Titanic

{Chapter Fourteen}

.  .  .  .  .

As she undressed for bed, Rose saw Cal standing in her doorway, reflected in the cracked mirror of her vanity. He came toward her.

Cal spoke in an unexpectedly tender voice. "I know you've been melancholy, and I don't pretend to know why."

From behind his back, he handed her a black, velvet, jewel case. She took it numbly.

"I intended to save this until the engagement gala next week. But, I thought...tonight; perhaps as a reminder of my feelings for you."

Rose slowly opened the box. Inside was the necklace...the Heart of the Ocean in all its glory. It was huge...a malevolent stone glittering with an infinity of scalpel-like inner reflections.

"My God...Cal. Is it a--"

"Diamond? Yes. Fifty-six karats, to be exact."

He took the necklace and placed it around her neck. He turned her to the mirror, standing behind her.

"It was worn by Louis the Sixteenth...and they call it Le Coeur de la Mer...the--"

"The Heart of the Ocean. Cal, it's...it's overwhelming."

He gazed at the image of the two of them in the mirror.

"It's for royalty. And we are royalty, Rose."

His fingers caressed her neck and throat. He seemed unlike himself to be disarmed by Rose's elegance and beauty. His emotion was, for the first time, unguarded.

"You know, there's nothing I couldn't give you. There's nothing I'd deny you...if you would not deny me. Open your heart to me, Rose."

Of course, his gift was only to reflect light back onto himself...to illuminate the greatness that was Caledon Hockley.

It was a cold stone. A heart of ice.

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