FORMALITY
Chapter Six
The dinner bugle sounded, and my
father led me back to our rooms. This time at dinner, we sat with the DeWitt
Bukaters and Mr. Hockley. I sat catty-corner from Rose, and she didn’t look too
thrilled to be there.
I scanned the dining room for
Rob, but to my surprise, he wasn’t there. I didn’t see his father or his
mother, either. The first thought that ran through my mind was, What if his
parents got into a fight? That couldn’t be. Or could it? I tried to
concentrate on the meal, and the gossip, for once.
"Isabelle, you said you saw
the Turkish bath today," my mother said.
"Yes, indeed, I did," I
said, returning to our table from my thoughts.
"She’s always out exploring.
She spends more time alone than anything." my mother was on a roll. I
rolled my eyes and sipped my champagne. When I looked up, Rose smiled kindly at
me, and I smiled back. She was nice. I wish I could have had time to actually
talk to her, separate from my family and hers. For the rest of the dinner, it
was like she was in her own world. She excused herself from the table early,
looking as if she had claustrophobia or something like that.
Next to me, Mr. Hockley boasted
to my father about his steel mill. I tried to listen to what the ladies were
saying.
"Did you see her? Oh, poor
dear, family fortune gone down the drain. Scarcely enough left for appearances,
I’m told," my mother said.
I had to find Robert. It wasn’t
like him to not show up at dinner.
"Please excuse me. I think
I’ll retire for the night," I said, just as dessert was being served. My
father walked me to the reception room stairs.
"Is everything all right?
You seem worried," he said to me.
"Well, I...I didn’t see
Robert at dinner, and I wanted to talk to him," I said, and my father
nodded with a smile.
"All right, then. Good
night, my Belle," he said, kissing me on the forehead.
"Good night, Father," I
said, walking into a lift to take me to B Deck. I walked down the hall towards
Rob’s room when I saw him come out of his room.
"Rob!" I called as we
hugged. "I was so worried about you."
Rob chuckled. "Don’t you
worry about me. My family and I took our dinner in our rooms, and had a good
discussion," he reassured me with a smile. Rob took my hand and we walked
up top in the windy, chilly air. There was something on my mind--my mother. I
needed to tell him.
"Rob," I said, unsure
how to say what I felt. "My mother doesn’t know about you and I. And I’m
afraid if she knew, I wouldn’t be able to see you anymore. I don’t want that to
happen."
"Shh." He gently hushed
me has we came to the aft railing. We moved closer to each other, and Rob
leaned in and kissed me, so sweet and gentle. At that moment, nothing else
existed, until the silence was broken by a panicked scream. We both turned our
heads aft, where the scream came from. Three seamen ran towards it, and all we
saw was a flash of red being pulled aboard, and then the screams stopped. We
turned to face each other.
"Did someone almost fall
overboard?" Rob asked me. A shiver went through me as the cold wind hit
me.
"I don’t know, but I’m sure
I’ll hear the exaggerated version tomorrow," I said as Rob took his coat
and placed it on my shoulders. I slid my arms in it, taking in the warmth from
his body. "Thank you," I whispered. We kissed again, with longing
passion. It felt so right to be there.
Below us, Mr. Hockley, Colonel
Gracie, the Master-at-Arms, and Hockley’s valet walked aft to where the screams
were heard.
"Come on." Rob took my
hand and led me back down the boat deck, away from the mess below. We stopped
where no one was around, and leaned on the rail.
"Now, tell me, why do you
think your mother would disapprove of me and you?" he asked, our shoulders
touching.
I sighed. "She says that she
doesn’t like the way you act--the way you refuse to take on the family
business. But I don’t care. That’s why I like you. You do what you want,"
I said, without taking a breath.
"As long as you don’t care,
then I don’t care," he said, looking me in the eye. I smiled, and kissed
him one more time.
We lingered on the boat deck for
a while, until the cold drove us in. He quickly kissed me good night, so no one
would see. That night I slept like a baby--forgetting about Mother.