Titanic Affair by Amanda P Grange

out of breath from running, and the stitch in her side had not yet gone, so she was glad of his support. And not only for his support. The feel of his muscles through the fabric of his coat gave her a feeling of his strength, and she found it reassuring to know that he was by her side.
    ‘I’m glad I’ve found you,’ he said, as they went up the steps that led from the aft deck to the first-class deck.
    He opened the gate for her at the top, then stood back to let her through. He followed her, closing the gate behind them, then once more offered her his arm.
    ‘So am I,’ was her heartfelt reply.
    She bit her lip as soon as she had said it, but fortunately he didn’t seem to notice her fervent tone of voice and he let it pass.
    He made a few commonplace remarks, commenting on the weather and the size of the ship as they went back inside and headed towards her stateroom, but to her relief he did not seem to expect any kind of reply. Once they reached her stateroom, however, he dropped his pretence of cultivated courtesy and instead of leaving her at the door he said, ‘Now, why don’t you tell me what this is all about?’
    ‘All what?’ she asked, swallowing, as she turned to face him.
    ‘You’re shaking like a leaf. Something’s upset you and I want to know what it is.’
    ‘It’s nothing. I’m cold, that’s all, that’s why I’m shaking. But I am below deck now, and will soon be better. Thank you, Mr Latimer, you have been most helpful.’
    Her words had been intended as a dismissal, but when she went into her stateroom he followed her.
    She turned to face him, and fixed a polite smile to her face.
    ‘Mr Latimer, I’m grateful to you for the loan of your arm, but I’m afraid I must ask you to leave,’ she said.
    ‘All right, I will . . . ’
    She felt herself relax.
    ‘ . . . just as soon as you tell me what’s bothering you,’ he finished.
    ‘Nothing’s bothering me,’ she said.
    ‘Yes it is. What happened out there?’ he asked.
    ‘Nothing,’ she said, unconsciously rubbing her hands together.  ‘I told you. I was shaking because of the cold.’
    ‘Because you went out without a coat?’ he asked.
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘And why did you do that?’ he challenged her. ‘It’s April. No one in their right mind would take a walk on the deck without a coat and hat, which means you didn’t intend to go outside. Something happened to you —’
    ‘No, I do assure you . . . ’ she said, turning away from him and walking across the sitting-room to the fireplace in an attempt to hide her agitation: she had thought she could fool him, but it was proving to be impossible, and the more he persisted the more uncomfortable she became.
    She felt rather than heard him cross the stateroom behind her, then he took her by the shoulders and spun her gently to face him.
    ‘The truth,’ he said.
    His voice was soft but insistent, and as he looked into her eyes, she knew she must make an effort to break away for him. If she did not, she would end up confiding in him, and that was something she did not want to do, because if she told him what had happened it would leave her exposed.
    ‘Mr Latimer, it’s none of your business,’ she said firmly, stepping back, out of arm’s reach.
    ‘I’m making it my business,’ he returned.
    He let her go, but his eyes still followed her.
    ‘Really, it was nothing,’ she protested.
    ‘Then why are you still on the ship?’
    She raised her eyebrows. ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘You were supposed to disembark at Queenstown, but you didn’t get off. The ship docked, then once the mail had been unloaded and the passengers had disembarked, it set off again. It left Ireland a quarter of an hour ago.’
    ‘ What ?’ she gasped.
    ‘The ship has left Ireland . It is heading for New York .’
    ‘Oh, no!’
    She couldn’t believe it. But a glance at the clock on the mantelpiece showed her that what he said was true.
    She was devastated. All her plans had gone awry. She had