My Story: R.M.S Titanic [Completed]

15: A Necklace

Mrs. Freeman and the Astors seemed to get along more than I thought that they would. And they treated me with more respect than I thought that they would. Maybe my father was wrong when he called the whole first class snobs.

"Mae use to just sit at the dinner table when no one was suppose to be there and act like she is the host of a large dinner party and her husband is close by talking to the men," Mrs. Freeman told the company. The trio laughed as Scott squeezed my hand.

"Well, I never thought that I would have the funds to be the host of my own dinner party so I pretended that I could be," I explained. Scott smiled at me.

"Now, you can host as many parties as you wish. I don't care what type of dinners you want to throw," Scott said.

"I better be invited in to the wedding or I'll have to beat you," Mrs. Freeman said. I laughed.

"Well, you will have to come to America. All four of us are going on the Titanic on the 10th," I told her. She looked between the four of us.

"You younger generation going on these magical new constructions. Titanic is the new unsinkable ship. Soon ships across the globe will be better built by taking the Titanic's model," Mrs. Freeman said as she took a sip of her tea.

"And it's the ship of dreams. People from around the world are coming aboard to sail on the unsinkable ship," Maddie said.

"And it's suppose to be the most luxurious cruise line in the world," I commented.

"Excuse me ladies, but as I talked to Mae about earlier, the Titanic is 52,310 tons of pure iron which means that it can be sunk and I can only assume that one day it will be sunk and committed to the ocean," Scott said.

"Really, it is the design that is causing Mr. Joseph Bruce Ismay to say that the ship is unsinkable. Water would need to fill five lower compartments in order to sink and that is nearly impossible," John said.

"As near as it may be to impossible, there is a slight risk that may still be involved," Scott said. I watched John as he nodded and smiled.

"Men like you and me, Scott, are men that keep humanity alive," John said.

"Actually, Mae figured out how many souls will be lost if the ship does sink," Scott said. Mrs. Freeman smiled at me.

"Go on dear. My husband would be so proud of you," Mrs. Freeman said. I smiled. Mr. Freeman gave me my education of reading, writing, and mathematics and no matter where we went he made me do math to figure out how much of something would occur.

"Well, there is twenty lifeboats on board that can accommodate 65 souls each which is enough for 1,178 souls. Titanic can carry about 3,327 souls meaning if the ship is to sink 2,149 souls will be lost in the ocean," I told the group. Everyone was silent for a moment.

"But the likelihood of the Titanic sink is low so none of us have anything to worry about anything like sinking or lost souls," Maddie said ever so confident. I smiled.

"Of course. Ships sinking is as rare as a divorce announcement," I said. Maddie laughed and I looked at Scott.

"Once again, our women prove that they have heads," Scott said.

"Mae, darling, it's a good thing that you stopped by. I was about to send this to your Paris address for your birthday," Mrs. Freeman said as she called the maid over. "Go get the package on my vanity."

"I tell you every year that you can't keep giving me gifts, Mrs. Freeman," I said as the maid went to Mrs. Freeman's room.

"I insist. This is something that I would never trust my own children with because they see everything at face value," Mrs. Freeman said as the maid returned with the package. She handed it to me and I untied the string. Inside the box, there was a beautiful necklace that I had seen Mrs. Freeman wear everyday while I was growing up. It was a beautifully simple diamond on a silver chain that sparkled when sunlight hit it.

"Mrs. Freeman," I breathed.

"You deserve it my dear. I hope that your life with Mr. Sire is pleasant and one full of life," she said as I twisted the diamond only to have the light bounce off the diamond.

"Scott can you help me put this on?" I asked. He stood and walked behind me to help me put on the necklace.

"That is a beautiful necklace," Maddie said as Scott hooked the latch and his fingers travelled to the diamond.

"I hope that our children will be worthy enough to wear this necklace," Scott said as the diamond caught the sunlight again.  I smiled at him and he sat back down next to me.

***

We spent another hour at Mrs. Freeman's before we took our leave. Scott and I promised to invite her to the wedding and Maddie and John promised to visit on their next trip to Europe. We continued on our way and I couldn't stop touching the necklace. It was the nicest thing that I ever wanted and then it was on my neck.

We went everywhere around London, which I think really tired out Maddie who admitted to me that she was five months pregnant with John's child. John and Scott ended up talking business the whole time and Maddie kept gossiping on all the ladies that she knew. I was just happy to be walking the streets of London that I knew that I didn't want to come back to.