Titanic Affair by Amanda P Grange Page B

her difficult to understand. Nevertheless, he offered his arm, and together they went to the telegraph office.
    It was a hive of activity. Passengers were queuing to send messages to their friends and families, and Emilia had to wait her turn. At last she was able to compose a simple telegram to her godmother, explaining that a mishap had prevented her from disembarking at Queenstown, but promising that she would wire again from New York when she knew what her new date of arrival would be.
    ‘It was fortunate for me that you were walking on deck when you were,’ she remarked, as they left the office.
    ‘There was nothing fortunate about it. I was looking for you,’ he said with a wry smile.
    ‘Oh?’ she enquired.
    Then suddenly she remembered the circumstances of their last meeting, and she bit her lip as she recalled how she had meddled in his mother’s affairs, thereby causing that poor lady to collapse on the stairs.
    Her face fell. ‘Oh,’ she said again. This time the word came out on a drooping note. ‘I must apologize,’ she said, trying to meet his eye and not quite succeeding. ‘I had no right to interfere. It was unpardonable of me.’
    ‘No, not unpardonable.’
    His voice was teasing. Surprised, she looked up to see that there was a gleam of warmth in his eye.
    ‘Quite the opposite, in fact,’ he remarked. ‘I’m glad you did.’
    ‘Glad?’ She was surprised. ‘But my interference led your mother to collapse.’
    ‘Ah. I se you are under a misapprehension. It’s the same misapprehension I was suffering from when I spoke to you so angrily - for which I hope you will forgive me. My mother didn’t collapse,’ he explained, ‘she simply hadn’t found her sea legs.’
    ‘Then she was not ill?’ asked Emilia, her hopes rising.
    ‘Far from it. She is better than I’ve seen her for years. She hadn’t managed to go very far before her legs refused to do as she wanted them to, but even so she had seen a wide range of new sights and sounds which had stimulated her, and aroused her interest in life.’
    He was smiling down at her. The hard lines round his mouth and eyes had softened, making him look very appealing, and Emilia realized just how attractive he was. Not in a classical way, for his face was too decided for masculine beauty, but nevertheless his firm jaw, strong cheekbones and high brow were handsome in a vigorous way.
    She smiled back.
    ‘I’m glad. I felt so guilty. I thought I’d done her a great deal of harm. But if she’s truly well enough to be out, then I’m sure the wonders of the ship will lift her spirits.’
    ‘I have promised to show her round this afternoon and she’s already looking forward to it. But first she wanted me to find you and thank you for what you had done. She wanted me to ask you to dine with us this evening. At the time, I thought it would be impossible, but as it is . . . ’
    She said nothing. She felt an unaccountable drop in her spirits because he had sought her out, not on his own account, but on his mother’s. And yet why should that lower her spirits?
    ‘I’m afraid I wasn’t very friendly at our previous meetings,’ he continued, ‘but can we not put that behind us? We will have to endure each other’s company for a few more days on board ship, and it will be a lot pleasanter if we can be on good terms.’
    His charm was very hard to resist. Besides, what he said was true. They would in all probability meet each other a number of times over the next few days and it would not do to be on bad terms.
    ‘Very well,’ she said with a smile.
    ‘Then you will dine with us?’
    ‘Yes, thank you, I will.’ A sudden thought struck her. ‘Oh, dear, now that I’m to stay aboard until we reach New York , your mother won’t be able to make use of my stateroom for the rest of the journey.’
    ‘It doesn’t matter,’ he said with a shrug. ‘She’s feeling so much better that she will be able to go out and about, and will not feel cramped