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...
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Corrine woke up the next morning with a smile on her lips. She had been dreaming about Officer Lowe, and although she couldn't remember the details, she knew it had been pleasant. She sighed and snuggled down deeper into the covers, clinging to the gossamer fragments of the dream and wishing she could fall back asleep so that she could see him again.
Why couldn't she stop thinking about that man? She had never been so affected by someone before - and it wasn't like he was the first male she had ever laid eyes on, either. She interacted with men of all ages and social classes at the store, and yet not one of them had made any sort of impression on her heart; nor had any of the lads back home in Ireland appealed to her. She didn't think the anticipation of her journey had caused her to over-interpret a normally banal interaction, either. After all, she had met two other men that day – the young officer who had checked her ticket and the man with the camera, Mr. Browne – and although both had been kind, and treated her well, neither had elicited the butterflies in her stomach that Lowe had. Maybe it was his tempestuous and forthright attitude that had captivated her. She wouldn't be the first girl to fall for a temperamental lout, she thought wryly. And yet, she didn't think he was boorish at all... he had been so polite, almost... gentle... with her yesterday, despite his obvious anger and frustration at the situation he'd been facing. No, it was more than that; in him she had sensed a kindred spirit - and, if she had not been mistaken, he had recognized the immediate bond between them as well. Whatever the cause, and whether it was real or just her imagination taking flight, he had disrupted her normally staid and placid life - and she relished the intrusion of his presence on her thoughts.
But she couldn't afford to linger in bed and dwell on him for long. Her best friends, Katie Walsh and Kate Connor, were set to board today at Queenstown, and she wanted to be ready and waiting when they arrived.
The three of them had grown up together, romping around the picturesque town of Clonakilty and the surrounding countryside as children and then strolling it sedately as they matured into young lasses. It had been a little over two years since she had moved to Southampton, and in that time, she had only seen them once, on a brief return visit to say goodbye to her father this past spring. But she had stayed in touch with both of them through frequent letters, and she never forgot their childhood discussions about moving to America someday. They had spent many afternoons dreaming together of grand adventures, new places, and unlimited opportunities. They had giggled at possibly catching the eyes of rich men and becoming fancy ladies. And although her dreams and expectations had matured since that time, her desire to start a new life in a faraway place had never waned.
So when she had finally set aside enough money for her ticket late last year, she had written them and asked if they would accompany her. She received two enthusiastic affirmations. Katie's passage was being sponsored by her cousin, who worked as a ladies' maid to a senator's wife in Washington, America's capital. Kate's family was fortunately more well-off than Corrine's - likely, she thought cynically, because her father didn't drink away his wages every weekend - and was able to pay for her ticket out of their own pocket. Corrine had spent a few precious shillings of the funds she had put away for her journey on a telegram last week, begging them to hurry and buy tickets on Titanic so that they would be sailing and rooming together. The coal strike had made ship departures uncertain for weeks, but now that things were finally being settled, she wanted to ensure that the steerage tickets wouldn't be sold out before they could get to the agent's office. To her relief, everything worked smoothly, and they were set to be berthmates, along with another girl, Nora Brennan, a friend of Kate's who was making the voyage with them. Corrine didn't know Nora that well. Her father was the constable, and he had expressly forbidden his Nora from associating with the town hooligan's daughter. She wondered drily what her own father had to say when he found out she was sailing with the daughter of the man who had become his nemesis.
