all have the patience of saints, especially considering the length so far and the fact that not a lot has happened yet. I promise that the plot will start moving quicker from the next chapter – I have been building up to the next chapter for quite some time (since the beginning, of course), so hopefully it will live up to my expectations! As always, reviews are much appreciated and I just hope that people are enjoying it so far. ~Phil