Chapter Four

The crew member was soon distracted from his curiosity as to what those words meant when he was soon greeted with another group of passengers. He could see a man pushing thirty in a brown suit alongside a young woman in a pinstripe dress.

"Yes, Missus DeWitt Bukater," the attendant said cheerfully. "We have everything prepared for you."

"Thank you," Ruth DeWitt Bukater replied and quietly spoke with the attendant for a few more minutes.

The crewmember noticed the man in the brown suit looked rather impressed with the grandeur of the ship while the woman looked less than pleased. In fact she looked downright miserable.

"Rose," Ruth said.

"Yes, Mother?"

"Come this way, we mustn't block the hallway."

If the crew member could say one thing it would be each voyage was certainly different! No two were ever the same.

Moving from one cabin to the other Mayda soon encountered the DeWitt Bukaters. She was surprised by how many people were already inside the cabin. Were all these people servants? That couldn't be possible!

For a moment she didn't know what to do as she was not very comfortable in large crowds. A young woman in dark blue caught sight of her and motioned for her to come over. Grateful for any type of guidance Mayda hurried to do so.

The stewardess entered another room and came into contact with an older woman dressed in dark green. Mayda quickly curtsied and introduced herself as one of the First Class stewardesses.

"If it's not me then it should be one of the others," she quickly added in her noticeable Irish accent. Mayda was careful in choosing each of her words and making sure to pronounce them correctly. It had only been recently that she had learned English and still preferred her native Irish. At least her native language made sense! English was a very complicated language to learn to communicate in.

"Yes, thank you," Ruth said.

"Will there be anything else?"

"No, that should be all."

Mayda quickly curtsied again and began to walk out of the room when a young woman carrying a large painting brushed by her with such force and speed she could've easily been knocked over.

"Rose! You must be more careful!" Ruth scolded her daughter.

Rose gave Mayda a quick apology before moving away with the painting.

It didn't take long for Mayda's brown eyes to take notice of the movement or the colors used. "Oh! That's that new painter! The cubist! Oh, what's his name…?"

The faintest hint of a smile crossed Rose's pretty face. "Picasso, I believe."

"Ah, yes. I'm afraid I'm needed elsewhere. Good day."

"Good day."

Hitching up her skirts enough so that she could walk without tripping Mayda hurried out of the room. Unfamiliar voices followed her until she closed the door and departed from their world. Seeing the wealthy was always a unique experience but she was grateful not to be a part of that lifestyle. It would be too much like living in a fish bowl with everyone watching you and waiting to gossip.

She did suspect Officer James Moody would soon be asking her and anyone else who worked in First Class for any gossip or scandal. She had been warned ahead of time that Mister Moody was fascinated with such stories and news.

He certainly couldn't be the only one who was interested in such matters in society but he certainly was one of the more vocal ones. It was rather comical in a way to see such a handsome and dignified man suddenly become fascinated and eager to learn of any news.

Turning she walked away from the door and down the hallway where muffled voices could be heard. At first it seemed like someone was reading some sort of horror story as she could make out a few words about the New World and a larger place to practice.

Practice what? Mayda wondered. Were they trying to escape religious persecution? If that was the case then she could understand that with her being a Catholic and working in a seemingly Protestant and unwelcoming world.

Despite knowing the kind of trouble she could get into for eaves dropping Mayda's curiosity began to get the better of her. She crept forward as quietly as she could while also trying to stay far enough away that no one would suspect she was trying to listen in on a conversation. The books made the action sound so easy!

Mayda continued to inch forward while keeping her hand raised as if she were about to knock on the door.

"We can't let anyone know what we're doing or let them inside this cabin!" A man's voice harshly said.

"What are we going to do if they do?" Another man's voice asked.

"Let's just hope they aren't someone important," a woman answered. "Why did we have to board the Titanic? Surely it would be easier to board other ships! Ones that were not nearly as well-known as this one!"

One of the men mumbled something that Mayda strained to hear. She could almost make it out when she felt a strong hand land on her shoulder.

The action alone made her violently jerk away from the hand's grasp. Mayda tried to scream but between surprise and fear no sound other than a squeak would come out.

When her moment of terror ended she looked up to see the surprised face of Thomas Andrews. He was holding one hand up in a gesture of surrender and holding his walking stick in the other.

"I'm sorry for scaring you," Mister Andrews quickly said. "Are you alright?"

Taking in a deep breath Mayda managed to nod and forced a small smile on her face. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you."

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no," the Irishwoman began to bluff. "I was going to knock on this door and ask them if I could help them when I heard voices."

"I see, carry on then."

Privately Mayda worried she really would have to knock on the door to see who was on the other side to see if they needed anything. It was a task that she really did not want to do.

Under Mister Andrews' careful and watchful eye Mayda raised her hand to knock on the door when it swung open.

"Oh!"

The woman in the lilac silk dress looked Mayda over disapprovingly.

Quickly regaining what remained of her composure and dignity Mayda gave a quick curtsy, "Is there anything that I can help you with?"

"No, thank you," the woman said coldly. She shut the door behind her firmly and walked away without greeting Mister Andrews or looking back.

"Oh my, that was…an unfortunate encounter," was all the ship builder could say.