Titanic- The Curse

Never-ending Funerals.

Ruth and I loved New Orleans, we began making solid friendships, with people we only just met. The pool was now finished, we paid the men and our parties continued. We got word my sister Geraldine was sick, she had consumption like our mother and from Roberts letter, she didn't have long to live. We heard that the Golds moved back to Belfast, they sold the house in New York, Genevieve was needing to be near Henry's grave, she missed him, I too missed him. Ruth began drinking heavily, to the point I had to get her some help. The doctor put Ruth on a medication that helped, she became very depressed, the alcohol wasn't helping, we even stopped having our parties until Ruth got herself under control. The life we dreamed of was turning into a nightmare, Ruth too was constantly dreaming of the sinking, the doctor gave me no other choice, he wanted to admit her to hospital, it was devastating having her out of the house. I love her so much, but her health was more important. I knew this was the curse, then it hit me. On the ship, Clarissa and I met a woman, she told us of troubles ahead for me. I never bought into that life. It wasn't that I didn't believe her, it was the fact she told Clarissa she would marry an older man, then she met Mr Strauss, but Mr Strauss was also married, but Clarissa was still a single woman.

After Ruth came out of hospital, we had an invitation to a wedding, Clarissa was marrying a man three times her age, the woman on the ship was right. The man was extremely rich, we went and had clothes commissioned for Clarissa's wedding. Clarissa decided to marry her new beau Michael in New Orleans, she knew she would be guaranteed the weather. Ruth and I found the church that would wed them, we offered our home as a reception area. Agatha came down alone, she looked at our home and she gave the instructions on how it should look, we introduced Agatha to the minister that was to perform the ceremony. Agatha decided to travel home, but she picked an atrocious day, the weather changed and her coach toppled killing the horses, Agatha was killed instantly, we knew the Titanic wasn't about to let us go quietly. It was like the ship had an iron tight grip on us. We needed to get rid of that ships influence on us once and for all. We didn't know how to do it. Then it dawned on me, I had heard stories as a child about the witches and witchcraft in New Orleans, we needed to find a witch to try and cleanse us. We couldn't allow the people around us to keep dying, we had to do something otherwise our lives wouldn't be worth living. We decided to take a walk into town, we came across a woman that knew us, she knew we were looking for her. The woman named Phyllis told us to heal, we needed to take a boat near the wreck, bathe in the water to forgive the captain for plunging us and the others into the ice cold sea. We needed to find a seafarer that was willing to take us out that far. Phyllis assured us she would find the person, that it could take some time but she is confident that she would find them.

The day after was to be the wedding of Clarissa, even though her mother died and they were extremely close, Clarissa wanted to marry her new beau Michael as soon as possible. Agatha didn't write a will, she would be destitute otherwise. Clarissa came down the night before, she slept in our house, Michael and his family stayed in a hotel. The church was full, it had Clarissa's friends, Michaels friends and their families. The reception was held in our home, as soon as the event was ending, Michael, Clarissa's new husband began having chest pains, he fell down and hit his head on a marble table in the hallway. Clarissa ran screaming to her husband, she tried in vain to wake him up. Michael didn't wake up, a doctor that was invited, checked him over and he unfortunately died. The room was in shock, Clarissa was beside herself. Ruth and I looked at each other, we both thought the exact same thing, we didn't discuss what we thought until the entire wedding party left and the doctors take Michaels body from our home. We knew that everyone that survived that night will be facing some kind of bad luck. I don't believe any of us were to survive, but fortunately we did. We kept Clarissa with us until Michaels body was ready to be buried. Clarissa was in a very fragile state, she had just lost her mother, now her new husband, she was widowed on her wedding day. The doctor that was there sedated Clarissa for a few days, she just slept, sipped water and cried. We had to convince her to get ready to bury her husband. Ruth and I had her family send her a mourning dress, the minister that officiated over their wedding came to see her. The minister encouraged her to get up and take the reins of her husbands funeral, he also told her what she was set to gain in the weeks after the funeral. Michael had wrote his will a few weeks before he died, he made his new wife the sole beneficiary of the estate. Michael had been married before, he had children and they had a separate will, they had their own share, but the vast majority of his wealth would go to Clarissa. We knew that Michaels children would disagree with what their father had done in the weeks before his death. I approached the minister that oversaw the wedding, I told him to speak with his children, I didn't want my friend Clarissa to deal with gluttonous children.

Ruth and I kept Clarissa at our home for several weeks, she wore her mourning dress for several weeks, then she decided she had, had enough. The stepchildren didn't bother Clarissa anymore, then I soon got word that the Golds had been killed in a coach crash in Belfast. Mrs Gold had just exited the coach, her dress got stuck under a wheel and a runaway coach and horses slammed into theirs. I was devastated, but this in my selfish view would stop them from ever questioning me again.We never attended the funeral, life at this moment seemed like a never ending funeral. We decided that another across the Atlantic on a ship again. Was this down to me? How I faked a marriage? Ruth told me that it definitely wasn't that, it was the curse of the ship. Ruth and I decided for a while not to hold any gatherings. We spent our alone time together, we watched as Clarissa caroused New Orleans looking for a lover, it seemed she was a very sexual woman. Clarissa brought home this young woman, she introduced her to us as a new maid. We knew there was more to it, she knew Ruth and I shared a bed. Clarissa began asking us questions on how to truly please a woman, we told her how and asked her why? Clarissa admitted she finally found the love of her life. The great thing about our house being so large, was the fact they could make love without someone sounding like a cat being strangled. I always believed that to be Clarissa. I didn't want our house to deemed as a den of debauchery, I began to look for another house to hold our soirées in. We got a letter from Ireland, Belfast to be precise, it was from a lawyer, Mr Gold never got the chance to change his will, I was a beneficiary. I sent my share to my account in New York, I was now a multimillionaire. I did feel I gained the wealth wrongfully, but at the same time, I wanted to set up a boarding house for people like Ruth and I. Although we were in love, it was deemed wrong, in a lot of places it was a criminal offence. Women and men needed a safe space. I found a house near the Bayou, it was secluded and people could do as they pleased in relative security.