Harold Lowe has managed to claw his way up the career ladder of the British merchant marines, rising from a ship's boy to a master mariner with one of the world's elite passenger lines. Along the way, he's learned to master not only his craft, but...
Well, here it is - the last chapter of W&S. There's some smut in the middle, if you're looking to avoid the M sections. But stick around for the end - hopefully I've made it worth the wait. And once again, THANK YOU to all who had read my little book!
This chapter - and the whole story, really - is dedicated to my dearest friend, Rosie.
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Harry left, but Corrine stayed in Washington. She had a steady job, she made a decent wage, and the work wasn't too taxing. Besides, she had grown quite fond of that 'upstart country', as Harry had so derisively called America while on the Carpathia. She had silently disagreed with him then as now, and, having nowhere else to be, and not wanting to return to either her father's house or her uncle's house now that she was a woman grown, she decided to stay for a time.
She followed the British inquiry intently, although by this time the Titanic had fallen from front-page news in America, and it was more difficult to find adequate coverage of the developments overseas. Still, she went out of her way to search out information - and Harry's constant letters helped keep her updated as well. To her immense relief, the Titanic's officers were not held culpable for the disaster. Like the American inquiry, the British one found that a combination of excessive speed and too few lifeboats were responsible for the tremendous loss of life, but stopped short of accusing the officers themselves of negligence. The good news meant that Harry was free to continue his career. As promised, he was shipped off to the Australian route after the inquiry ended, a voyage that took several months. And also as promised... she waited for him.
She moved to a boarding house closer to the Hotel Continental, but she still saw Katie as frequently as she could, mostly on Sundays at Mass, when Katie had the mornings off. But she kept to herself for the most part, and spent the majority of her time writing letters. She wrote to her father and uncle, of course, assuring them that she was doing well in America and telling them all about the country and its people. She wrote frequently to Kate, who was still living in New York and now engaged to Daniel Buckley, as well as to Charles Lightoller, who had returned to his beloved Sylvia at last but was now again at sea. She maintained a pleasant back and forth correspondence with both Rene Harris and May Futrelle. She wrote brief but heartfelt letters to every member of lifeboat 14's rescue crew, who had plucked her from the collapsible, as well as to Steward Hart. Olaus Abelseth also received a warm letter of appreciation. She sent an impassioned, emotional letter to Ada Murdoch, detailing the last moments of her husband's life, and expressing her unending admiration and gratitude for his bravery. She even wrote to Thomas's mother, to tell her that her son died bravely, helping others. A lie was the least she could do to ease a family's grief.
So she stayed, and she wrote, and each night after she finished her letter to Harry, she took out a blank book that she had bought as a journal, and she wrote some more, this time about her life with him. From their chance meeting that first day at Southampton, she described their stolen moments on Titanic, the terrifying evacuation, their separation and her near death, the joy and tension of the Carpathia, and the passionate reconciliation during the American inquiry. She recorded it all, little by little filling the small book. It was cathartic, but more than that, it allowed her to relive and savor every detail, however painful. It was their story, and it needed to be told, to be remembered.
