He snickered then hurried inside; he watched me lift my skirt and restore the pistol to its holster, then looked around at my room as he shut the door behind him,

“Your cabin is a mess,” he noted, “I didn’t know the new love of my life would be so trashy!”

“Well, she is,” I replied, sliding my bag underneath the bed, “Relationships require mutual understanding.”

“Trashy or not,” he remarked, “I’ve never seen a more beautiful young lady in all my life!”

“Thank you,” I replied, picking up my former dress and hurling it into the wardrobe, then turning to him “And you are quite the striking young man! Has anyone ever told you that you have feral eyes?”

“Feral?” he questioned with a grin, “No, they have not. Do feral eyes frighten you?”

“Yes,” I replied. “But, in a good way, I think. You have the gaze of a predator; if you were not so distinguished, I should be afraid to be in the same room with you!”

“I assure you,” he stated, softening his grin to a smile, “I’m a gentleman, Victoria; I would never think of harming you.”

“You were going to,” I reminded him, stepping into my ebony heels and strapping them on, then raising myself, “If I failed your inquisition, you were going to render me unconscious and hurl me from the promenade!”

“But, you didn’t fail it,” he returned, placing my arm around his, “And you returned the favor just now: you nearly shot me through the door!”

“I suppose,” I softly snickered as we approached the door to leave. “Please, be gentle with me this evening; I’m nursing dreadful injuries.”

“Depend on it,” he replied. “Depend on it.”

We joined a group at the top of the Grand Staircase and followed them down to the D Deck reception room. As we landed, Mrs. Brown was standing nearby talking with some people I had not yet met. When she saw me there, arm in arm, with the young man who berated me at lunch, her eyes widened and she approached us, casting a most confused expression our way,

“How unheard of is this,” she remarked as she drew near, “That must have been some apology you offered, young man!”

“It was, ma’am,” he concurred, “And, I must apologize to you as well; my behavior at lunch was unconscionable.”

“It certainly was,” she playfully snapped, “I expect the two of you to sit with me this evening.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I jubilantly replied, taking her hand and leaving Thomas to talk with the curious older men who gathered around him.

“Thank you so much for being so kind to me,” I said to her as we sat on a sofa a little distance from the others. “He really was remorseful when he realized the mistake he made; I do hope no one berates him for what he now regrets.”

“You have a softer heart that I would have had, my dear,” she said. “Don’t worry, love; I’ll be nice to him... for your sake.”

“Bless you, dear Mrs. Brown, bless you,” I embraced and kissed her on the cheek, then turned toward the group of men partly surrounding Thomas,

“Do you know those men?” I asked.

“I do,” she said, “They’re all friends of my husband; why do you ask, dear?”

“I was just curious; they look so stately.”

I was so relieved that she knew the men that I turned back and kissed her again before releasing her and standing to rejoin him.

“Do you enjoy poker, Thomas?” asked one of them.

“I do, indeed.” he replied.

“You will have to join us in the gentleman’s Smoke Room for a game after dinner,” said one of the other men, “On A Deck; it’s a wonderful retreat.”

“A retreat from what?” asked Thomas.

“Why, for the ladies, of course,” interjected another man, casting a humorously devious look my way. “I’m certain they can use all the time away from us that they can muster!”

“It’s alright,” I said with a laugh, “You men could use a break from us from time to time. Join them for a game, love; make some friends; there’s plenty to keep me busy.”

“Well, um, are you sure?”

“Of course, I am,” I assured, “Go with them, all boys need to run and play, no matter their age; I’m not at all offended.”

“Why Thomas,” said the man who very nearly put his foot in his mouth, “Where on Earth did you find this angel? I could only wish my wife were as kind and understanding as she!”

“I’m very fortunate,” he said, “Alright, I’ll join you.”

The group of men began raucously slapping him on his shoulders and back and vigorously shaking both his hands; they were very enthusiastic about him; presumably because he would make the youngest member of their little Titanic poker club.

As we left the group, he bent over to say something to me,

“Are you trying to get me killed?” he whispered sharply.

“It’s alright,” I gently whispered back, “Mrs. Brown knows all of them; they’re friends of her husband.”

This calmed him substantially,

“Oh,... well good!”

I took him by the hand and pulled him to a corner of the reception room devoid of other passengers and crew,

“While we’re together,” I began to explain, “We need to socialize with people we learn to be safe; if we don’t we’ll attract attention and gossip. I found you on the promenade through the gossip you made for me, remember? Consider it a portent of things to come if we don’t make friends and act as they do.”

“I’m aware of everything you just said,” he vehemently replied, leaning in close to me with a very irate expression on his face. “Just… warn me next time before you throw me to a pack of rabid… gentlemen!”

He was being dead serious with his rebuke, but I couldn’t help laughing at the way it sounded,

“I will, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he returned, taking a much less aggressive posture, “It might have helped us, even a great deal! You did good, even if I don’t like what you did; stop snickering!”

“I’m sorry,” I said after bursting into uncontrollable laughter and spraying his tie and shirt with my saliva, “’Pack of rabid gentlemen’, ha ha ha, you really got me with that one; I’m so sorry, Thomas, I couldn’t help it!”

He started laughing along with me as he took out a handkerchief and began wiping his chest with it,

“I would tell you to comport yourself like a lady,” he remarked, “But, you’d end up soiling my suit again, so what’s the point?”

“I think I’m more bohemian than you’re accustomed to,” I wearily remarked after managing to compose myself a little, “All this, first-class posturing is so silly to me; it’s such a shame that I have to imitate it.”

I gave him an involuntary dejected look beneath my smile as my laughter faded. He then gently took my hand and tucked my arm under and around his own,

“Mrs. Brown and the others are seated in the saloon,” he stated tenderly, “Let’s go join them.”

“Alright,” I said in return as he walked me out of the corner toward the saloon entrance, “I shouldn’t have laughed so hard; I’m in agony!”

“The injuries?”

“Yes.”

“Are you ever going to tell me how you got them?”

“I don’t think you would believe me.”

“You can try me later,” He stated reassuringly, “For now, a comfortable chair and delicious food will be all you need to soothe them.”

The food, as he stated, was delicious; spectacular even! And the jovial banter and conversations being bandied about at the table did much to lift my spirit. Mrs. Brown has an infectious personality, John Astor surprised us with some very witty and dry humor, and Captain Smith himself stopped by the table to see to it that everyone was having a lovely voyage.

Thomas seemed less paranoid and much more sociable than he had been at lunch, and everyone had seemed to have forgotten how rude he was before. He and Mrs. Brown struck up a long and polite conversation about the mining industry while Mrs. Astor engaged me in conversation about her trip to Egypt with her husband which segued into her reason for returning to the United States,

“We’re heading back to America to deliver our first child.” she said.

“Oh, congratulations!” I replied.

“Thank you,” said she with an expectant mother’s pride, “John and I are ecstatic! And, what of you and Thomas? I must confess that the two of you stunned us as we watched you descend to the reception room arm in arm; why, just a few hours ago the both of you looked like you would come to blows!”

“It was a misunderstanding,” I explained, “He mistook me for someone else; we made our peace on the promenade.”

“Still,” interjected her husband, “You must forgive our skepticism, Victoria; none of us would have wagered on the two of you getting together! What did he say to make you forget the incident at lunch?”

“It wasn’t anything he said, really,” I answered, “I simply felt pity for him; he was humiliated when his error became apparent to him; that was more than I needed to be set right again.”

“It could be,” said Mrs. Astor, “That yours is the strangest relationship on Titanic! My husband and I have been the subject of much controversy of late; it’s nice to know we’re not the only odd couple on this ship.”

I snickered at this, then concurred,

“You might just be right. Thomas seems mostly conventional; I am a misfit! To be honest, I’m not certain how we ended up together, but I heed the call of adventure by nature, so I want to see where the road takes us.”

“Here, here,” said Mr. Astor, lifting his glass of champagne: the others following suit, “To adventure! And to your happiness.”

It felt wonderful to be celebrated by such wealthy and affluent people,

“To yours as well, sir,” Thomas returned, lifting his own glass, “And to the rest of you fine and lovely people whose forgiveness I am indebted to.”

Dinner ended on such a lovely note that it nearly brought tears to my eyes. Many people gathered into the reception room to hear the piano and dance off what they had eaten. Mrs. Brown kissed me on the cheek, followed by Mrs. Astor and a couple other women from the table we all shared; I returned the favor and then approached Thomas to remind him of his poker invitation,

“You’d better run along, darling; the men will be expecting you soon.”

“Are you really sure?” he asked.

“Yes, go on, then,” I replied with a laugh, “Shoo! Shoo! I’ll be fine.”

“Well, alright then. I’ll see you later tonight,” he took me and kissed me on the lips again, which was just as awkward as the first kiss, yet not so awkwardly reciprocated. “See you then.”

“Alight, love,” I replied, “Have fun.”

“I will!”

He bounded up the steps to join the band of new friends he had made, leaving me in the reception room. I looked around, seeing groups of first-class passengers, clumped here and there, talking, dancing, sitting and playing odd little games together, and I started to feel the sense of the mission reasserting itself; but with the odd sense of exploration accompanying it.

I knew, however, that there were assassins and a Romanian operative on board; so I determined not to find myself alone anywhere on the ship.

“Let’s go to the stern to have a look around,” I heard one of the men say to his group of friends, “There’s time enough for a safari, and we could use the exercise!”

When they all agreed, I took my chance to approach them,

“Would you mind if I joined you?” I asked them.

“By all means, dear,” said one of the women, “You come along with us.”

I followed the group up to C Deck, where my cabin was located down a nearby corridor; the group stopped at the Enquiry office, which was closed, and talked about how often some of them used it during the day. Most of the group were past their prime, so they stopped often to admire the ship and gather their wind to continue their excursion.

I was quickly finding myself bored by the slower pace, but I was not about to separate myself from their company and risk exploring alone.

It seemed to take hours before we had walked round the whole of C Deck, and some of the group decided it was time to head back to their cabins for rest. There were five remaining who said a polite “good night” to them and continued on up to B Deck; I stuck close to them, becoming more accustomed to the slower pace by choice since I wanted to see the rest of the ship myself.

Once we landed on B Deck, we turned and headed down one of the very long corridors comprised of cabins on both sides until we emerged at the other end into what seemed to be a smaller reception room. The group decided to have a seat and rest for a bit, but as I turned left, I saw a room with greenery on its walls, and was compelled to go have a look.

As I crept to the open doors and peaked inside, I saw many round and square tables, neatly arranged; I knew instantly that I was looking into a cafe. I stepped inside; it was a long and vacant room, and I was captivated by how lovely it was!

“Cafe Parisian,” I whispered as I read the stationary that sat on the china cabinet across from the entrance, “Oh, Thomas must see this place, if he hasn’t seen it already; it’s so beautiful!”

As I walked between the tables toward the other end, the room, along with my isolation within it, gave me such ecstasy that I pirouetted a few times like a ballerina in heels! My training in ballet; insisted upon by my former parents long ago in England, gave me remarkable poise and grace, and I was experiencing such an explosion of joy at that moment that I had completely forgotten leaving the protection of the group.