THE UNEXPECTED COINCIDENCE
Chapter One
The car pulled to a stop in the
filled dock. There were people everywhere, waving in awe at the ship above
them.
Daniel hopped out of the red car,
not impressed with the ship in the slightest. He had never had a love for
things mechanical and would much rather be at home reading a book than pretend
to be interested in boarding a ship that would take him to America.
He sighed as he realized that he
didn’t have a choice. His father had died, his only relative, and he had to
attend a funeral in America. Daniel was from England and lived with his mother
and father until he was two. His mother died of typhoid, so his father,
overcome by grief, sailed to America, cutting all links to his past life. He
had not wanted his only son, presumably because he was so much like his mother.
Daniel had been sent to live with
his aunt and uncle and had been there ever since, in their high society. His
parents were poor but his father’s brother had struck gold in a mine in India,
so they lived a life of luxury.
Daniel was forced to act like a
gentleman, with suits and slicked-back hair. He was not allowed to run and play
like other children and was forced to endure the lectures from his childless
aunt and uncle over his behavior.
Daniel was now twenty-four and
was the heir to his uncle’s riches because his Uncle David had no children.
Daniel was reluctant to go on the
Titanic because of the fear that his father had started another family in
America, and he was being led into the lion’s den, so to speak. He was swayed
when he found out that his childhood friend, Caledon Hockley, was going to
board with his fiancée.
Daniel and Cal had met when their
fathers were talking business at some hotel in London. Cal and Daniel were the
only children there. Even though they were five years apart in age, they became
good friends, and had been visiting each other over the summers through the
years.
The last time he had seen Cal was
when he had started university at the age of eighteen. Cal was by then
twenty-three years old, and they both felt that they were too old to keep
traveling like children to see each other in the summer.
"Where is your ticket, sir?"
a voice asked, breaking his reverie.
Daniel turned around and noticed
that he had been staring at the ship for five minutes while thinking about his
childhood.
"I have it here," he
replied to the steward who was prompting him.
"A magnificent ship, isn’t she?"
the steward asked, misinterpreting his staring for wonder.
Daniel nodded gloomily and
grabbed his luggage, preparing to board the ship. His maid, Katherine, grabbed
the rest. He gave her a friendly smile. In truth, they were cousins through his
mother’s side, but no one knew that. Katherine had appeared at his uncle’s
house one night in rags and was at once aided by himself, who encouraged his
uncle to let her stay as his maid. Daniel refused to allow her to wait on him,
as they were best friends, though of different classes.
The pair started off for the ship
but were at once relieved by their luggage by an attendant who took them to
their rooms, A-35 and A-36. Daniel knew of the expense of these tickets and
realized that he would be seen as another rich man who drank constantly and
smoked cigars while talking about politics.
He walked up the ramp, taking in
the smell of the fresh paint, the calm of the water, and the sound of the
crowd.
He handed the officer his ticket
at the first class entrance and forced a smile onto his pale face. He was
constantly told he looked ill, but he had inherited his snowy complexion from
his mother, a beautiful woman in her own right.
"Welcome to the Titanic. You
will find your luggage is in your rooms."
Daniel nodded and walked slowly
with Katherine to their rooms. He absorbed the luxury and the glamour of the
hallways, the thick carpet under his feet, and the white-paneled corridors.
He found their rooms and barged
in, ready to act like his true self. He stopped at a mirror over a marble
fireplace. His hand reached up and touched the dark locks that were plastered
to his head, ending at his neck in a few curls that would never lie flat.
He had been told that he was a
handsome man and that any rich girl would marry him. So far, he had managed to
stay single, but he knew that time was running out.
The only part of his appearance
he actually liked were his eyes. A dark brown that reflected his true soul, not
the first class person he was made out to be.
"Daniel, we had better put
your things away."
He turned to face Katherine, who
was opening one of the many suitcases he carried. He gave her a smile and
turned to help her.
"These rooms are
beautiful!" Katherine exclaimed, pointing at the dark-paneled walls, the
gold-trimmed fireplace, and the silk sheets on the beds.
He made an agreeing sound while
putting his real clothes away. He had managed to sneak a few colored shirts and
black trousers on board, with a few plain waistcoats that gave the appearance
that the clothes belonged to steerage. Daniel had hated suits and ties ever
since his aunt first showed him some.
He shut the carved wardrobe door
quickly and slid the suitcases out of the way.
The ship had been sailing for a
while now; they were speeding for Cherbourg, where more passengers would come
aboard. They had not bothered to go up on deck. He was unimpressed by the hype
that this ship created and wished not to see it.
With nothing more to do, Daniel
sat on a chair and opened the book he had brought with him. Katherine was
sleeping in her room, ill with seasickness. He had asked her to alert him if
she needed anything.
He skipped lunch, not wanting to
leave Katherine. Dinner was now fast approaching and his stomach demanded food.
He grabbed a sheet of paper from a notepad nearby and wrote a note to
Katherine, which he placed on her bedside table.
It took him approximately ten
minutes to dress in his formal tuxedo. He made sure his shoulder-length dark
hair was slicked back, not revealing its length. His uncle had given him a
lecture on how he should cut it short, but his mother had it shoulder-length,
and he wanted to feel closer to her, even twenty-two years after her death.
Daniel slipped out of the room
and walked down the corridors on his own. He nodded to several people, and
couldn’t help but think that he should have stayed with Katherine; he was
receiving odd looks for going to dinner on his own.
He reached the Grand Staircase
and descended down the steps to D-Deck, where the restaurant was located. He
admired the woodwork and ironwork, noticing the detail of the carvings.
He walked straight into someone,
not looking where he was going.
"I am so sorry. I was
admiring the woodwork and I must have stopped looking."
Daniel hated being formal, but
realized that he was representing his uncle. He was a well-known heir to the
massive fortune his uncle had, an eligible bachelor.
Daniel’s eyes locked into brown
ones that seemed so familiar. He realized he was looking into the face of
Caledon Hockley.
"Cal?" Daniel asked,
hoping to get the attention of the retreating figure who had not said a word.
The man froze and turned to see Daniel, immediately recognizing his old friend.
"Daniel Taylor! Why, I
never." The dark-haired man walked over to him and the two shared a firm
handshake, aware that they could not be informal in public.
Cal was smiling a real smile at
seeing his only friend. Daniel knew it was a real smile; he had witnessed a
fake one on many occasions.
Daniel was half-dragged down the
remaining steps and almost knocked into a middle-aged red-haired woman in a
pink-beaded dress.
"Ruth, I would like you to
meet Daniel Taylor, heir to a gold fortune, one of my truest friends."
Daniel smiled graciously and
lifted the woman’s hand to kiss, the custom with first class men to do to a
high status woman.
"A pleasure to meet
you," he said, standing up to his full height.
"This is Ruth DeWitt
Bukater, my fiancée’s mother."
Daniel smiled again, noticing the
fake smile that Ruth displayed. He tried his hardest to keep his demeanor
friendly and civil.
"Why, are you David Taylor’s
son?" Ruth asked, interested in his wealth.
"Yes, but technically
nephew, though I am his heir."
Daniel made small talk with the
woman, turning on his charm ever so slightly, knowing that he wanted to get on
the good side of this woman.
"Daniel, please meet my
bride-to-be, Rose," Cal said, causing Daniel to turn on the spot.
He was met with the most
beautiful woman on the planet. Though not his taste, he could see why Cal liked
her.
"A pleasure. I am Daniel
Taylor, one of Cal’s old friends."
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise
at his friendship with Cal. Luckily, only Daniel noticed.
"May I escort you to dinner,
Ruth?" Daniel asked the older woman, noticing Cal and Rose walking off to
the dining area.
"Of course," the woman
answered, linking her arm through his.
He could tell that this woman was
fake, but he wanted to know the real person behind that, at least to give her
chance.
"So, tell me, Ruth, do you
read?" he asked, hoping to find she had some interests that didn’t involve
money.
She laughed with a fake sound,
knowing that he was trying to be polite. "Of course not. I much prefer to
socialize."
Daniel smiled politely and
escorted her to her table promptly. He noticed that the table was full of the
highest-class people on the ship; unfortunately, he noticed there was a seat
for him.
"Do sit with us, Master
Taylor," Ruth said, lowering into her chair. Daniel obliged and couldn’t
help but notice that fact that she emphasized the word Master to portray his
single status.
He did not listen to the mindless
chatter around the table; he just focused on eating and looking interested.
"Do tell us why you are not
married, good sir. You are quite eligible, I would imagine."
Daniel turned to Ruth, the
speaker of these words, and noticed the female members of the table perk up in
interest.
He took a sip of wine before
answering, wishing he had beer instead. "All of the women I have been
introduced to seem to want the money I will have. I do not mean to be rude to
anyone at this table, but I would much prefer to stay single than marry someone
I do not love. The problem is my aunt seems set on marrying me to some girl I
don’t even know. It is proving quite hard to resist for much longer. We all
know how a woman gets her way."
The men of the table laughed
heartily, nodding in agreement. Daniel looked into the cold eyes of Ruth and
realized that was answer she had hoped for.
The dinner passed without further
distraction, and Daniel couldn’t help feeling that this was going too slowly.
"Gentlemen, care for a
brandy?" JJ Astor asked, smiling at all the men who stood up. Daniel was
left the only male at the table.
"Are you not joining us,
Daniel?" Cal asked him, noticing that he had remained seated.
Daniel plastered on a fake smile
and looked up at his friend.
"I do not like brandy. You
know that, Cal."
The men all looked shocked, and
Daniel couldn’t help but laugh, and was quickly joined by Cal, who held a
memory of a similar occasion about seven years ago.
"Come have a smoke with us
instead," Archie said, an older man who obviously wanted to know about his
uncle’s business.
"I do not smoke. I do not
like it," Daniel supplied between laughter, which was once again increased
by the appalled look on the men’s faces. Cal remained smiling and herded the
men to the smoking room.
Daniel stopped laughing and
looked at the beautifully dressed women around him.
No one seemed to want to speak to
him, obviously startled by his outburst.
"A man who doesn’t like
brandy and cigars. I thought the world was not blessed enough," Madeline
Astor said, allowing herself to say something educated for the first time that
night.
Laughter once gain surrounded the
table, to which Daniel joined in.
"You are a unique man,"
the Countess said to him, smiling still.
"Well, I try to be
different," Daniel said, standing up from the table. His vision was partly
obscured by a long strand of hair that had slipped down.
"Well, ladies, it has been a
pleasure meeting you, but I must tend to my maid. She is seasick and I need to
make sure she is all right."
Silence fell upon the table. The
women looked appalled--all except Rose, who looked at him in interest.
"You care for such a lower
class being?" Ruth asked in her cold voice.
"Yes, ma’am, I do,"
Daniel said, not wanting to go into details.
He rushed his departure from the
dining room and grabbed some rolls from the table in case Katherine was hungry.
He ran up the Grand Staircase, nodding to a few more people on the way. He
quickly walked down to his room.
He entered to find Katherine up
and about, looking slightly ill but happy.
He placed the rolls on the table
and hugged Katherine, making sure she was all right.
After a quick bath, he retired to
his room and tried not to think about the rumors about him that he had already
begun to hear.
This trip was going to be one to
remember.