AFTER STARTING ANEW
Chapter Eleven

New Year’s Eve, 1914

Ruth watched as Arthur inserted the key into the lock and slowly swung the huge oak door open. She wondered about what was happening and where she was, when she saw the name Bennett on the brass plate of the door knocker. Surely this could not be his home. Arthur’s last name was Hall. Why would he have the key to a place like this?

She followed him into the foyer, which was lit by a beautiful Tiffany style chandelier. A long hallway stretched ahead of her. It was the stairway to the right that caught her attention. It had two landings with the longest flight of steps looking to be about 20 stairs. There was a double casement window at each landing. The banister was intricately carved and the stairs were carpeted in dark crimson.

“A perfect stairway for a wedding,” she thought, not really knowing why she had an idea like that.

She was hardly paying attention as Arthur slipped her coat off and hung it on the hall tree, which was yet another piece of beautifully carved furniture. Everywhere she looked there were elegant furnishings. Elegant, but not ostentatious.

“This way, Ruth,” said Arthur, gently placing his hand at his waist.

He guided her into a very large parlor. A fire was blazing in the fireplace. Arranged in front of the heath was a comfortable looking leather sofa. In the far corner of the room, in a bay window, stood a tall Christmas tree decorated with shiny glass ornaments and a gold garland. Heavy velvet draperies hung at the floor to ceiling window. Scattered here and there on the oak floor were expensive looking oriental rugs.

Arthur extended his hand and motioned for her to sit down on the sofa. Ruth sank down into the luxurious sofa cushions and leaned back. Her face felt flushed from the warmth of the fireplace. She held her hands out in front of her trying to warm herself from the bitterly cold night.

“This is a wonderful place to sit, Arthur,” she said admiring the fire. “But why are we here? What are we doing in someone else’s house,” she asked.

Arthur looked down at the floor and then at Ruth. He saw her sitting there with confusion on her face. She was so lovely, so gentle. If things went well tonight, he would be privileged to look upon her beauty and enjoy her kind and sincere demeanor for the rest of this life. If he made a mess of things, these could be the last moments that they would share. She belonged in this room, in this house. He wanted her to belong to him in his heart, forever.

“Ruth,” he began, his voice already faltering. He went and leaned against the mantle for support. “Ruth, I have a few things to tell you tonight. Please give me a chance to explain things and understand. But, if you get angry and can’t forgive me, then you have every right to walk out of here. It would be what I deserve.”

Her brows knitted together as she pondered his strange remark. Usually Arthur was very jovial. Tonight she could see that clearly something was on his mind.

“Arthur, please, tell me. I am totally mystified. What’s going on? Besides, I couldn’t get angry at you. I……..”

Arthur waited hopefully for her to finish. “You what, Ruth?”

A shadow crossed her face. For a moment it looked like she was sorry that she had almost revealed a deep secret. “N, Nothing,” was all she would say.

“Perhaps there is hope. Let me get this right,” he said to himself. “I don’t want her to reject me.” He nervously drummed his fingertips on the top of the mantle. He blew out a long breath, looked right into her eyes and began. “My real name is Arthur Hall Bennett and this is my home.” He watched her face as her mouth opened slightly and her eyes narrowed in a puzzled expression. “And I do work in a bank. I own the First National Bank of Denver.”

Ruth tried to speak, but nothing would come out, such was her shock. Her mind was going back to the motorcar, the tempting delicacies he had brought her, the expensive cut of his clothing, the odd hours he came to visit and his very genteel deportment. Now it all came together. But why the secret?

Arthur took a few steps and joined her on the sofa, taking both of her hands in his. He could feel his heart pounding so loudly, that he was sure she could hear it too. In a few minutes now, it would all be over. One way or another, he would have said the words he felt so strongly. But how would Ruth react? Did she suspect? Could she even feel the same way?

“I love you, Ruth.”

This unexpected bombshell stunned her. He watched as her eyes dilated and saw her swallow with difficulty.

“You love me?” she almost squeaked. For what he had just said was beyond her wildest dreams. Never in her life did she expect this to happen to her. She knew that her feelings for Arthur had been growing each time she saw him. He was all she thought about, all she cared about. She had never experienced anything like this. Now he had actually said the words that she had imagined over and over in her mind.

He nodded, a wistful expression on his face. “Yes, and I had hoped you could love me too, Ruth.”

Slowly she slide her right hand from his and covered her mouth. She looked down for a moment, not quite knowing what to do in this situation. When she had talked to Rose about such matters as love, she had been told that with the right person, nothing would matter, that things would just happen. Well, things were certainly happening now.

“Have I frightened you, Ruth,” he inquired softly.

She shook her head. “No, it’s just that hearing it is a bit of a shock. I, well, since I met you, I have had feelings that I did not understand. I would feel giddy, and happy. When I was not with you, I could barely stand it. I, I,” she took a deep breath and lowered her head. “I think it must mean that I love you too.” She paused, before shyly looking at him from under her lowered eyelashes. “I do love you, Arthur.”

He smiled, enchanted with her embarrassed candidness, thinking about how charming she looked as she blushed. Slowly he leaned forward, pausing to tilt her head up, before his lips met hers. For a woman who had been married and was a mother as well, she appeared to be almost naive. Tenderly he pressed his lips to hers. Tentatively she began to respond to the pressure of his kiss. Her mind started spinning and vaguely she heard Rose’s voice again.

“It won’t matter if it’s the right person. Don’t worry about it.”

Suddenly all her senses of what was right and wrong seemed to flee her. The only thing that mattered was kissing Arthur. Her body was yielding to his as he put his arms around her. She made a small noise of contentment as he pulled her closer to him. His mouth moved from her lips to her temples. He planted tiny kisses there and then rested his head against hers. He longed to pull out the pins that held beautifully coifed red hair. But resisted the urge, knowing now that there would be time enough for that later.

“Are you angry with me?” he whispered, his breath tickling her ear.

Ruth felt tingling up and down her arms as she felt Arthur’s embrace surround her. She could barely breathe, let alone talk. In answer to his question, she just moved her head from side to side. She was content to stay like this forever and she hoped that this moment would never end. In all her life, she had never felt the warmth, the tenderness and security that she knew right now in this man’s arms.

Arthur breathed in the scent of her perfume. To him she smelled like a garden of roses. Ever so gently he drew her even closer. He could feel her body slowly start to relax. So far, he must have done something right, as Ruth showed no indication of wiggling from his embrace. He had more to tell her though. A few more things to say before he could ask her to share his life. Slowly and reluctantly, he released his hold on her, moving only far enough away so that he could see her face.

“I have to tell you why this was all a secret. You see, all my life, I much preferred to live a simple life, to enjoy being outdoors and doing good deeds for others. Like bringing the tree and holiday spirit to those children. You understand, don’t you?”

She nodded. It thrilled her to think of how different he was from any other man in his position. Now that she had found a new way of life, she never again wanted to go back to the shallow behavior that dictated life in society. With Arthur, her very being had taken on a new meaning. She had found fulfillment at last. Not only in her relationship with him, but by the wonderful things they had done together.

“I just can’t stand those artificial society dinner parties with inane, stilted conversation. When I met you and we started going out, I knew you were special and it was not long before I knew that being with you meant more to me than anything else in the world.”

He took her right hand again and began rubbing his thumb over it. Her eyes followed his every motion. It was a though her world hung on his every word.

“I wanted to be sure that we both liked the same things, that you could be happy in a life different from those others. Yes, I have all this money and this huge, empty house,” he said gesturing to the room around him. “But what I want out of life is very different from that silly Sacred 36 bunch. I get more pleasure from bringing happiness to others.”

Ruth sat perfectly still thinking about all that he had said and how much sense that it made. It was a life that she too now desired.

“Arthur, I have had more fun and enjoyment these past weeks, than I’ve experienced in my whole life. I mean that. Things that I never imagined doing have brought me an unbelievable amount of pleasure.”

He smiled at her, relieved that she agreed with him and felt comfortable with all the things they had done. The ice skating, the tree expedition and even the night she had gone with him to help in the soup kitchen.

“I have never met anyone like you, except for my son-in-law, Jack,” she continued. “He too is a person that wants to bring happiness to others, even though he has next to nothing. Jack is always considerate of those that have less than himself. Like you.”

He gave her a questioning look. “Jack?”

“Yes, Jack Dawson,” she repeated.

“You are Jack’s mother in law?” he asked in amazement.

“Yes. Do you know him?” Ruth wondered, surprised at this new development.

“Sure. His boss Pete and I are old friends. We grew up together. I’ve met Jack any number of times at the newspaper. Jack is quite a young man. Very resourceful. Tells it like it is. So he is married to your daughter?”

“Yes, yes, very happily married,” she said softly, and thinking to herself how much she would like a marriage like theirs. “I wonder if that is even possible when I tell him about myself,” she thought to herself.

Ruth slid her hands from Arthur’s and stood up slowly, wrapping her arms around her waist. “Arthur,” she began, not knowing quite where to start, “there are a few things you should know about me too. Things that might make you want to change your mind about me.” Her heart was racing and in her mind she could almost envision all her new found happiness collapsing around her when she told him her story.

Arthur reached out to her, in an attempt to grasp her hand again. She had stepped too far away from him to reach her and she seemed lost in her own thoughts. He could see that she was struggling again with something deep inside of her. Like she had been that first night when he came to the door.

“Arthur, two and a half years ago, I was a person that you would not have liked very much. I was a, a snob. I cared only for appearances, money, position. I even was willing to, well, to sell my daughter into a loveless marriage for my benefit.” She glanced at him and saw a shocked look in his eyes.

“Not with Jack?” he asked. Somehow he was having a hard time picturing Ruth as she was describing herself.

“No, not Jack,” she sighed. “Jack and Rose love each other like no other couple I have ever seen. Jack is actually one of the people who straightened me out.” She smiled briefly as she said that.

“Go on, Ruth,” he encouraged. He wished there was some way he could help her with this painful discourse.

“We were all on Titanic, Rose, myself, her fiancé.” She almost blurted out this information, in her eagerness to get beyond that terrifying subject. Ruth started twisting her hands together nervously.

“Titanic?” he repeated in disbelief.

Ruth nodded affirmatively. “All of us in first class, except Jack who was in third class. Rose and Jack accidentally met and fell in love almost right away. I still don’t know exactly how that all came about. But that is not important now. Of course, you know what happened to the ship. I had treated them both very badly. Because that was my way at that time. Rose defied me and ran to Jack during the sinking. It was weeks before I found out that she was alive. When I did discover that they had both survived, it was on the day she had married Jack. I was furious then. I was angry at her and hated Jack.”

Arthur stood up and came behind her, supporting her with his hands around her waist. He could see that she was struggling to control herself. Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes.

“Let it out Ruth. It’s alright. No one is here to see you. Cry if it will help,” he urged.

He listened patiently as he heard about the Hockley’s and then her return to New York and Molly Brown.

“So you are a friend of Molly’s,” he asked. He was not surprised that Molly had befriended Ruth and opened her heart to the woman. Molly was a person who loved a good cause. He was grateful that it was she that Ruth had turned to. It was a shame that Molly no longer spent much time in Denver. She was someone who really understood his interest in helping the less fortunate. His thoughts on Molly were interrupted as he felt Ruth twist about in his arms.

“Yes,” Ruth admitted, turning to face him. “She was the one who really helped me to open up about everything and helped me realize just why I hated Jack so much. She made me realize what I was doing to Rose and to look at who I really was. And that was not a pretty sight,” she sniffed. Ruth felt suddenly relieved, as if a great burden had been suddenly lifted from her shoulders. She had no secrets from Arthur now. But what must he think of her past life?

Arthur pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and instead of handing it to her, he himself dried her tears. She quietly accepted this tender gesture, before continuing her story.

“I owe everything to her. Molly and Jack, really. Jack forced me, in that brash, open way of his, to think about things. He put me in my place a few times too.” Arthur nodded, having seen Jack’s straight forward ways in action a few times. “I’ve been grateful to both of them. And the most wonderful thing was that Rose and I were able to put aside our differences. Now we are really and truly a very close family.”

Arthur pushed a strand of hair out of her face. “I think you are an amazing person, Ruth. The most amazing, honest and brave woman I have ever met. And I think that I must be the luckiest man alive to know you.”

Ruth lowered her eyes, knowing there was still one more thing that she had to tell him. Without looking at him, she cleared her throat. She had gone this far and he still seemed to care for her. It was this last bit of information that might change his mind.

“Arthur, there’s more. I don’t know how to say this.” She was fidgeting with the hem of her suit jacket.

“What more could there be that would stop me from loving you?” he asked. He lifted her chin so that she was looking straight at him. Ruth certainly was a complex person, but he loved her all the more for her honesty, despite the pain this conversation must have caused her.

“I don’t know how to say this. It was my upbringing, and then something that happened when I was 17. Something very bad. Then in my marriage, I never, well, I was never very………”

“Very what, Ruth?” he asked gently, suspecting what she might be trying to hint at.

There was no way to get out of this explanation. She knew that now.

He could see more tears in her eyes. Obviously something terrible, even worse than Titanic, haunted the mind of Ruth. He could see the agony on her face as she attempted to speak. She hesitated a few times and finally the words came out.

“I was attacked when I was seventeen.” Her words came out in a rush. “My parents blamed me. They said no one would want me. When I married, I was afraid, ashamed. After Rose, I never let……..I don’t know if I could please…………..”

Arthur took her head in his hands and gently stroked her cheeks. If what had just happened between them in front of the fire a few minutes ago was any indication of the depth of emotion this woman was capable of, she had nothing to fear about pleasing anyone.

“My darling, Ruth, I love you. I have nothing but the greatest respect for you. I will never force you to anything that makes you uncomfortable. But I suspect that things are going to be just fine. You weren’t frightened just a little while ago, were you? You seemed to just melt into my arms.”

“Rose said,” then she stopped, thinking that perhaps this entire conversation was inappropriate.

Arthur leaned his head to one side and smiled at her. “What did Rose say?” He patted her nose with his finger.

Ruth blushed so much that her face was the same color as the rug on the stairs. “She said that it wouldn’t matter with the right person. That I wouldn’t think, it would just happen. And……and that is how I felt before. Things were just happening.” She stumbled over the words, but she knew that once and for all she had driven that last demon from her soul.

“Is that it? Anything else you want to tell me,” he said, a gentle expression on his face.

When he saw head move from side to side, he took her by the hand and led her back to the sofa. When he had seated her comfortably, he sat down next to her. Arthur took her left hand in his and with his other hand reached inside of his coat pocket. She watched transfixed as he took a small box from his jacket. Slowly he opened the box. She gasped when she saw the diamond ring resting inside. He slipped it on her delicate finger as her eyes widened in surprise.

“I want to marry you, Ruth. I want us to have fun like we have had these past weeks, enjoying each other’s company. I want us to travel, to share our thoughts and ideas. I want to be with you forever. I want us to love each other for the rest of our lives. Will you say yes?”

Ruth gazed into his warm and steady gray eyes. Even as he sat next to her, he seemed so tall, so protective of her. Ruth felt in a word, cherished. She looked first at him, then slowly put her hand out in front of her and studied the beautiful ring he had place on her hand. It was platinum and the stone of about two karats was set in a delicate design of filigree. It was by far the most exquisite piece of jewelry that she had ever seen. She leaned against his chest, sighing heavily. Without any hesitation, she spoke the words he had so desired to hear.

“Yes, Arthur. Yes, I will marry you.”

He closed his eyes in relief. His greatest wish had come true.

Chapter Twelve
Stories