Chapter Twenty-Six
Lizzie
She had decided not to return to her stateroom that evening after dinner. The last thing she needed was to run into her rude roommate who would be full of questions about where she was going and with whom. Mrs Duncan’s opinion of Karl had been very derogatory, and Lizzie had found it difficult to be civil to the woman since she had voiced her views the day before.
Restless and uneasy about what was coming, Lizzie had barely been able to eat a thing at dinner and when she had asked for a glass of wine, which Karl told her was bad for the baby, he’d given it to her anyway and poured one for himself as well. She noted even the teetotal Rose accepting a glass of wine with her main course.
After their meal, they’d adjourned to the upper areas to listen to the band play for an hour. Then they’d taken a stroll around the deck as the temperature continued to plummet. When she remarked on the noticeable drop in the temperature, Karl was quick to inform her that at seven o'clock it had been forty-three degrees Fahrenheit and that by half-past eight it had dropped to thirty-three degrees Fahrenheit. By ten o’clock, it would have dropped another degree.
The ladies stayed together for moral support. As they walked around the boat deck clad in their warmest clothes, they looked anxiously out at the almost mirror-like surface of the water. It seemed impossible that anything out there could cause this great ship around them to founder. Even Lizzie, who had come to believe in Karl implicitly, could not imagine anything big enough in those smooth, dark depths that could rip a hole in the side of the solid bulk beneath them. And the absent moon and the serene, starry sky above seemed to deny the very possibility of disaster on this oversized mill pond.
‘Might you have the night wrong?’ Rose said, voicing all their concerns. ‘I mean, from that far in the future, what would one day here or there be?’
‘No, Rose, there is no mistake. One of the reasons the ship is caught unawares is that there were no waves breaking over the ice to warn of its size. And the flatness of the ocean adds to the optical illusion, which is already being created by the atmospheric conditions. Look at the horizon.’
They all did as he bid them. It seemed obvious where the sea met the inky blackness of the sky.
‘Now look really closely about an inch below the horizon,’ Karl went on.
Lizzie studied the horizon a little more closely and then looked just below it. There seemed to be another line running parallel to the skyline.
‘There’s another horizon,’ Trudy declared first, her face flushed with excitement.
‘Indeed, yes. That is the true horizon. What is above it is a mirage, if you like. And it is in that hazy mirage that scientists believe keeps the iceberg hidden from view until we are within a mile of it. That false skyline will also deceive ships in the area, which might have come to our rescue.’
‘Oh, I see.’ Trudy’s face was suddenly a picture of consternation as theory became truth to her. ‘So, there is no mistake. It is really going to happen.’
‘Yes. But you will not be here to see it. You will already be in your new home,’ Karl reminded her gently.
Lizzie squeezed Karl’s arm where she gripped it. His warm presence was so reassuring. All she had to do was look at him or draw him close and all her worries and concerns were lifted. Tonight she’d begin her new life. Tonight she’d go to her new home with the man she’d come to love more than life itself.
She still remembered their lovemaking as some sweet, perfect dream-come-true. All her concerns that Peabody’s assault would spoil their union, or that her own fears about the act itself would ruin the moment, had been pushed aside by Karl’s gentle pragmatism. His almost clinical approach to that first act had been amusing – and reassuring. The passion had come, but it had not made the inexperienced Karl clumsy or insensitive to her needs. He remained the perfect, considerate lover throughout. And now she held no fears about the marital bed she would share with him. It would always be good between them.
‘Your thoughts?’ he asked her as they walked on.
‘Just thinking about our new home.’
‘The ocean is rarely still at home, not like this. It rages at the cliffs like an army trying to scale a castle wall. And you can watch the storms come in from far out to sea. It is wild and elemental and very, very beautiful.’
‘It sounds wonderful. Everything about your world sounds wonderful.’
‘It will be even more so with you in it.’
She smiled up at him, marvelling at the young, handsome face that hid the truly old man he was. Instead of being concerned by his age, she liked it. He had a wealth of life experience and was very much in control. No young man could ever have his quiet confidence and authority.
As the temperature dropped further and ice drifts started to appear in the water around them, Lizzie felt her fears begin to rise again. Why was the Captain speeding ahead when there was so obviously ice in the waters around them? Surely any sane man would have slowed down when obstacles, even small ones as they were seeing now, appeared.
‘I cannot understand what possesses the Captain to steam ahead through this,’ she muttered.
‘Ice flows are normal for this time of the year. You have to remember that Captain Smith has been sailing these waters a long time and has become complacent. The drifts are bigger and further south than normal, but he ignores that fact. And it is the White Star Line’s representative, Bruce Ismay, who is encouraging him to break the record for the crossing; hence, the speed through these treacherous waters. So many factors contributed to this fateful night.’
Shivering from the horror of it all, Lizzie buried her head against Karl’s coat. He tightened his arm around her and dropped a discrete kiss onto her forehead. Then he addressed the group with forced joviality.
‘Come on ladies, I think we would be better off inside out of this cold. A hot beverage would be useful at this juncture.’
They made their way to the sitting room for a late evening tea. Every so often, one or the other of their group would hurry off to the water closets. Whether it was nerves or babies causing the pilgrimages she didn’t know, but she made her own trip once or twice to allay her fears. She knew that when the time came for them to go down to D Deck and the Dining Saloon there would be no more time for bathroom breaks. Better to be safe than sorry.
Finally, as the lights were being dimmed around the sitting room, Karl helped her to her feet.
‘Ready ladies? We will meet Lucy downstairs in a few minutes.’
Lizzie noticed the fear and excitement in the eyes of the other women. Even so, to a one, they nodded and rose to follow him. Such was the faith he inspired.
They took the stairs rather than try to cram into the lift. And even taking them slowly, they soon found themselves outside the doors to the Dining Saloon just after eleven o'clock by Karl’s pocket watch.
‘I don’t think…’ Trudy began, her hands shaking as she gripped them anxiously in front of her. ‘Maybe I better go back to Oliver. He will be wondering where I have gone…’
Lizzie took the nervous woman’s hands in hers and met her eye. ‘Trudy, it is all right. Oliver will make his own way, you know that. And you will make yours. In a few minutes, we will be peeling off these coats because it will be so hot. And there will be flowers and sunshine and a whole new world to explore. Won’t there, Karl?’
‘Yes,’ Karl said gently, placing an arm around Trudy's trembling shoulders. ‘New Atlantis is warm and sunny all year round. The only rain is the storms that come in off the ocean every week or so and pass in a few hours. You will live in a city of classical beauty where the flowers are so bright and fragrant that you will think you are in paradise.’
His words weaved their magic and by the time Lucy appeared with the keys to the darkened saloon, Trudy was calm and optimistic once more.
‘When will the children be here?’ Lucy asked Karl as she locked the door after them.
‘Soon, very soon. They will come up through the ki
tchen.’
The saloon was eerily dark and quiet, so unlike the place they were all familiar with having shared their meals here three times a day for five days. They carefully made their way down between the tables that faced the kitchen, and the long tables that ran at right angles out to the ship’s sides, rather like a fish skeleton. Each table was cleared of cloths and utensils and looked oddly naked in the dim light from the few soft-glowing lamps along the bulkhead.
They heard movement in the galley ahead and for a moment, Lizzie thought they had been discovered by staff. They all froze and waited in terrified silence. Then, through the swinging doors a man in rough, workman’s clothing entered. He took one look at their little group and grinned.
‘All okay, Karl?’ The American man asked with a grin.
‘Yes, we are all here, Luke. Any problems your end?’
‘Nope. Not even the Chief Steward to worry about. The kids will be here in a few minutes and the first class will be coming through their Dining Saloon any minute now too. Take a seat, ladies. It doesn’t matter if you disturb the table arrangements. Once we’re gone, there’ll never be anyone to know the difference.’
Lizzie felt a cold shudder run through her. That bare implication of the events to come was more terrifying than anything else so far. She dropped into the nearest chair and clung to its arms until her fingers hurt.
Following her lead, the other women sat down too. Karl remained standing and went to the door to have a quiet word with the man called Luke. Then he came back and smiled at them. Although tense, he didn’t appear overly concerned. Lizzie concluded that Luke hadn’t shared any bad news with him in those whispered moments.
They sat in the silent darkness and waited.