Chapter 9

April 14, 1912

Rose wakes up the next morning, with a heavy feeling something was not right. She had a slight hangover and a headache from the booze and the heavy partying in the lower classes the night earlier. Of course, she had not seen Cal, so she knew she might be chewed out for that too. Rose tries to put on a brave face as she got ready for breakfast, to which she was unfortunate, because Cal was already there, waiting for her at the table. She got a spot at the table, and like a dainty princess she spreads a napkin on her lap, and trying to avoid Cal's menacing glare. While eating their breakfast quietly Cal finally cuts in.

"I had hoped you would come to me last night." He says, trying to keep his temper in check.

"I was tired," she mumbled.

"Yes, your exertions below deck were no doubt exhausting." Cal can feel the anger boiling within him.

"I see you had that undertaker of a manservant follow me" she says, under her breath.

"You will not behave like that again! Do you understand?!" Cal warns. Rose's heart beats faster as she began to feel Cal's temper rising slowly.

"I'm not some foreman in your mills that you can command. I am your fiancé!" she snarled back at him.

"Fi…fiancé?! Yes, you are!" With one angry sweep Cal shoves the table, bringing down with it dishes, food all crashing onto the floor with a deafening sound as he advances on Rose. With both hands on the arms of the chair, Rose is clearly trapped. Her heart begins racing as she is forced to look up at Cal thereafter.

"My wife-in practice! If not yet by law-so you will honor me as a wife is required to honor her husband! Because I will not be made a fool of, Rose!" Cal barks angrily. "Is this in any way unclear?!"

"...No..." Rose says, as she breathes heavily, as she is too scared to do anything.

"Good." Cal then gets up and leaves the enclosed promenade deck, back to his cabin as if nothing had happened. Trudy, Ruth's maid, comes in and starts cleaning up the mess.

"We had a little accident. I'm sorry, Trudy…" Rose says, on the verge of breaking down.

A few decks below, Jesse slowly wakes up, his hair was a huge mess as he rubs his head and groaned softly. He slowly gets out of bed, and wincing in pain, as if he had a hangover and/or a headache. He felt a little nauseated, and dizzy. His mind was fogging, and his vision was blurry. He blinks a few times, trying to restore his eyesight. He almost fell over, but he caught himself on one of the bed supports. His friends have once again slept in. Eric with his mouth open, snoring up a storm. Magnus, was the man's name, sleeping with his arms crossed. Karl was completely engulfed in his sheets, kicking every now and then. Jesse wipes his face, until he came to a moist spot around his mouth. He was surprised he had drooled that night, considering he had finally gotten a decent night's sleep since the time he left Helsinki. He wipes the drool on his clothes, and turns his attention to the door. To his surprise he sees that the door was wide open.

How long was this thing open? he wondered, as he rubbed his eyes and yawned softly, then trudges over to the door. He pushes his hair back, then pokes his head out. Nobody in the corridors were milling about in either direction, so he shrugs and closes the door. He went over to the basin to wash up, puts his bag on the bed, changing his clothes, straightening his light coat, and sets about for his day.

Back up in Rose's state room, Rose and her mother get ready for church. Rose is still reeling from Cal's sudden outburst earlier as she tries to lace up her mother's corset in front of the mirror. Trudy tries to tie up the corset when Ruth walks in, saying tea was ready for her. She takes over tying up the corset on Rose.

"You are not to see those boys again; do you understand me? Rose, I forbid it!" Ruth says, shaking her daughter slightly while also tying the corset.

"Oh, Mother, stop it. You'll give yourself nose bleeds." Rose says, clearly annoyed that she must be kept in tow, especially with Cal. She tries to walk away from her mother, but she swiftly runs in front of Rose to lock the door, preventing her escape. She then grabs her daughter, then turns her around to face her. "Rose, this is not a game! Our situation is very precarious; you know the money's gone!"

"Of course, I know it's gone. You remind me every day," Rose moans, trying her best not to be irritated.

"Your father left us nothing, but a legacy of bad debts hidden by a good name, and that name is the only card we have to play. I don't understand you. It is a fine match with Hockley, and it will ensure our survival." Ruth says.

"How can you put this on my shoulders?" Rose asks.

"Do you want me working as a seamstress? Is that what you want? Do you want to see our fine things sold at auction; our memories scattered to the winds…?" Ruth says, voice breaking, then turning around, putting a hand to her mouth as she tries to stifle her sobs. A few moments later, she collected herself, and slowly inhales, she continues on, "My God, Rose, how can you be so selfish?"

"It's so unfair," Rose says, slightly growling at her mother.

"Of course, it's unfair! We're women; our choices are never easy…" she says, as she returns to tightening the corset, while Rose winces in pain from her mother's tightening.

A few decks down Jack sees Jesse as he makes his way around the corridors of the second-class part of the ship. He runs after Jesse, with Rose now on his mind since last night, which was a good thing. He felt saddened he had to say goodbye to her after they met with Jesse, but at the same time he has had a tiny feeling for him. He walks over to Jesse, and tugs at his coat.

"Have you seen Rose?" he asks.

"No, but I have a feeling she might be going to a church service somewhere up in one of the first-class parlor rooms." Jesse says, but before he could say more, Jack runs off. He had a look of confusion on his face, but quickly brushed it away, thinking it was nothing, as he himself was going to a church service being held in the second-class dining room.

Moments after getting at Rose for not returning back to him, Caledon storms back to his own suite, slamming the door as hard as he can. He gets a glass and a bottle of brandy from the counter, pours himself a glass, and sets in a nearby chair. He sits back, thinking about the times he and Rose were planning for their wedding in, a wedding his father wanted to have, and that he wanted to be haste about it. Ruth also wanted the wedding to commence, as it will take care of their financial situations her late husband had left behind, and her reputation was at stake as well. He takes a swig of his brandy, then returns to his thoughts. They had planned a wonderful trip to Europe a year prior to look at various wedding dresses, décor, and even invitations, which was to be sent to all of Philadelphia society. That's when Jesse came into the picture. He saw him with his fiancé, sitting in the reception room aboard the Mauretania, laughing and engaging in small talk, after they had boarded.

That's when the ugly encounter ensued. "This is totally, completely unacceptable!" he had said. Rose had tried to calm him down, similar to what she did the previous night, but was unsuccessful. "Cal, stop! We were just…" he could hear her say, tears welling in her green eyes. He got up from his chair and walked to a nearby mirror, perched atop the fireplace, while carrying his brandy. He places his brandy atop the mantle, then looks at himself in the mirror. The black eye Jesse gave him had healed nicely, but could still feel a small tinge of pain every now and then. Cal wasn't much of a fighter, but he tried to keep pace with Jesse. He was at an unfortunate place when he took a swing, and missed, bad. Jesse got back at him, by clobbering him in the eye, and he stumbled backward. Cal then tripped over a table, sending him to a nearby chair, which had tumbled with him as he took a nasty spill with the chair. Jesse was still ready to duke it out when the officers rushed to break up the fight, while other passengers were horrified to see the whole scene unfold before their eyes. They had nearly been removed from the ship before another officer handed Jesse a piece of paper that Cal thought he was being removed from the ship. He was overjoyed when he was led away, hopefully to never board again. Cal had hoped to never see that crazy kid again, that is, until now; disguised as a third-class passenger. With that other boy. Which complicated things even further! He took his half empty brandy glass and flung it across the room, shattering as it hit the wall. Jesse would have to pay! thought Cal. But how to go about it? His thoughts were answered when heard someone knocking on his door.

"Ah, Lovejoy." Cal answered. "So glad you could make it."

"I heard something breaking and thought I'd check up."

"Oh, no. Everything's fine, but something just came up. It's a bit complicated…"

"It's those boys again, isn't it, especially that young, cute boy." Spicer Lovejoy says, almost hissing, referring to Jesse.

"Yes, that's the one. As cute as he may be, he gave me a black eye back on the Mauretania, you remember? I don't want to be made a fool of again. Now I want to give him something. An eye for an eye."

"You know, he's small…"

"But he can deliver a punch, so to speak." Both Cal and Lovejoy gave it a long thought for some time, until Cal finally spoke. "Now I could give them another dinner invitation; him, my fiancé, and that Dawson kid. You and I are included, just the five of us. Right here. In my private suite." Cal continues his diabolical plans to rid themselves of the boys, but in the meantime, he says, "I'll bide my time until then." then rubs his hands. After that, they made their way to church in one of the staterooms near the Grand Staircase, where Jack would also appear.