“Could you please help me with this?” Sarah asked and handed Henry the piece of jewelry.
“I will most gladly do so,” Henry answered with a wide smile on his face.
Just like before when he had buttoned up Sarahʼs dress, it proved a little bit difficult for him to put the necklace on as his left arm was still in the sling. Sarah needed to sit down on the bed so that he could reach her neck with both his hands. It took him a little while until he managed to close the clasp, which made her giggle because the touch of his fingertips tickled her skin. But when she was finally standing in front of him in all her beauty, he felt his breast swell with pride at the thought of being the one to be at her side when they would shortly enter the banquet hall.
“Do I look somewhat presentable?” Sarah asked him uncertainly, tugging at her dress.
“You look absolutely amazing, Sarah...” Henry breathed.
“So do you…”
Henry grinned at her. He himself wore a black tuxedo and a jacket. The latter he had merely flung around his shoulders as he could not put it on with his arm bandaged to the chest.
He offered Sarah his free arm and then led her out of the room and along the corridors towards the dinner hall where the banquet was held. When they arrived at the hall, Henry pulled the door open and they were welcomed by the brilliant, warm light of a dozen chandeliers and candles. Henry counted about a thousand people in exquisite clothes who were dining and dancing to the music of a little orchestra which was playing a lively and merry tune.
Henry spotted Oscar waving over to him from one of the tables at the other end of the room, gesturing him to come and sit beside him. Next to him were Deirdre and Shannon.
Henry led Sarah across the room, a stupid grin on his face, because her presence filled him with so much happiness and pride. And when they approached Oscarʼs table, he could gather from the broad smile on his best friendʼs face that he was thinking exactly the same as Henry and everybody else in the hall; namely that Henry and Sarah were a perfect match.
“Oh Mrs. Abbott, you look really marvelous in my sisterʼs dress! Does she not, Deirdre?” Shannon exclaimed when she caught sight of Sarah.
“She really does,” Deirdre remarked, casting Sarah a benevolent glance.
“Thank you again for lending it to me,” Sarah answered when Henry pulled the chair out for her to sit down.
“You are welcome,” Deirdre replied. “You may keep it if you like.”
“Oh, I... I... am not sure I can accept such a generous offer...” Sarah stammered.
“Of course, you can,” Deirdre answered. “I have another one which is quite similar.”
Henry noticed how Sarah appeared rather embarrassed, especially when Deirdre said she would lend her even more clothes. But ultimately Sarah accepted the offer, as she knew that she could hardly get by with the few garments she had brought in her bundle. After all, that journey would last almost two weeks.
“So, what made you decide go to America?” Henry asked the ladies when he had taken a seat at the table.
“We are following our dear father,” Shannon replied. “He went there about seven years ago.”
“You must know that our father is a businessman,” Deirdre added. “Twenty years ago he started as a small entrepreneur in Limerick, selling Irish handicraft; sheepʼs wool pullovers and handmade jewelry. At some stage, he decided to try his luck in the States, hoping to find someone to help him market his products there. And well, he succeeded. With that massive amount of Irish emigrants coming into the country, he soon came up with the idea to extend his range of goods from pullovers to all sorts of things of which he believed would be well received by his fellow countrymen and women who had come to live in America. It all began when the people who bought the pullovers asked him if he could possibly import typical Irish products which they missed. Not that they lacked anything in America, but for most of them Irish products provided some kind of memory of home, something familiar amidst a place that was so new and foreign to them.”
“Not everybody can afford these goods, though,” Shannon threw in. “Our father tries to keep the price as low as possible so that the not so well-off people can buy them as well. But that is easier said than done. The goods are pretty expensive because of the transport costs. But the costs are getting less and less with the shipping becoming much easier and faster nowadays. Some of the goods are actually part of the cargo on this vessel. They are somewhere at the bottom of the ship, next to the steerage compartments.”
“I actually feel quite sorry for the steerage class passengers,” Henry remarked. “From what Oscar told me the conditions down there must be terrible.”
“They are indeed...” Shannon said with a frown. “These people are so unfortunate. Practically all of them will end up working in factories or on the docks, or they will help build railroads, houses, and sewage systems. But well, at least they will get to America. Isnʼt that worth all the hassle? Cheerio!”
Shannon laughed merrily and raised her glass.
Henry grew certain that the two women had not noticed so far that he himself was in fact not well bred at all as they seemed to believe, but that he had a working class background and that he too would be traveling steerage class if Oscar had not bought him a ticket. Somehow he felt like a mere fake who had ended up on the shipʼs sunny upper deck out of a pure stroke of luck.
Yet again he wondered what his fate would be as soon as he set foot on American ground. With hardly any money and no noble family history, he was positive that he wouldnʼt be in a position to place great demands in terms of work. But he needed to find a proper work as soon as possible. Remembering that he had promised Sarah that she would not lack anything in her new life, he decided to do whatever he could to keep this promise; even if it meant that he too would have to work in a factory, although that wasnʼt exactly what he considered himself destined to do. But to reach his goal and keep his promise, he wouldnʼt even refrain from begging if it was at all necessary. If only they somehow made it.
The waiter arrived and handed them the menu. Out of the corner of his eye, Henry could see Sarah uncomfortably shifting in her chair as she was quickly skimming through the extensive list of delicacies, feigning interest.
Henry guessed that she dreaded the thought of having to eat something because of her disorder.
“At least try, Sarah,” he whispered into her ear.
Sarah nodded quietly and when the waiter arrived she ordered fresh salmon while Henry decided on roast duck with gravy and potatoes.
“You know, New York is actually overflowing with emigrants doing all these awful, dirty jobs,” Deirdre said as she let the waiter pour some red wine into her glass. “These people do not even come further than the docks because they do not have any money for going anywhere else. But when it comes to positions which require highly educated people, there seems to be an enormous lack according to our father.”
“That is true,” Shannon added. “Mr. Sandler, the co-owner of our fatherʼs company has been searching for a private tutor to his two little sons for weeks, hasnʼt he?”
“Indeed,” Deirdre agreed. “But you know, Shannon, I am actually quite sure it does not have anything to do with a lack of tutors but rather because simply nobody wants to do it.”
“Oh, I think you are quite right there!” Shannon remarked, turning to Henry, Sarah, and Oscar again. “These two boys must be an awful bunch of brats. Allegedly, they once attacked our dear father with cow dung when he came for a family visit. Just imagine that! I doubt that Mr. Sandler will ever find anyone to voluntarily venture into that lionʼs den!”
“Henry can do it, he is a marvelous tutor!” Sarah suddenly threw in. Henry blushed; he felt far from being a good tutor, and he definitely wouldnʼt have claimed to be marvelous.
“Oh, is he?” Deirdre said, appearing rather interested.
“He is indeed,” Sarah added excitedly. “He has the most magnificent way of dealing with... well, difficu
lt people and situations.”
Henry felt his face going red again and sheepishly lowered his gaze.
“Well, I wouldnʼt go as far as saying that my approach of dealing with certain situations is magnificent...” he mumbled.
“Oh, that is splendid, Mr. Abbott!” Shannon called out, ignoring Henryʼs remark. “You should really go and apply there. It would be good, however, if you could provide some kind of written reference.”
“I can provide the reference,” Oscar quickly said. “I am related to the family he worked for and have become witness to his abilities.”
“Oh, that is perfect then!” Deirdre said. “Shannon, we must write down Mr. Sandlerʼs address for him before we go off board.”
“Oh yes, we definitely must do that! Do remind me of it or else I will surely forget.”
“I will remind you; after all I know that you have a memory like a sieve.”
The two women laughed
Henry could hardly believe his luck that there already seemed to be a work offer looming on the horizon although he hadnʼt even arrived at his destination. He hoped that he wouldnʼt have to go begging after all.
The waiter came and served the food. While Henry fell upon his duck with a ravenous hunger, Sarah was staring at her plate for a while, then she hesitantly took her fork, began to pick tiny bits of her indeed splendid-looking fish, and nibbled at them. By doing so, she managed to eat half of the portion during the course of the dinner, but Henry knew that she only did so because she felt observed by everyone else and was afraid of any questions.
But Deirdre and Shannon werenʼt interested in Sarahʼs eating habits at all. Instead, they were engaged into a conversation with Oscar about different European culinary delights. They barely noticed when, a little bit later, Sarah suddenly jumped up from her chair—a hardly audible ʻPlease, excuse meʼ on her lips—and rushed past Henry in an obvious attempt to walk out of the room and, as Henry guessed, to the bathroom.
But she didnʼt come very far as Henry immediately reacted, threw his napkin onto the table, grabbed Sarah by the arm and shoved her over to the dance floor.
“Henry, what are you doing!?” Sarah hissed angrily. “Let me go, please, or else I will throw up on the floor.”
Henry ignored her, flung his free arm around her waist and, a mischievous smile on his lips, began to slowly spin her to the music.
“You owe me,” he whispered in her ear.
“What?” Sarah answered, still sounding slightly annoyed.
“A proper birthday dance.”
Sarah sighed.
“Can that not wait until later?” she said, pulling a tortured grimace.
“No.”
Henry kept whirling her around until she couldnʼt help but laugh a little. He felt how she gradually relaxed and at some stage she even took his hand which peered out of the sling and granted him his dance, and then another, and yet another, because he wouldnʼt let her go. Eventually, when the orchestra played a particularly slow song, Henry bent down and rubbed his nose at hers.
“Henry,” Sarah mumbled, embarrassedly, “not here... it is not appropriate...”
“I donʼt care, Sarah, if it is appropriate or not,” Henry whispered. “I do not want to hide anymore. I want everyone to see...”
And then he sealed her lips with a gentle kiss. She hesitated at first but then eagerly returned his kiss, and from the way she sucked at him, he could feel that she demanded for more. At some stage, her breathing became quite shallow and fast, and when he let go of her, she smiled sheepishly at him and blushed.
“Henry, would you mind if we left and went back to our cabin in a short while?” she asked to his surprise. “I mean... before Oscar returns...”
Henry grinned at her, happy that once again his seductive diversionary tactic seemed to have done the trick in making her stay away from the bathroom. It had not actually been his intention to make her think about making love to him. But now that she had brought it up, he would most definitely not turn her down. After all, he couldnʼt get enough of her.
He quickly grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the room, giving Oscar a sign on the way to which the latter immediately responded with a nod and a roguish grin.
Then Henry led Sarah back to their cabin.
* * *
Something happened to Sarah overnight.
She got hungry.
It all started with a pancake during breakfast the morning after the dance.
“Would the young lady prefer chocolate sauce or maple syrup with her pancake?” the waiter politely asked her.
Sarah pensively stared at the two sauce boats in his hands. Then she uttered a firm, “Both.”
And with rather greedy eyes she watched the waiter carefully pour delicious golden maple sirup on one half of her pancake, and irresistibly smelling, scrumptious chocolate sauce on the other half. She only put tiny forkfuls into her mouth, but during the course of the breakfast she managed to eat the whole pancake and even ordered an additional one—this time with cherry jam filling.
Oscar and Henry were just staring at her in wonder and exchanged secretive smiles.
“Did you enjoy your breakfast?” Oscar carefully asked when they were all going for a lengthy walk along the promenade. Sarah quietly nodded her head. Henry noticed that she appeared a little fidgety and that her eyes kept going in search of a bathroom door. But whenever one came in sight, she just cast a quick look at it and then walked past it determinedly.
For lunch, Sarah had four ham and cheese sandwiches. Again it took her quite a while until she had eaten them all, but everything eventually found its way down her stomach and—to Oscarʼs and Henryʼs utter relief—remained there until the evening when they headed for dinner.
“You know what I am thinking?” Oscar said to Henry when they were watching Sarah rather fanatically gulp down a big portion of fresh salmon with potatoes and parsley.
“...that for certain other people, apart from Sarah, this way of permanently stuffing oneself is rather unhealthy,” Henry replied, rubbing his stomach, which was in the process of digesting an extremely fat piece of roast boar.
“Exactly.” Oscar let out a sigh and a tiny burp. “I bet that when I get off this ship, I will suffer from Cardiomyoliposis.”
Sarah didnʼt seem to hear them. Instead, she ordered a second helping of potatoes.
On the third day, Sarah did not only manage two eat almost twice as much as on the previous day and at double speed, she also demanded some snacks in between, consisting of a slice of apple pie and a portion of plum pudding.
On the fourth day, Henry and Oscar found themselves confronted with a major problem as Sarah threatened to empty the whole buffet. The other travellers already began to exchange indignant glances at the many plates she carried away. At some stage, Oscar decided to ask Deirdre and Shannon to go and get extra helpings, pretending that it was for themselves. Then, back at the table, they were to secretly shove the plates over to Sarah.
“The salty air stimulates the appetite, doesnʼt it?” Shannon remarked in amusement.
“I am pregnant,” Sarah answered flatly as she was working her way through a crazy mixture of roast chicken, Austrian dumplings, several pieces of fruit and a chocolate blancmange.
Henry and Oscar were immensely relieved and noticed with delight that Sarah grew stronger and merrier every day. Once Oscar was washing his socks in the small wash basin of their room while Henry and Sarah went for a walk on deck. And when they returned, Oscar had neatly hung the socks on a rope which he had stretched across the room and tied to the posts of the two bunk beds. At the sight of the socks, Sarah burst out with uncontrollable laughter. She laughed so much that tears filled her eyes. Henry laughed as well although it was not only because of Oscarʼs socks but rather because he was glad to see that Sarah was so carefree and happy. He found that her joyfulness made her even more attractive, and he felt himself falling in love with her all over again.
While Oscar spent th
e best part of the journey lingering in the vicinity of Deirdre and Shannon, Henry and Sarah stayed in bed, cuddling up and gently making love to each other. They only ever left the cabin for meal times and occasional walks on deck when the weather was nice.
On the tenth day of their journey, the temperatures suddenly dropped, however, and it got rather cold.
“I wonder why the ship is going so slow,” Henry said as he and Oscar were trying to warm themselves up with some drinks at the bar while Sarah was in the cabin, getting dressed for the night.
Oscar shrugged his shoulders when an elderly man, who had extremely long sideburns and who wore a monocle, addressed them without being asked. Accompanied by his wife, he had been sitting next to them all evening, quietly eavesdropping on their conversation.
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