by Tonie Chacon
A tender boat came out from Titanic. How in the world were they going to get all of them on board that craft? But the closer the little boat got, the bigger it got. It was just an illusion of a small boat. Yes, the tender was big enough for all. A White Star Line vessel, and her father worked for them. How nice.
He was nice. Although, she hadn’t really thought about him as a person, just as her father. Now that he was here and giving her a ticket onto Titanic, she was sad and thrilled at the same time. She was leaving the only country she had ever known, if she didn’t count boarding school, of course. But now she had neither her mother nor her school to rescue her any more from the hardships of life. Here her father had taken her under his wing and off to America she would go. A brand new life with her father now, instead of her mother.
Alexandria only needed to walk up the plank onto the ship, hand over her ticket, and go find her cabin and berth. It did sound easy enough. Handing the ticket to the officer on duty, she said, “Is there any chance that I may have it back for a souvenir? S'il vous plait?”
“No, ma’am, these are property of the White Star Line. Move along, please. Go find a seat and we will be off shortly.” Alexandria found herself waiting at the gunnels to watch France move away from her. Goodbye, Mama. I will always love you. She turned and saw that the farther away France became, the closer Titanic grew.
“My.” Alexandria covered her mouth and got up with everyone to board Titanic. It was a grand sight to behold. Walking into the foyer was like something out of a princess book, or a fairy tale. What a foyer it was. As she looked straight up, she saw a huge dome that she suspected would be full of sunlight if it were daytime. She could almost see the stars twinkling their hello and their welcome to her new life.
She stopped to read her paperwork again as she finished climbing the stairs. All right, she was on D deck. She was a little tired, but she was more anxious to meet up with her father and talk with him. It was all so grand.
Chapter Eleven
10 April 1912 — Evening
THE ATMOSPHERE IN the First Class lounge that evening was festive. Megan found a table and they all seated themselves. Alice sat across from Frances and Megan sat across the square table from Emily. Sitting across from Emily, instead of walking beside her, gave Megan a whole new perspective of her. She was so sophisticated. Here Megan had thought that Alice and Frances were of the upper crust, but they were downright ordinary compared to Emily. Who would have thought that Megan would be sitting in the First Class lounge, enjoying the same atmosphere that the rich did? Emily was a beautiful, wealthy woman who seemed to have everything she could ever want. A better personality perhaps? She really had nothing in common with Emily, Megan realized. Except, possibly, Alice. A waiter arrived and asked what their pleasure was. Emily ordered a bottle of champagne.
“The very best you have, for my companions and me. I am eternally grateful that they are here to help relieve the boredom of the ship. I’ve had a marvelous time so far on this voyage.” Emily turned to look at Alice first and then included the rest of them. Megan tried to meet Alice’s eye, but she was gazing at Emily, so Megan smiled at Frances. She received nothing in return. She glanced around for her brother.
The waiter returned with a bottle labeled Heidsieck and Company, Blue Top Brut Champagne, and said stoically, “Would this be sufficient, madam?”
Emily looked at the bottle and made a motion for him to turn the bottle around so she could see the back. She smiled and said, “Yes, yes that will be delightful.”
He poured a tiny drip into a glass flute and handed it to Emily. Megan hoped they would get to fill their glasses a bit fuller than that. Uncle Donovan would be ashamed to offer such a skimpy drink. But after Emily sipped, smiled, and nodded her approval, the waiter filled all their flutes to the brim and silently slipped away.
Emily gathered her flute in her hand and gestured for them all to join her. “I’d like to make a toast. To the wonders of Titanic and all she can give us on this voyage. Let’s make this voyage memorable, shall we?”
Megan clasped her glass and swung her arm into the air and said, “To making it memorable.”
Alice and Frances stood together and both repeated, “To making it memorable.” They gently touched their flutes and smiled around the table.
“A good beginning, I think,” Megan said. “Thank you for the bubbly and all.” She sipped, and Megan’s words came out gushing. “My Lord, this is wonderful. I just love the way the bubbles make my throat feel. It tickles. I like it, very much.”
Alice chuckled and said, “First time?”
Megan replied, “Yes, as a matter of fact, it is my first time. I apologize that I haven’t been as worldly a traveler as you, but there has to come a time when you just do what you want and to hell with the consequences. So if this is the first of many, many other things that I get to enjoy now, then, so be it. This may be the first of many firsts on board Titanic.” She took another huge swallow.
Frances gasped and said, “You don’t really mean what I think you mean, do you?”
“Well, um, yes, I do, I think.” Megan smiled. “I’d like some more bubbly, please.” She held out her flute, hoping that would change the subject.
Emily filled the flute, set the bottle down, and said, “I remember my first time. It was ohhh, so long ago. But then, every time is a first, wouldn’t you say? As long as the earth moves, that’s all I say.” Emily laughed and wiggled her eyebrow at Alice.
“I certainly remember my first,” Alice said. “It was memorable for many reasons, but one is that I was taught how to read palms. Here, Emily, let me read yours.” She took Emily’s left hand gently and turned it palm up. She gazed into Emily’s eyes.
“Here is your life line.” She took her finger and traced a line on Emily’s hand. “It tells how long you are supposed to live. Yours is nice and long.” Alice’s finger swept slowly up to Emily’s wrist and Megan could have sworn Emily shivered. She traced her own finger up her wrist but it didn’t tickle at all. She imagined Alice’s finger instead of her own and she felt a bit of a tingle. It was so bold of Alice to caress Emily’s hand like that in public.
“Do me next, please,” Megan said.
Alice smiled over at her, almost laughing. “All right. Let me finish up here first.” Alice closed her hand to enclose Emily’s in hers and said, “And this is your love line.” She swooped her finger around the pad of Emily’s palm. “You’re a busy girl, aren’t you?”
Megan slid her finger on her palm, imaging Alice’s finger again, and felt herself grow warm.
“Here, make a fist,” Alice said. Emily did. “This shows how many children you are supposed to have.”
Emily laughed. “I don’t think that is very accurate. I don’t plan on having any. If I did, the child would be a miracle baby. I know the best trick of all for having sex without making babies.”
Megan tried not to look shocked. They were talking about sex right out in the open. Megan was accustomed to such talk from the men at the pub, but for ladies to speak so openly like this was, well, unheard of.
Even Frances had perked up at the new subject and seemed not at all shocked. Was Megan the only virgin at the table? She was twenty-six, at least as old as Emily and far older than Frances. But when could she have done it? She was either working or at home or at Uncle Donovan’s with her brothers always about. She had never had a chance. Megan saw Emily give Alice a long look and lean over to whisper in Alice’s ear. Alice adjusted her hat, tucked a loose strand of hair, and gave a long slow nod and a smile.
Megan kept watching, fascinated. They were both so becoming. She noticed that Emily touched Alice a lot. A little touch here, or there, when she laughed or slightly brushed off an unseen thread on Alice’s top. Alice leaned her body toward Emily’s as they spoke quietly between themselves.
Finally, Alice turned toward Megan. “All right, Megan, give me your left hand.”
At last. Megan extended her hand and plac
ed it into Alice’s, which was still warm from holding Emily’s for so long.
“As I was telling Emily, this is your lifeline.” She traced her finger on one of the lines of Megan’s palm, and Megan shivered, just like Emily had. Alice’s real finger felt quite different than the imaginary one.
“I see you are going to have a very long life. That’s good, right?” Alice smiled at her and Megan nodded, fascinated by how Alice’s eyes drew the light into them and twinkled at her. They stared at each other for a long moment.
“Urmph.” Emily cleared her throat, breaking the trance.
Megan removed her hand from Alice’s quickly, took a drink and looked around, embarrassed by her thoughts. She noticed how quiet Frances had become. She had her lips closed tightly and her eyebrows were pushed together on her face as she glared at Alice. Her eyes had a burning look to them. Megan was thankful Frances’s mood wasn’t directed at her. Or was it? Was there a connection somehow?
Music suddenly filled the air and broke the tension at the table. The full nine members of the orchestra were in attendance this first evening. The music started out a bit mundane and then grew to a faster pace, switching from hymns to waltzes. The ladies were soon tapping their toes and smiling all around.
Emily’s brother, Ethan, arrived and extended his hand and said, “Please, would anyone care to dance who isn’t my sister?” Everyone at the table laughed and looked at Emily, who smiled gaily.
Frances jumped up and said, “Well, I’m not your sister,” and she grabbed Ethan’s hand and led him onto the dance floor.
Megan watched Frances and Ethan waltz together, flowing with the music from the orchestra. Frances was very light on her feet and moved with Ethan effortlessly. Megan wished she had learned to dance like that. Another dance started. Emily said it was a fox trot, which was Ethan’s favorite.
“They are making me tired just watching them with all that dancing going on,” Megan said. She watched as Emily leaned over to whisper into Alice’s ear, once again. Without Frances to talk to, Megan felt all alone. “I need to carry myself to my cabin and turn in for the night. I’m knackered. It’s been quite the day. Give my regards to your brother and Frances for me, will you please, Emily? Good night.” She slightly bowed her head at Emily, then Alice, and backed away from the table. Suddenly she turned back, grabbed her fluted glass, and finished what was left of her champagne. “Don’t want it to go to waste now, do we?” Megan turned around again, but this time she made it to the stairs and disappeared down them.
EMILY LET ALICE into her suite and locked the door behind her, but not before she put the little sign out saying “please do not disturb” so the porter would know in the morning not to bother her until she was ready.
“Well, here I am,” Alice said. “I’m not sure what you really meant in your cryptic message. Was there something we needed to discuss in private?”
“Yes, well, I’ve been feeling very neglected these past two weeks,” Emily said. “Here I thought you would have come calling on me sometime.”
Alice appeared confused. Emily stated, “You do remember what happened two weeks ago, correct?”
Alice replied, “I do, somewhat, but it’s not something I want to talk about. I thought I’d never see you again.”
“I see.”
“No, I don’t think you do. That is one reason I took you up on your offer this evening. I would like to get to know you before we, umm.”
“Would you like a glass of sherry?” Emily asked politely.
“Yes, I suppose that would help ease the awkward feeling, wouldn’t it?” Alice said. “I would love a glass of sherry, yes, please, to help soothe my throat and calm my nerves. I want to start off with, that is, I mean, well, I’m not usually that friendly with someone I don’t know. I’m not usually like I was that night. I was just feeling very, umm, frisky that evening. You see, I had taken a powder for my headaches and must have gotten a little too much, and then pairing that with the wine we had at the castle, well, I must admit, I do not remember much of the evening beyond the second dance I had with, oh, your brother, I think. You must have rescued him from me. I’m so sorry if I caused you any trouble.”
“So, you don’t remember walking into the garden with me?”
“Vaguely.”
“And sitting under the trees on a bench that looked out over the river?”
“Again, vaguely,” Alice replied.
“So you don’t remember when I kissed you and then you kissed me back and then you boldly went under my skirt with your hand?”
“I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. No one, not man or woman, has ever been so bold in their intentions before.” Emily reached out to touch Alice’s hair. She took a small golden strand and twirled it around her fingers, caressing it, almost petting it. Alice took a step away. Emily let go.
“I asked if you wanted to leave with me, and you said yes,” Emily said. “So we had another touching incident in the cloakroom, and then two women came in and grabbed their wraps, and suddenly they handed yours to you and off you went with them. Now that I think about it, I’m very surprised they didn’t catch us with our hands where they did not belong. You did look beautiful that night, the way your hair came tumbling down from its twist knot when I took the pins out. I had handfuls of hair wrapped around my fingers, just thinking how wonderful it would be, to be able to touch. But you are so much more becoming tonight. The way the light is shadowing your face, giving you a luxurious tone.” She reached out to touch Alice’s hair again. “I just want to get to know you better, that’s all,” she whispered as she tried to gather Alice in her arms.
Alice took a step backward to avoid the hug. She held her head down, casting a demure look of guilt at Emily. “I do like the ladies. And you are quite the sight to look at. You are so beautiful and I probably was taken with you. I mean, I am taken with you.” She stumbled with her words. “I’m sorry I came across that way. That’s not really me. It was the combination of the powder and the bitter. I’ll have to look into that when I get back home. In the meantime, I know not to mix the two if I want to remember the evening and what I did during the night. Unless, of course, I don’t want to remember.”
Emily almost snorted but held in her laugh. She knew how Alice was that night. A firecracker, that’s what, and she wanted that firecracker again, only this time, lying down. Alice had given Emily one of the best moments of Emily’s wandering life. How could Alice not remember?
“Well then,” Emily said, “we have but a few days to rectify that. This voyage will soon enough end and we will find ourselves in my city. I can show you the sights, the sounds. How about the Ziegfeld Follies? Would you like to go see them? Oh, we shall have a grand time. I just hope you don’t hate it.”
“Hate it?” Alice gazed around Emily’s suite. It was quite like the Cheswicks, really, though it held some personal things. There was a picture of Emily and her brother, and another of a huge gathering of people on a ship on a river. They all looked happy and relaxed out in the sunshine. “I love that woman’s hat.” Alice spun around and asked, “I’m sorry, what am I going to hate?”
“New York, silly.” Emily laughed and handed Alice a glass of sherry. Clinking her glass with Alice’s she said, “Here is to our wondrous voyage together. May she sail straight and true to our home across the water, at least my home. New York isn’t really where I live, but I love the city. It has so many wonderful things to do and see. It is a dirty place though. That is why we live in Pennsylvania. It has green, green grassland and trees and rivers and streams with lots of fish in them to catch and eat. My family has been in that area for years and years. We love it there. The river is really wonderful. My family owns a shipyard there. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I. Do you ride?”
“Horses? No, I don’t ride, but I’m not so fixed in my thinking that I might not try someday. Is it always we? We, we, we. Do you and your brother always travel together?”
“Ethan and I
are part of a large family that all works too hard and too long for days on end. My brother is not made for that grueling sort of work. Pulling wet sheets in off the mainsail to hoist another somewhat drier sheet is hard work, too hard for him, so the family decided to clothe him and send him off with me in search of good contacts worldwide, representing the family business. It also keeps us both out of their way, both of us being of, how do I say this delicately? We lean a different way from the rest of the family, perhaps. You know what I mean? It wreaked havoc in the family. They felt it could be better handled by sending us abroad. So off we go, out of their hands with money to spare. Sad, if you really think about it, isn’t it? We keep an eye out for one another.”
“And that works for you both? You have no particular attachments otherwise?” Alice asked.
“Well, for me, I haven’t met the right one. You know, the one, yet.”
“So you believe that there is a special person for each of us?” Alice asked.
“Yes, don’t you?”
Alice paused. “Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I’m not sure I will know exactly when I meet her, but somewhere in the back of my mind I will keep her until I get a chance to watch her a while longer. Then I shall make a decision to get to know her better and see where it all goes, or not. I generally like to know the person with whom I am having relations,” Alice said softly.
“Humph, a little late for that at this setting, isn’t it? I mean we didn’t actually sleep together, yet, but it was the most sensuous encounter I have ever had. If you don’t remember that evening in question, why on earth did you smile at me and give me those lip kissing motions while the ship was departing from Southampton?”
