A rumble of approval rolled through the room as the reporters crowded in to learn more about the gentleman survivor with the very generous donation.
While Rupert gave interviews, James was busy making the arrangements to slip the Willows family out of New York.
The train ride from New York to Winnipeg seemed endless. They all wanted to be home to put the disaster behind them. Maisie, ever professional, tended to the Willows family in the private rail car. The mood was deeply subdued as each receded into personal thoughts of their ordeal. Even Rupert found little to say. Emma, pale and weak with grief, remained incapable of conversation. Beth hardly allowed her daughter out of her sight and sat quietly with her, offering her biscuits and tea. There was little that Emma would accept beyond the comfort of her mother’s company.
Maisie, sitting alone in the small kitchen of the private rail car, had plenty of time to contemplate the imminent changes in her life. She prepared herself to be fired. Nothing had been said as yet, but she considered the termination of her employment to be inevitable. Her secret exposed, she expected that Mr. Willows had sent word ahead to Mr. Chadwick to prepare to rid Ravenscraig of the Jewess. She was convinced she would return to find her belongings packed and ready at the door along with her final pay packet. Well, so be it. She had spent almost twelve years with the Willows family, and it was high time she turned her attention to her future.
She wished that Isaac would have been able to be on the same train with her for the ride home, but the newspaper had asked him to stay in New York. The American government had ordered an inquiry into the Titanic sinking, and Isaac was assigned to cover it.
Maisie put her mind on her future. The time had come for her to apply for university. She had saved enough money to pay for two years of school, and she was sure that if she ran short of funding, she could borrow money from her Uncle Zev. In fact, she knew he would insist on paying for her education if she would allow him.
If she wasn’t accepted, she would try for nursing college and work her way up through whatever opportunities she could find for herself. She seized upon the plan and started imagining her life after Ravenscraig. She was twenty-six years old. It was also time she started paying more attention to the young men Ziporah had been inviting over to the Zigman home to meet her. Bless her heart. Ziporah’s solid marriage to Max had fueled intensity in her quest to find a proper husband for Maisie.
Driven by her fierce independence, Maisie’s immediate concern was steady employment. She would have a few months to work before the fall semester started, so she started listing the places that she thought might hire her. She would be unlikely to find work as a servant in the upper class homes once the gossips picked up the news of her firing. She considered working as a telephone operator, or in a factory. The factory would probably pay better, she thought, and started writing down names of businesses.
The train was just about to pull into Union Station in Toronto, where there would be a two-hour stop. Maisie decided she would stretch her legs and treat herself to coffee and cake. She was alive and well, and it was important to count her blessings. Having come through the terror of that awful night, she knew that anything was possible. Anything could be achieved as long as there was breath in her body and belief in her soul.
“Maisie! Wait!”
She heard her name being called out over the noise of the station and saw James emerge from the crowd. He was striding briskly toward her.
“May I speak with you, Maisie? It’s a matter of some importance, and I would like a private word with you.”
Dread filled her. She hadn’t counted on having to hear the news of her termination before their return to Winnipeg.
James guided her over to a café next to the station and ordered lunch. She answered his polite questions about the details of their travels, both of them carefully avoiding any discussion about Titanic.
The waiter arrived with dessert as James checked his watch. He had much to discuss. With pie and coffee before them, he looked up and smiled at Maisie. She smiled warily back at him. He saw her as a woman of remarkable resilience. The color had returned to her cheeks, and she seemed to have put some distance between herself and the horrible night of the shipwreck.
“I enjoyed getting to know your cousin, Isaac,” James said. “He is terrifically smart in the way he goes after information and was very helpful in getting us to the right place when the Carpathia came in.”
“I couldn’t believe he was there,” she said in agreement. “I’m sorry he couldn’t be traveling home with us, but I’m sure he counts himself very fortunate to be writing about the inquiry. I’m happy none of us was delayed by being called to testify.”
James took a deep breath. “Maisie, I told you that I have something important I wish to tell you.” The serious look on his face took the steam out of her.
“Oh,” she said, bracing herself for the announcement.
“I can’t imagine the strength you must possess in order to be as level headed and as capable as you are. There is a certain quality of indestructibility to your character, Maisie.”
She shook her head with a quiet laugh. “Well, you don’t know me very well.” She worked the napkin in her fingers.
“But, you know that’s not true, Maisie. I do know you very well. I watched you throughout my mother’s illness, and I saw the strength and instinct you have. I was overcome with fear, but you managed to ease me out of it. You always find a way to move forward. From your example I learned that when all of the options before you are horrible, choose the one that is least horrible and get on with it. That’s what you did with my mother’s care and I will never forget that, Maisie. You taught me to be a better doctor.”
Maisie was stunned. She opened her mouth to respond but he put a hand up to stop her.
“Maisie, let me say this, please. I also know that through these recent days, my life has been shaken to the very core. I don’t wish to sound trite or affected, in the aftermath of the terror that you have been through, but this colossal disaster has changed all of us forever. And I have to say I have come to the humbling realization that I need to live better, to do things that have meaning. Life is not to be squandered, and I see now that I have been stuck in a kind of life-sapping muck of my own choosing for just too long.
“I’ve decided to move my practice to Winnipeg. This is what I wanted to speak to you about.”
Maisie was completely floored. “Your practice? I thought you asked me to lunch to sack me.”
“To sack you? What on Earth are you saying?”
“It’s obvious that will happen. Now that everyone knows that I am Jewish, I am most certainly going to be fired from Ravenscraig. I thought you were sent to deliver the message.”
James tightened with irritation. “Maisie, dear God. Listen to me. I am not here to ‘sack’ you. Furthermore, no one ‘sends’ me to do anything. I have no idea what my father intends to do at Ravenscraig, and frankly, I don’t care.”
Maisie was instantly flustered. “Oh, dear. Please forgive me. I do have a way of putting my foot in my mouth.”
“Maisie, I want to set up my medical practice on Selkirk Avenue, right in the heart of the foreign quarter.”
Maisie stopped and caught her breath. “Why, Dr. Willows, this is wonderful news! There is such great need.”
Heartened by her reaction, he continued on. “Here’s the thing of it. I need another doctor to work with me who understands the area. The problems, the particular kind of medical care that is of greatest need. I need someone who is trusted by the people who live there.”
“Well, I think that might be a bit difficult to find. Are you looking for me to suggest candidates? I really don’t …”
“No, no. I know the candidate,” James answered. “It’s a question of convincing her to do it.”
“Her? You are going to ask Dr. Mary Crawford to join your practice?” Maisie was truly impressed that he would hire a woman.
“No,” he
said slowly.
“Dr. Amelia Yeomans?”
“No, this doctor’s name would be Maisie.”
“Me?” Maisie laughed out loud, completely caught off guard. “Well, I don’t know what to say. But perhaps we could start with the fact that I am not licensed, and that I would need to go to university to become qualified.”
“Yes, but you will be a doctor as soon as you have finished medical school. Maisie, please, listen to me. You were born to be a doctor. I would be deeply honored if you would allow me to pay for your education. I would also like to introduce you to the dean of the medical school. I do believe that I can make a strong case for your acceptance, based on your knowledge and experience.”
Maisie’s mind flew to the possibilities of her future. “Well, my heavens, this is nothing I ever would have dreamed to hear today, Dr. Willows. Do you really think there is a chance I would be accepted?”
“I do. I think it safe to say that fate has brought you an unusual opening. The whole world is talking about the Titanic. It’s crass, but at the very least, the medical school would probably like to brag about having a Titanic survivor among its students. I realize that sounds absolutely dreadful, but I know these people.”
“And the matter of my Jewish heritage, Dr. Willows?”
“It depends who is serving on the acceptance committee,” he answered. “I have some sway with a few of the members. The school has allowed a few Jewish men into the faculty of medicine. I can tell you honestly that every single one of them is an outstanding student.”
“Dr. Willows …”
“Please, Maisie. It would please me greatly if you called me James.”
Her cheeks flamed and her heart skipped a beat. “Very well, James,” she answered shyly. “I really must ask, and I don’t wish to offend but, what about you? Does it not cause you concern that I am Jewish?”
He stopped and stared at her. A flurry of emotions ran through him as he considered for a moment what his father would have to say. Finally he spoke.
“Maisie, this is a complicated business. I don’t share my father’s prejudice. But I do admit that I have a lot to learn and, indeed, a great deal to think about. I would hope you would help me learn about the customs of your people. But, no, I can tell you, honestly, that it does not concern me that you are Jewish. As a medical practitioner in the North End, it would be a decided advantage. You speak the language. You understand the culture. You know the medical needs of this population. This is what I know, what I see. I can think of no person I would rather work alongside than you.”
Maisie could find no words to express what she was feeling. She was reeling from his openness and quite stunned by his words. She looked into his eyes and nodded.
“This is so wonderful of you. I really am speechless.”
James smiled and continued. “Maisie, this next request is most important to me. I would like to meet your family. I would like to make a proper introduction to the people you hold dear, so that I may proceed as a gentleman and fully state my intentions.”
“Oh, I’m sure they would be pleased to meet you, and they will be very happy to have me working with you. This, I can assure you.”
He stopped and regarded the amazing woman before him. He ached to reach out to touch her, but felt it best to be cautious. He chose his words carefully.
“There is more to it than that. I have a confession to make. I think of you a great deal. Not just as one professional to another but in a way that makes my heart pound when I see you.”
“Oh, dear!” She drew back, feeling the crushing awkwardness of his words.
“Yes, I know it is shocking, and you have already turned me down some years ago.”
“But you are married!” Maisie stammered. “I am afraid I can’t do what you ask.”
Now, it was James who was embarrassed. “Oh, my. You don’t know my news! Priscilla divorced me shortly after Christmas. She’s already remarried and moved to Chicago. Apparently there was a lot going on in her life that I didn’t know about.”
“Divorced?” She worked to absorb his words.
“Yes. Our marriage failed, largely because of me. Priscilla and I really had nothing in common, and it was a mistake for us to have married in the first place. I deserved to have her leave me, and I wish her happiness. I was embarrassed and didn’t tell anyone in the family until I saw my parents in New York. I’m such an idiot to have assumed you knew. Oh, dear God. I am babbling.”
Maisie’s cheeks felt hot. She hoped that if this were a dream that she would stay asleep long enough to enjoy it for at least a few minutes more.
James watched her expression and regained his composure. He took both of her hands in his. “What I am asking is if you would allow me to court you properly, Miss Maisie Rosedale. I would like to earn your trust, and if it is at all possible, your affection. I think it only right that I meet your family and discuss the matter with your Uncle Zev. You don’t have to answer this minute, but you will think about it, won’t you?”
Maisie’s eyes filled with tears. She hesitated, but formed his name carefully before she spoke. “James,” she smiled. “I don’t have to think. I already know. I feel as if my life is beginning all over again. I say, yes, and thank you. My Uncle Zev will find you very impressive, as do I.”
Chapter Fifty-Seven
After the Titanic
April 20, 1913
Everything in Rupert’s complicated life came to be divided into just two time periods: before the Titanic and after the Titanic.
On returning home, due to the immediate public fascination with the tragedy, and outpouring of sympathy for the victims, it seemed that Rupert’s survivor status was going to rocket him to international celebrity.
Stunned by grief and perhaps by guilt, the majority of the seven hundred survivors seemed extremely reluctant to speak about their experiences. Rupert, however, played his experience to his advantage and very carefully placed his story among those listeners he thought would be most inclined to see him as something of a hero.
Generally, he told his tale only to very small audiences. Never would he consider accepting an invitation to address a formal gathering, no matter how tempting, for fear of being seen to be vulgar, or worse, seeking glory. No. It was far more effective to let the gossips broadcast his tale through the community in hushed tones over cups of tea and glasses of sherry.
In his discreet talks, Rupert told an incredible story that never failed to keep his audience enthralled. He explained how he had helped Captain Smith and the crew to load women and children into the lifeboats, working furiously to get as many passengers to safety as possible. With the boats all gone, and the bow dipped into the sea, he described how he had scrambled to grab onto the exterior rail on the fantail deck.
“The rail I was clinging to was at the back of the ship, at the extreme end of the after deck. The deck was pulled straight up from the water against the weight of the front of the ship. It shuddered and shrieked in the most terrifying manner as it lurched skyward to an upright position, absolutely perpendicular to the water surface, all the while dragged by the weight of the bow section, which was fighting to break the ship apart.
“There I was, dangling from the rail like a ragdoll as the leviathan stopped and hung motionless for an unworldly moment, when it finally came to rest at its peak, before plunging violently into the black ocean below, with me, now desperately fastened to the rail, clinging for dear life as I rode the wreckage down to the sea.”
Rupert would pause at this moment to enjoy the gasp he could expect to hear and would wait until someone spoke to urge him on with his story. He would then tell how he jumped free at the very second before he would have been dragged under the waves to the bottom of the ocean.
“The breath went out of me as I hit that freezing water, and I was instantly submerged by the weight of my buffalo coat soaking up water. I struggled madly to rid myself of the coat so that I could swim to the surface and was left to beat wild
ly against the water. I swam with all of my might until I was finally able to lift myself into a lifeboat with barely my shirt left to protect me against the cold.”
He survived, he told his audience, by rowing non-stop through the night to keep warm, not even feeling the blisters on his hands in the numbing cold of the frigid air.
Rupert would tell the story quietly and deliberately. In parts, he slowed the telling of it to appear reluctant, stopping to pull out his handkerchief. He would touch it to his lips and cough softly into it while his listeners would shake their heads and hope with fervor that he would have more to tell.
Very occasionally, and only if there were women present, he would speak of how he encouraged the others in his lifeboat to sing to keep their spirits up and he would start to sing in a low voice. Usually he liked to sing Danny Boy and watch the women weep into their handkerchiefs as his voice strengthened into the phrase “the pipes, the pipes are calling.” Only once did he attempt to sing Amazing Grace in one of his Titanic talks. He caught sight of Mrs. Anderson rolling her eyes as she turned away, and he never sang it again. Danny Boy always evoked the correct response.
Inevitably, Rupert would wind up his talk with an analysis of the numbers of the survivors, always including how greatly fortunate it was that three-quarters of the women and more than half of the children were saved. Then he would say how lucky he was that he did not perish, as eighty percent of the men on board the ship had been lost.
“Only seven hundred survivors,” he would shake his head again. He was amazed, he would tell them, as he wondered aloud what purpose he was destined to serve for having been spared.
It was an exceptionally powerful performance, and for a time Rupert enjoyed the feeling of being greatly popular.
This golden moment, however, was brief. Three weeks to be exact. When Rupert’s dazzling light of fame went out, it went not slowly, as the gradual dimming of the long summer evening on the prairie, but instantly, as the tiny flame on a match extinguished with a puff of breath.
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