Remembering the Titanic (10 page)

Nola began prattling on about the upcoming vacations. There would be three trips. The first of these would take them to Alan’s country house in Tarrytown, for two weeks. He had been kind enough to invite them….

As she talked, Elizabeth closed her eyes. Every time she thought she had regained some of what she’d lost when the ship sank, something happened to prove her wrong. Today she had defied her mother and refused to go shopping. That had felt wonderful. And the picnic had been wonderful as well. But tonight, her mother was planning a summer vacation for both of them.

“…And a new riding outfit, Elizabeth, you simply must have one this year. Alan tells me he has a new thoroughbred you’re going to love….”

“You’ll take care of your mother?” her father had said during those last painful moments on board the
Titanic
. He had known, then, that he would not be leaving with his wife and daughter. He had to have been frightened, terrified. But the only feelings he’d expressed to Elizabeth were his concerns for his family. Especially his wife. “You must promise me, Elizabeth. You and your mother will be taken care of financially, but she will need much more than that. You must stay with her and care for her. And if you marry, you must take her to live with you.”

Elizabeth had promised, even though her father’s request sounded like a life sentence. It also sounded unnecessary. Martin Farr may not have recognized his wife’s inner strength, but Elizabeth did. She had seen it for herself more than once. Her mother was perfectly capable of managing her own life. The difficulty was, she didn’t
want
to. Independence held no appeal for her at all. She considered it “unladylike.” “Why aren’t those women home tending to their children and husbands?’ she queried upon reading of a suffrage march or rally in the morning newspaper. “Perhaps no one would marry them. That would explain their shrillness, wouldn’t it?”

“My cousin Candace is being married in July,” Alan said, interrupting Elizabeth’s depressing thoughts. “I do hope you’ll both attend.”

Nola looked up with interest. “Candace? Isn’t she the cousin who lost her husband to influenza? She’s been widowed for what, three years now?”

“Three and a half. With two young children to look after. She’s had a rather difficult time of it. This new fellow is much older, nearing fifty, I believe. But he’s a good sort and Candace will be relieved of much of her burden.”

“That’s a stupid reason for marrying,” Elizabeth remarked.

Her mother and her former fiancé looked at her as if to say, Is there a better reason?

And that was when the idea sprang, full-blown, into Elizabeth’s head.

There
was
a way to escape. There was a way to fulfill her promise to her father and still have her independence. All she had to do … why hadn’t she thought of it before … all she had to do was find Nola a
husband
!

She wouldn’t be betraying her father. He wouldn’t mind. He wanted his wife taken care of. He wouldn’t be angry if it was by a husband instead of a daughter.

It shouldn’t be all that difficult, finding someone. Nola was young, not yet forty, and very beautiful, with gentility, breeding, and character. Any intelligent man with taste would be thrilled to have such a woman.

Of course, it couldn’t be just
any
man. The first requisite was, he would have to be wealthy. Nola would expect … no, demand, to be pampered in a new marriage just as she had been in her first. She had her own money, plenty of it, but at the rate she was spending it, it wouldn’t hurt to have another income handy. Wealth was definitely an important consideration when seeking a new husband for Nola Farr.

So … wealth and generosity were requirements. Also character, as she had no wish to see her mother with a scoundrel, and there were plenty of those about, according to newspaper accounts. Wealth, generosity, and character … that might do it.

Where might Elizabeth find such a man?

Didn’t Alan have an uncle who was a bachelor? He’d be wealthy, of course. Alan would never tolerate a poor relation. And he spoke kindly of this uncle, so the man couldn’t be poor. Cedric, wasn’t that his name? Uncle Cedric, he of the large estate in Tarrytown-on-the-Hudson, not far from Alan’s country house.

Of course, the man would most likely also be dull, like his nephew, and probably not nearly as good-looking as Martin Farr. But hadn’t Nola herself just put her stamp of approval on the “sensible” marriage of Alan’s widowed cousin? She hadn’t said a word about the prospective groom’s appearance or personality. If those things shouldn’t matter to the cousin, they should be of no importance to Nola, as well.

For the first time in months, she felt something stirring within her. She couldn’t be sure what it was, didn’t recognize the feeling. Excitement? Hope, maybe? Whatever it was, it was good to feel
something
.

She could hardly wait to share her new plan with Max. Perhaps his father knew someone suitable.

Meanwhile, she would go with her mother to Tarrytown and arrange a meeting between Nola and Alan’s bachelor-uncle Cedric or Chester or whatever it was. Perhaps it was Cecil.

Elizabeth lifted her head. “I think,” she said slowly, as if she were waking from a long sleep, “that a new riding outfit would be a good idea. My jacket from last year has a hole in the elbow from a fall.”

Nola beamed at her daughter with approval.

“By the way, Alan,” Elizabeth asked later as her former fiancé was taking his leave, “what was the name of that uncle you’re so fond of, the one who lives near your Tarrytown house? If I remember correctly, he grows award-winning tomatoes.” Nola had retired for the night and was safely out of hearing.

Though the night was warm, Alan carefully wrapped a white silk muffler about his neck. “You must be speaking of Casper. My uncle Casper.”

“Yes, of course.” Her eyes innocent, Elizabeth asked, “Is he still single?”

Alan sighed. “He is. We Reed men seem to be devilishly unlucky in matters of the heart.”

Refusing to rise to the bait, Elizabeth asked, “And does he still live in Tarrytown?”

“Of course. His estate is one of the most impressive in the area.”

Elizabeth mentally checked off “wealthy” on her list. Looks and personality were something else again. But she was willing to take things one step at a time, now that she had an idea. Now that she had a plan. Now that she had hope.

Perhaps, with luck and timing and perseverance, the dreams she’d had before the
Titanic
disaster could be resurrected after all.

“Y
OU’RE
NOT
GOING!”
M
AX
said flatly when Elizabeth explained over the telephone, in hushed tones, her plan. He couldn’t believe she was planning on spending two weeks at Alan’s country house in Tarrytown-on-the-Hudson. “First off, your mother isn’t going to let someone pick out a fellow for her. Second, if you think I’m going to shout hooray at the idea of you spending two weeks in the company of your former fiancé, think again!”

“I never agreed to be engaged to him,” Elizabeth reminded him, keeping her voice calm. “That was all my parents’ doing, Max, and you know it. So what are you worried about? You know I never loved Alan.” She smiled into the telephone. “You’re worried that a sudden, mad passion for Alan Reed will overtake me and I’ll throw myself into his arms with abandon?”

“Something like that,” Max admitted grudgingly. “It isn’t really you I don’t trust. It’s your mother. She always gets what she wants. And what she wants is for you to give me the old heave-ho and marry Alan Reed, which is why he suddenly showed up tonight at your house. You
know
she invited him, probably because you defied her today and spent the afternoon with me. That must have really worried her.”

“She doesn’t
always
get what she wants,” Elizabeth reminded him.

He knew immediately what she meant. “You’re right. I’m sorry. That was thoughtless of me. But when it comes to you, she does. At least, ever since…” He paused, then went ahead and said it, “Ever since we got back.”

Elizabeth didn’t want to argue with Max. She’d be leaving the city soon, leaving
him
, and it was important that they part on good terms. “I have to do this, Max. If I can find someone to take care of her, I’ll be free of my promise to my father. I can apply to Vassar the very second I know she’s going to be in good hands.”

Max made a rude sound. “As if the woman isn’t perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Look at the way she runs that house. At the way she runs
you
….”

Elizabeth sighed. “I know. But she doesn’t
want
to take care of herself.” She sighed again. “I just hope Alan’s wealthy Uncle Casper is at least reasonably good-looking.”

He wasn’t. Alan’s wealthy Uncle Casper was an older replica of Alan. Meeting the man, seeing uncle and nephew side by side, Elizabeth felt as if she were viewing two photographs of the same man, except that one of them had been taken twenty years after the first. The resemblance was uncanny … and dispiriting. Martin Farr had been so handsome. It was hard to imagine her beautiful mother on the arm of someone like Casper Reed, who had lost a bit more hair than his nephew and bore a few more pounds around the middle. How could Nola ever be attracted to Casper Reed?

But, Elizabeth reminded herself sternly to lift her sagging spirits, if Alan, a younger version of Casper in every way, was good enough for
me
in Nola’s eyes, why shouldn’t the older version of him be acceptable to
her
!

She realized the flaw in that logic instantly. Alan had only been acceptable in her
parents
’ eyes … never in hers. She herself had never been attracted to him. How likely then was it that Nola would be attracted to his uncle? Nevertheless, it was worth a try. Elizabeth hadn’t made the trip from Manhattan to Tarrytown to give up so easily.

Nola did seem happy to be in the country again. And Casper’s estate was impressive. Acre upon acre of lush green land, in the middle of which sat an enormous stone and frame dwelling twice the size of Alan’s house. If Elizabeth was less impressed by the lack of imagination in the decorating of the bachelor’s home, she assured herself that Nola could remedy that easily enough. If she chose to.

She did
not
choose to. After five days and evenings spent in the company of nephew and uncle, Nola was ready to go home.

“The days are entertaining enough,” she confided to Elizabeth as she prepared for bed on a warm summer evening in July. “But the evenings!” Nola sighed. “One more night of conversation about dogs and horses, hunting and banking, and I think I shall go mad.”

Thoroughly disheartened by her mother’s clear lack of interest in Casper Reed as a suitor, Elizabeth argued, “Mother, dinner conversation among your friends is hardly more stimulating.” She had thrown Nola and Casper together at every opportunity, suffering through long, tedious hours alone with Alan, hoping some spark would flare up between the two adults. It hadn’t. Though Casper seemed intrigued by his beautiful companion, it was clear that Nola was no more attracted to him than to the stone fence guarding the man’s property.

“You could have been friendlier to Casper. He’s very wealthy, you know,” Elizabeth said. “And he’s not a bad sort. He seems very taken with
you
.”

Nola gasped. Her jaw dropped in an unladylike gape. “Casper? As a suitor? For
me
? Oh, Elizabeth, you can’t be serious! You were actually entertaining such a ridiculous notion? Why, the man is nothing like your father. Even if I
were
thinking along such lines, now that my period of mourning is over, and I assure you I am
not
, Casper Reed would certainly not be a candidate.” She paused, thought for a minute or two, then her eyes narrowed. “Elizabeth? Is that why you were willing to come up here? You were … you were thinking that Casper and I…” Nola broke off in mid-sentence to laugh. At first it was just a small, ladylike laugh. But as she continued dwelling on Elizabeth’s intention, her laugh gained strength and momentum, until it rang out in the room like a chorus of bells. She bent double at the waist, laughing and gasping at the same time.

After several long minutes, Nola wiped her eyes, gasping, “Casper Reed! Oh, Elizabeth…”

“Why wouldn’t Casper be a candidate, Mother?” Elizabeth asked when Nola had regained control. “Because he’s too much like his nephew? Too dull, too boring, and not at all handsome?” She kept her voice very quiet, aware of Alan sleeping somewhere on the same floor. “Yet you found Alan perfectly acceptable for
me
.”

Nola frowned. She wiped her eyes with a linen handkerchief. “That is very different.”

“How is it different?” Elizabeth picked up a magazine and waved it for emphasis. “Your daughter doesn’t deserve a handsome, interesting husband but you do? Isn’t that terribly hypocritical, Mother?”

Nola faced her dressing table mirror and started brushing her hair. “Nonsense. You’re young. You need the stability of someone like Alan, who can establish a respectable, secure life for you. I, on the other hand, already have an adequate income, my own home, an established life. Your father saw to that.”

Elizabeth mulled that over. Then she said, “So, what you’re saying is, you have everything you need. You don’t need Casper. You don’t need a husband. You don’t need
anyone
to take care of you. Isn’t that what you’re saying?”

Realizing the trap she had fallen into, Nola hastened to repair the damage. “Not as long as I have
you
, dear. What would I need with a husband when I have my darling daughter at my side?”

But it was too late. Much too late. The first mistake Nola had made was laughing at her daughter. The second mistake was insisting that her life was well-ordered. That she didn’t need a husband to care for her. Elizabeth had always known this was true, though her father hadn’t seen it. But she had never before heard her mother admit it.

All right, then. She would apply to Vassar College. And she would be accepted, she was certain of that. She would take the train home every weekend to make sure her mother was doing well, and to see Max. But she
would
be leaving the house in Murray Hill.