DANGEROUS GAMES
Chapter Five
The morning of April twelfth was
a bright one. Savannah awoke, still in her robe and torn nightgown, with her
back against the wall. Jane had already been through the room and had laid out
her dress for breakfast. Savannah sat up gingerly and pushed the warm blankets
aside.
"Jane!" she called in
what sounded like a cheerless sigh.
Savannah staggered over to the
window and looked out at the sun’s reflection on the waves.
"Good morning, ma’am,"
she heard Jane say as she came over to the window.
Savannah turned to face her, all
the while burying her arms up to the wrists in the folds of her robe.
"Good morning, Jane,"
Savannah uttered miserably.
Jane looked over her mistress
quickly.
"My God, ma’am, what
happened?" Jane asked as she helped Savannah to her vanity seat.
Savannah shook her head and
replied, "Nothing, Jane. Bruce and I simply had an argument last
night."
Jane could tell Savannah wasn’t
going to tell her anything, so she simply accepted the falsehood Savannah had
told and began to help her dress.
*****
Savannah took her breakfast in
silence out on the promenade deck. She had not seen Bruce all morning.
According to Jane, he had gone to enjoy breakfast with Cal, Rose, the Duff
Gordons, and Colonel Gracie. She sipped her tea and pondered what excuse Bruce
would concoct to explain her absence. Do excuse my wife, but she is
recovering from the lovely night of rape we shared. Savannah scowled into
her teacup and took a long sip. Replacing the china on the table, Savannah
caught a glimpse of her now purple wrists. He truly is a monster, she
thought to herself as she lightly drew her fingers across the swollen skin.
"Ma’am, you have a
visitor."
Savannah’s eyes shot to Jane, who
was standing in the open doorway.
"Who is it?" Savannah
asked insensibly.
Jane responded, "Miss DeWitt
Bukater."
Savannah nodded and Jane gave a
little curtsy before going to lead Rose in.
Rose strolled in with a bright
smile on her face.
"Good morning," she
said as she sat down in the chair opposite Savannah’s. "We missed you at
breakfast."
Rose carried on the conversation,
seemingly unfazed by Savannah’s unresponsiveness. Finally, she stopped.
"Savannah, what’s
wrong?"
Savannah’s eyes jumped from her
wrists resting in her lap to Rose’s eager face.
"You don’t want to know,
Rose."
Rose leaned in closer and begged
her.
"Savannah, please. If you
cannot trust me, who can you trust?"
Savannah broke into hysterical
tears without warning. Jane rushed into the room and knelt by her side, trying
her best to comfort her. Rose was beside her, also, rubbing her back and
whispering words of comfort. She gave a slight nod to Jane, who took the cue
and left the room, leaving the two young women alone again.
"Tell me, Savannah,"
Rose coaxed.
When her tears had subsided,
Savannah shook her head like a belligerent child. Jane rushed in again, this
time carrying a silk handkerchief.
"Ma’am, Mr. Ismay has
returned."
Savannah quickly wiped her eyes
as Rose returned to her seat, beginning some phony conversation about her
upcoming wedding.
"Miss DeWitt Bukater, how
lovely to see you again so soon," Bruce said charmingly as he entered the
promenade.
Rose smiled and nodded politely.
Savannah felt her entire body tense up involuntarily as he laid a hand on her
shoulder.
"Good morning, darling.
Sleep well?"
Bruce leaned down to kiss
Savannah on the cheek, but she tore away from him, not caring who saw the
display. Bruce nodded in acceptance of her reaction and straightened his
posture.
"You should dress, darling.
We are having lunch with everyone at 12:30."
Bruce nodded once again to Rose
and took his leave, exiting the same way he had come.
"I had better leave,"
Rose said, rising from her seat. "I will see you at lunch."
Savannah rose also, following her
to the sitting room before sealing herself inside her bedroom. As Savannah
removed her pearl earrings and necklace, she heard a faint knock on the door.
"Come in, Jane!" she
called.
Rather than Jane, it was Bruce
who stalked into the room and stood behind her chair. She didn’t dare look at
him. She only listened as he lectured her.
"Now, I know it was only
Miss DeWitt Bukater, so I will let it go, but should you ever behave like that
again in the presence of another, we shall have a real problem on our hands. Am
I understood?"
Savannah nodded and mumbled,
"Yes."
She raised her eyes and watched
as he left, allowing Jane to come in and help her dress.
*****
Savannah paid no attention to the
idle chatter that took place around her. They were in the reception room,
awaiting the lunch service. She stood by Bruce’s side in silence, speaking only
when spoken to. He had forced her into being the obedient wife he had always
wanted. Across the room, Rose stood by Cal’s side, engaged in a conversation
with Thomas and a few other gentlemen. As Cal and the other men began to pull
away, Rose found a moment to talk privately with Thomas.
"How is she?" Thomas
asked of Rose as soon as they were out of earshot.
Rose shook her head and said,
"She’s not herself. What happened?"
Thomas shook his head and said,
"Bruce forced himself upon her. She came to me afterwards and she was
hysterical. Nothing she was saying made any sense…until she told me he did it
because of me."
Rose’s mouth hung open.
"He knows?"
Thomas shook his head vigorously.
"No, but in her mind I am
the root of the problems she has. I wasn’t going to argue with her, not under
the circumstances. Maybe she’s right, anyway."
Rose patted Thomas on the back
and rejoined Cal for lunch.
Rose never took her eyes off
Savannah while the people around them enjoyed lunch. He’s ruined her, Rose
thought to herself while she cut a bit of her lamb. She’s not the same woman
I met when we boarded. Savannah sipped her champagne mindlessly, her eyes
never lifting from the delicate silk tablecloth that tickled the top of her
legs. Rose continued to pick at her food while she thought of Savannah again. If
she can’t survive her marriage, how will I?
Thomas also watched Savannah.
When he spoke to the others at the table, he directed his words to her, knowing
full well she was not hearing him, or anyone. She’s like a broken mare, he
thought to himself, half-listening to Cal and Bruce bickering about some
Supreme Court case. There’s no fight left in her. His eyes rested on the
crown of her head, silently willing her to look up. But all she did was sit and
stare at the tablecloth.
Walking the corridor after lunch,
Bruce said nothing to Savannah. It was only once they had reached the privacy
of their suite that he spoke.
"What is wrong with
you?" he asked of her.
Savannah gazed at him with a
blank stare.
"Well?" he demanded.
"You can’t still be upset about last evening, can you?"
Savannah’s blank stare had
morphed into a glare of anger and pure hatred. Bruce saw a brief flicker of
emotion in her eyes and continued to push.
"Well, let me tell you
something, darling. I don’t care! Get over it! And keep in mind that it may
happen again if you step out of line!"
Savannah’s eyes were now filled
to the brim with tears. Bruce smiled triumphantly as one slipped from the
corner of her eye.
He turned to walk away from her,
but halted for a moment, just long enough to say, in a dangerously low voice,
"You had it coming."