Thursday 21st April, 1920
Jack woke up early the following morning, he rushed getting ready before grabbing the teddies and his coat and walking quickly to the train station to leave for Philadelphia.
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Once there, he boarded the train and took a deep breathe. He wanted nothing more than to return home with Rose and the girls within the next few days. He watched as the train pulled away whilst crossing his fingers.
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He was the first to disembark the train when it reached Philadelphia, wanting to get to the mansion as quickly as possible. He walked as quickly as his legs would allow. He'd managed to do his research to find out where Cal lived the night before.
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He was intimidated as he looked up at the mansion in front of him. Not intimidated enough to stop the walk up to the front door though. He knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer- he hoped it would be Rose, but he knew it would of course be a member of staff.
"Hello?" The house keeper said confused "can I help you?" "Hi… yes… I need to speak to Rose… Mrs Hockley… whatever you call her here" He said quickly "I can see if she's available. Who should I tell her is here?" She asked "Erm, Mark Dean…"he lied, hoping Rose would know it was him. The house keeper nodded. "I'll be right back" "thank you" he replied.
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The house keeper went in to the library where Rose was sat reading. "Miss? Someone called Mark Dean is here to speak to you" she said politely. Rose was confused "Mark… OK, thank you Emily" she smiled, following her out of the library.
She opened the front door to see Jack. "Rose…" he said "shh" she replied "Not here. I'll grab my coat. We can go for a walk" Jack nodded and watched as she walked in to the house, returning shortly after. She stepped out the door and he followed her off the grounds.
"Where's Cal?" He asked "out of town… again… he won't see us" she replied, getting a nod in response "why did you leave Rose?" "You know why, I wrote it in the note I left you" she sighed "you should have told me, I would have helped you" he replied, hurt that she didn't inform him she was leaving or that Tilly had been found in person. "There wasn't time Jack. I needed to get back to Tilly. She was my priority. I collected Sophia and ran, it was my only option…" she answered. "How are you? How are the girls?" He asked, not sure what to reply to her last statement "I'm OK… he didn't shout or seem angry. He just said if I left again, that he would ensure he got the girls. Sophia obviously has no idea of all of this and I think Tilly is just confused and upset, she knows that being back here will mean she gets a lot less time with me" she nodded sadly. "You need to leave Rose…" he sighed "Jack, did you not hear me? If I leave, he will make sure he gets the girls. I would rather die than leave them with him. There's no way of getting out of this, and it breaks my heart, but it's a fact" she replied "there must be some way of persuading him?" He asked "not that I can think of…" she sighed. "But why…" Jack asked, not understanding the way of the upper class. "Getting a divorce would ruin his reputation, something he'd never be prepared to do. It wouldn't bother him about the girls. People know they exist but I never let them be photographed or be in the papers, so he could just say he still saw them- everyone would be none the wiser about that, but they'd notice if his wife disappeared" she shrugged. "What would he say if you threatened to expose him about the abuse?" Jack asked, hopeful they would be enough. "He'd probably just tell me that no one would believe me and that it's normal behaviour… I'd still have to stay and I'd just be putting myself at risk" she sighed "look Jack, I love you… so much, but there's no way out of this. I'm stuck here whether I like it or not" Rose finally made eye contact with him, looking sad. "Give me til' morning… I'll think of something" Jack said "meet me here, 10am" he said as they reached the park "I mean, I will. But really Jack, I don't see a way out" she shrugged "I best be getting back… it's almost the girls bed time, and Cal has been so kind as to give me permission to put them to bed" she rolled his eyes "ridiculous" Jack said annoyed. "I know…" Rose sighed "I'll see you tomorrow, Jack" she said as she gave him the faintest smile and left.