Ruth Dewitt Bukater had been younger than her own daughter, when she had been forced into marriage with her late husband. Edmund had been ten years older than her, not the least bit interested in her, only in what was commonly known as masculine pleasures.
Being the young and innocent girl she was, not having the slightest idea what would happened in the so called wedding night, she was shocked, when she finally found out. No wonder she turned frigid, as her husband would say, never having even gotten a chance to enjoy it.
Frankly which girl, being pushed into a marriage at that age could take pleasure from being like..?…yes raped…that was the only right word to describe what took place with these undeveloped women. Ruth shuddered when she thought of that night, even after this whole time.
She would've needed a man able to understand her anxiety, maybe then she would've opened up to him. But Edmund had neither realized her worries nor had he done anything to shove them away. Clearly she remembered his smile, his lustful eyes as he had first stared at her in her nightgown, when they had finally been alone. No one had ever told her of that part of married life; it was something one obviously wasn't speaking about.
Sex was something ladies were only whispering about, if any…
Why on earth should this have been different for the young Ruth?
Her mother had just been another high society lady, being quite pleased with her daughter's choice of a husband. Girls weren't asked, if they approved…in some cases they could only chose between two or three selections lain out to them.
Dancing with someone more than once, almost every time led to gossip, which could only be stopped by an immediate engagement. Something similar had happened to Ruth.
Edmund had asked her out on a ball and by accepting him; she had accepted his hand in advance. Of course she had been accompanied by her chaperone, her governess at that time.
Sure, Edmund had known the rules of courtship and gone up to her father to ask him of her hand. Mr. Harold Dewitt Bukater had gladly accepted. Ruth had had nothing else to do than to say yes. At least – she had told herself over the years – she could've done worse.
A friend of hers had had a husband, who hadn't just constantly cheated on her, but who hit her whenever he had drunken too much. Eventually the friend had died very soon, no really knowing why. Behind there back it had whispered however, that her husband had beaten her to death.
He hadn't even waited until the mourning year was over to marry again, telling everyone that his three little children needed a mother.
The young Ruth had been happy to know she had escaped her friend's fate.
She had never loved her husband, but at least he had treated her correctly. That was more that many other women could hope to achieve from marriage.
Suddenly she remembered Caledon Hockley and the first day she had really taken notice on him. By this time her husband had been dead for two years and Ruth had been searching for the right spouse for her daughter ever since.
Cal had looked at Rose much like her own husband had done.
Rose had been a price to him. He had never loved her, only adored her beauty, if any…something which Ruth had immediately understood. Caledon Hockley had been just like every other man.
My daughter would've been just as disappointed by her wedding night as I was.
Over the years Ruth had never gotten used to her husband's needs. She wondered, if there was any woman on earth, who really wanted for it to happen.
Rose seemed to have been quite fond of this Mr. Dawson, who had someone come to save her on the Titanic and hadn't left her alone ever since…something with which Ruth had trouble accepting. A real gentleman would've known when it was time to back away.
However Ruth couldn't help but wonder, if maybe, Rose and Mr. Dawson…if the obvious electricity between them would've allowed Rose to undergo something she herself sadly had never done…making love with a man, while actually being in love with him. Not just for his amusement, but for her desire as well.
Yes, maybe something quite alike had happened between them.
I surely haven't been a fan of him, but whatever happened amongst them, I hope that she died a happy woman.
Ruth was surprised by herself, when she didn't feel any hatred any more against Mr. Dawson, but simply sorrow for the many people having been cut away from live during that frightful night.
Edmund probably would've liked Jack Dawson. Certainly he had a passion for drama.
Ruth silently picked up a photo of her daughter from her bureau. She had arranged what appeared like a memorable desk; a whole lot of Rose's pictures could be seen, at all kind of ages.
Rose had been her father's favourite from the beginning.
No wonder – Ruth thought bitterly – he could let her run wild, as he didn't have to worry about her future. For him, like many other man, Rose was a disappointment, her sex was distress to him. He had wanted a son.
Ruth, however, had avoided him ever since Rose's birth. The childbearing had been a horrible experience to her. That hadn't been her just her own imagination, but the doctors had said so as well. She didn't want to go through it ever again.
Edmund hadn't cared about anything and had just been angry that Rose hadn't been a son. But somehow he had managed over the years to make Rose believe, he really loved her and cherished her, while in reality it had been quite the contrary.
No a day had passed by, when Edmund hadn't ranted about the fact that Rose was only second best.
He had been a great actor for sure.
Ruth, not wanting to tell her daughter the truth, not wanting to make her miserable, had never told her the real reason why her father had been spending so much time with her and what he really thought of having a daughter.
'You're blessed with having three son's…' he had always told a friend, whenever he got the chance to making sure that Ruth heard him, but Rose didn't.
Cal had never been much different. He even lacked Edmund's humour; something that made Ruth had fallen for him during their first meeting. Cal could also be a great entertainer, if he wanted to, but there was always some serious behaviour behind everything he did.
He short never did anything without a reason. Spontaneity was the last thing that came to her mind when thinking of Cal.
Not even the Titanic sinking had really changed him.
….
Meanwhile Cal was unnerved by Ruth and her constant harsh comments and looks at him. They had never been fond of each other, despite what Rose had thought.
They had been politely talking together, but simply out of civility. There was never a question of a real friendship between the two. Cal always thought Ruth was being too demanding and forwarding for a woman, while he was no more than a means to the end for her.
But as Ruth had always been talking about Cal in the highest colour towards her daughter, Rose of course had gotten the expression that Cal was come kind of god for her.
When it came to Rose's dowry, Cal had again been furious when he had heard that there wasn't much her family could offer. Only her beauty and her good name had held Cal back, or better his father, to call of the engagement.
But, as Ruth had quite successfully pointed out to both, Cal needed an heir and he wasn't getting any younger. That argument had finally won over Nathan, who had died shortly after the official engagement.
'Make me proud, son. Don't disgrace our family,' had been his last words to Cal.
Now with a fiancée like Rose that promise wasn't easy to fulfil. Nathan must've seen that coming and had insisted on a prenuptial agreement. Thereby the marriage should be divorced on ground of misunderstanding, if the young bride should do anything that would humiliate the family.
Basically that meant no friends, especially no male ones, no working or going out, without the approval of her husband or her father-in-law. Not surprisingly Rose hadn't even been asked. And surely there was no question about Cal having a mistress. It was seen as normal.
When the contract had been lain out to Ruth, she had a first protested against it, saying that her daughter was being prejudged. Eventually however, she had to sign the paper.
All this had happened prior to the official engagement and prior to Cal even asking Rose for her hand in marriage. Truth to be told Rose hadn't had any other chance, but to say yes to Cal's proposing.
While in Europe Cal's father had died of a heart attack and Cal, actually having booked a three months journey through Europe, had been forced to take the next ship back. This happened to be the Titanic.
So unlike Rose had believed it wasn't Cal's first intention to go back on the Titanic. True Cal liked to show off and knew what people expected of him, but he wasn't spendthrift moreover as tickets for the Titanic had been even more expensive than they would've been, if he had brought them in advance.
With that knowledge, Rose's comment about the Titanic not being much bigger than the Mauretania was given a different meaning. Surely Rose hadn't wanted to sound harsh, but she simply didn't know how to behave around Cal, who kept his feeling locked up.
While he had never asked her about her feelings, he had also never shown his. He had been brought up like this.
'Showing emotions tells people that you're weak,' his mother had always told him.
Cal had wanted to get back to America and his mother as soon as possible. Business had always been important to Cal. But his choice of a ship had proved to be a very bad one. Maybe everything would've been different, if Cal had told Rose the truth about the death of his father and not making it sound like a sudden chance in his plans.
Rose had panicked not because they returned sooner than originally expected, but because this meant the wedding would also be held up earlier. Her mother had told that she felt being robbed of the chance to really get to know Cal, before marrying him.
That had been a very bad excuse however; as Rose had avoided Cal already during the whole journey as good as possible.
Then, before moving on to Paris and later to England, where the Titanic would set sail, Cal had had a quarrel with Ruth again about the marriage contract.
'Now that your father is dead, I really see no reason why we should still clinging to something that was, if I might say so, mostly his wish. Surely you know that my daughter is a honourable and decent girl, who won't bring any misery to your family.'
When Cal had rejected the situation had worsened.
In Nice Rose had finally gotten to know the real Cal. On this day he had shown her his true nature. Maybe, if Nice had never happened, Rose wouldn't have turned to Jack so soon and easily later on. But that was something that Ruth didn't know and Cal hadn't wanted to.
Of course after Rose had taken up with Jack Dawson, Cal had seen no reason to talk about the prenuptial contract any more. Ruth and Cal hadn't spoken up to ten words to each other on the ship. Only their hatred for Jack had finally drawn them together once more.
But this marriage of convenience was over as soon as Jack was dead.
Now as Cal slowly opened the door to Fabrizio's room, he could only wish that Ruth would soon move out of the house.