Titanic Affair (30 page)

‘Not long. We’ve had a lot of bad weather since
Titanic
sank. It’s making it hard for the crew to know when we’ll get there, but it ought to be some time tomorrow.’

‘The sooner we arrive in
New York
the better,’ he said. His eyes wandered round the bedroom. ‘It was good of Donaldson to give us his stateroom.’

‘Everyone’s been very kind,’ she said. ‘The passengers and crew couldn’t have been kinder. They’ve all done everything they can to make us feel better. Pansy and Robert said the same thing this morning. Nothing’s been too much trouble for them.’

He closed his eyes,

‘You’re tired,’ she said. ‘You’d better get some rest.’

Looking at him, she realized he had not heard her. He had already fallen asleep.

She stroked his hair back from his face. It pained her to see him looking so ill. But in time he would recover.

She left him sleeping and went through into the sitting room. She had not been there long when there was a knock on the door.

Pansy, she thought.

Pansy had been such a comfort to her through the last few days. She really didn’t know how she would have managed without her. She had had Miss Epson to help her, of course, but her companion was not of a practical turn of mind and tended to become agitated at the slightest thing. Mrs Latimer had gratefully accepted Pansy’s help to watch over Carl, and they had nursed him back to health together.

She opened the door.

Pansy was looking thinner than she had done a few days before, and her expression was more sombre. Her spirits had been affected by the ordeal, and although she was still of a positive turn of mind, her light-hearted gaiety had disappeared.

‘Well, I’m glad to see you. It’s kind of you to help out like this, and don’t think I don’t know it,’ said Mrs Latimer, as she invited Pansy in.

‘I’m only too happy to do it,’ said Pansy.

The two ladies sat down. Both were dressed strangely. They had escaped from
Titanic
with only the clothes they had been wearing when the ship had gone down, which had been ruined by salt water. Female passengers on board
Carpathia
had kindly donated clothes to all the survivors of
Titanic
, and both Pansy and Mrs Latimer were now wearing clothes which were oddly mismatched. Pansy’s skirt was too small, and she had not been able to fasten it properly round the waist. Her blouse was too big, and she had had to turn the sleeves over at the cuff to prevent them falling over her hands. Mrs Latimer was wearing a dress which hung from her like a sack, and which was far too long. Still, they had the advantage of being clean, warm and dry.

‘How is he?’ asked Pansy.

‘A bit better,’ said Mrs Latimer. ‘He went to sleep again this afternoon, and he’s had some tea. But he’s still poorly.’

‘And does he know yet?’ asked Pansy.

Mrs Latimer shook her head. ‘No. He thinks she’ll have been picked up by one of the other ships, and he’s hoping she’s still alive. I can’t tell him, at least not yet.’

‘Perhaps it’s better that way,’ said Pansy. ‘At least he will be rested before he has to bear the shock of discovering that none of the other ships have any survivors on board. I still can’t believe that Emilia is gone. I’ve asked everyone on the ship if they’ve seen her, and checked the list of survivors three times, but there is no trace of her.’

‘She was so full of life,’ said Mrs Latimer with a sigh. ‘If only she’d got into the boat with us, right at the beginning, she’d have missed the worst of things, like we did. I know it was cold in the lifeboats, and the sight of the ship sinking - well, it’s best not to think of that. But we’re both still here.’

They fell silent.

It seemed so peaceful in the sitting-room that it was almost impossible to believe what had happened just a few short days before. The curtains were pulled cosily across the portholes. The clock ticked complacently on the mantelpiece, and the electric lights bathed the rose-upholstered furniture in a warm glow.

‘That wretched man!’ burst out Pansy suddenly. ‘He has a lot to answer for.’

‘Barker,’ nodded Mrs Latimer. ‘He paid for it, though.’

Pansy looked at her enquiringly.

‘Carl finished telling me about it when you’d gone to lie down. You know it was Barker who took her, just before she got into the boat, and you know Carl managed to find her again, but you don’t know that Barker got his come-uppance. He tried to get on one of the lifeboats dressed as a woman. Emilia pulled his hat off. One of the officers hit him with the butt of his gun, and Barker toppled over the side of the ship. He wasn’t wearing a lifejacket.’

‘I should not be pleased,’ said Pansy. ‘But I am.’ She fell silent again, thinking. ‘But Emilia . . . I still can’t understand it. Carl said he saw her get into the boat.’

Mrs Latimer stood up and went over to one of the lamps on a console table. She switched it on, adding another pool of light to the room.

‘Well, yes, but Carl was knocked away by a wave. With the ship sinking fast and the water rising, she could have been washed out of it. And then, what with all the suction as the ship went down . . . ’

The two women fell silent.

‘What will you do?’ asked Pansy at last.

‘Go back to
New York
and look after Carl,’ said Mrs Latimer. ‘What else can I do?’

‘Do you think he will go on as before when you return to
New York
?’

‘I’d like to think so, but I just don’t know. I used to think he’d get married, find a nice girl and settle down, but I’m not sure now.’

‘There will be plenty of young ladies willing to tempt him,’ said Pansy.

‘Oh, yes, there’ll be plenty to try, but I don’t think they’ll do it. They’re pretty girls but they’re cold. Emilia was warm. She made Carl a different man, like he used to be, before he got to making all this money. Not that I’m saying it hasn’t been useful, but there’s other things in life.’ She sighed. ‘Well, I’ll worry about that another day. Right now, I just want to get back home.’

Pansy looked at her sympathetically. Once back in
New York
, Mrs Latimer would have to face the ordeal of telling Carl that the other ships had not taken aboard any survivors.

Pansy did not envy her the task.

Emilia stood patiently in the sitting-room, waiting for Mrs Frampton’s maid to finish her packing. She was wearing some clothes kindly lent to her by Mrs Frampton. They were too large, and intended for a woman who was twice her age, but still, she was grateful for them. She was wearing a long coat down to her ankles, a stole around her shoulders, and a large-brimmed hat on her head. Mrs Frampton had taken care to muffle her up, telling her that the weather was cold and foggy. Still weakened by her ordeal, she was even more weakened by the knowledge that Carl had not survived. But she was determined not to let the depths of her feelings show. Mrs Frampton had been very kind to her, and Emilia did not want to burden her benefactress with a display of grief.

‘Is everything ready?’ asked Mrs Frampton as she cast her eye over her luggage, neatly packed and stacked by the door of the stateroom.

‘Yes, madam,’ said Mary.

‘Good.’ Mrs Frampton tuned to Emilia. ‘The ship will be docking any minute. It’s time for us to go ashore.’

Emilia should have been looking forward to it. With Barker gone, and Charles and Julia waiting for her, it held the promise of an interesting holiday in
New York
. But the joy had gone out of her. Since  learning that Carl had not been rescued, she had lost her interest in life.

‘Come, my dear, take my arm.’

Together she and Emilia made their way through the ship to the gangplank.

‘Stay with me, my dear,’ said Mrs Frampton. ‘If your friends have not come to meet you, you will come home with me as arranged. I will be happy to look after you until you can send them word of where you are staying.’

‘Thank you. You’re very kind,’ said Emilia.

‘Don’t mention it. It’s the least I can do after all you’ve endured,’ said Mrs Frampton with false sympathy.

There was the sound of rain pattering on the covered roof of the dock as they left the ship. Lightning flashed intermittently.

‘It’s a good thing the weather wasn’t like this on the night
Titanic
sank, or no one would have been saved,’ said Mrs Frampton. ‘The weather has been stormy ever since that fateful night.’

‘Yes, madam,’ said Mary.

It was true. Emilia knew that if a storm had raged, no one would have been saved. Launching the lifeboats would have been difficult enough, and surviving on a turbulent sea would have been impossible. She should be grateful she had her own life. But with Carl gone, it was hard for her to be grateful about anything.

As she set foot on the gangplank she looked down at the pier. Ranged around it were friends and relatives of those who had survived the disaster, looking up at the ship with anxious faces. White-clad ambulance surgeons stood in a group nearby, in case they should be needed. Sisters of Mercy were on hand in their black clothes, and there were a number of priests. Light bulbs flashed as photographers took pictures for the newspapers. Reporters stood next to them with notebooks and pencils.

Emilia found it daunting. Her nerves had still not fully recovered from the ordeal, and she was apprehensive about leaving the pier. To her relief, however, the police had a strong presence. They were holding the crowds back and keeping the situation under control.

She paused half way down the gangplank, searching the crowds for a sight of Charles. Her eyes roamed over all the strange faces. Then she felt herself relax as she saw him. There was no mistaking his round face, black hair, and round body, even beneath a long raincoat and bowler hat. Next to him was a dark-haired woman with a good-natured countenance and a heart-shaped face. She must be Julia.

Kind though Mrs Frampton had been, it was an enormous relief for Emilia to see them.

‘There are my friends,’ said Emilia, turning to Mrs Frampton.

‘I’m so pleased,’ said Mrs Frampton. ‘It makes such a difference to have loved ones looking after you at a time like this. Go to them, my dear.’

‘Thank you for everything you have done for me. It was very kind of you to take me in, and look after me when I was ill.’

‘It was nothing,’ said Mrs Frampton with a wide smile. ‘Don’t mention it.’

Emilia hurried down the gang plank and across the dock.

Charles pushed his way through the crowd. A policeman tried to bar his way, but after a brief discussion he was allowed to pass. He met Emilia half way across the dock.

‘Emilia!’ he said. ‘We have been so worried about you. Ever since
Titanic
sank, Julia and I have been on tenterhooks, wondering whether you would be alive or dead. It is so good to see you, especially in one piece. You must have had a terrible time, but it’s over now. Julia and I mean to look after you. How are you feeling?’ he went on, as he guided her through the crowd to Julia.

‘A little pulled down,’ she said.

She made light of her troubles, not wanting to upset him any more than necessary. Besides, she did not want to talk about it. They knew nothing about Carl, and her feelings were too raw to allow her to speak of him. The ordeal she had suffered aboard
Titanic
was enough to explain her low spirits, and they would not look for anything further.

She and Charles reached the young woman Emilia had seen from the gangplank.