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April 20, 1912
The Waldorf Astoria
New York
Kate Royston
Entering the hearing room at the Waldorf Astoria, Kate was suddenly self-conscious. It had been many months since she had worn such colorful clothing. She had become accustomed to the anonymity of her gray governess dress and the feeling that she could blend in anywhere as a governess or a lady’s maid, but now she wore a walking skirt of fine bright blue wool, a high-necked lace blouse, and a fitted navy-blue jacket. Her hair was curled and pinned beneath a broad-brimmed hat, and she even wore a pearl brooch at her throat. The clothes were modest by the standards her mother had set as fashionable, but they were, nonetheless, very fine clothes, and they fit her well, considering that they were not made to measure but hastily purchased.
Last night, she had been reluctant to leave the senator’s suite at the Waldorf Astoria. Sparks of excitement and urgency had seemed to crackle through the air around the makeshift desk where the Marconi messages had lain in a tumbled heap. She had been torn between listening to the calm certainty of Danny McSorley’s explanations and the gruff determination of Sheriff Bayliss’s threats against the captain of the Californian. Wrapped in a soft blanket and warmed by several glasses of brandy, she had felt as though she had been watching history being made. The world would read about this tomorrow, but last night, she had already been the possessor of secrets that would have to be teased from reluctant witnesses.
Unfortunately, the senator had been far too much a gentleman to allow her to remain in his suite after a suitable escort had been found to take her to Eva Trentham’s house, and so she had been driven through the deserted, rain-soaked streets and been delivered into the hands of Bridie and Eva.
Despite the excitement of the night before and the whirl of her own excited thoughts, she had somehow managed to fall so soundly asleep that Bridie had to shake her awake.
“Dressmaker,” Bridie said impatiently, pulling back the covers. “Herself wants you smartly dressed. It will be ready-made clothes—no time for anything bespoke—but there’ll be something for you in a city this size and with a purse as heavy as Mrs. Trentham’s, and there’s a whole bevy of dressmakers waiting downstairs for you.”
As soon as Kate was dressed to Eva’s satisfaction, a footman arrived to convey Eva first to a motor vehicle and then through the front doors of the Waldorf Astoria. After that, Kate was given the task of pushing Eva’s wheelchair, as Bridie had been left behind.
Kate paused to admire the lobby, which she had only glimpsed the night before, but Eva had no time to waste.
“Just push,” she said impatiently. “I want to be in the front row of the meeting room. We’ve already missed the morning session while I found you something to wear.”
“If you sit there, other people won’t be able to see around you,” Kate commented as she studied the room.
“Not my problem,” Eva said. “Here. Put me here.”
Kate set aside an ornate chair and parked Eva’s wheelchair close to the middle of the front row. Having made certain that Eva was satisfied with her position, Kate sat down beside her.
Eva reached out and snagged a passing gentleman to her side. He looked shocked at the preemptory summons until he recognized her and greeted her with a courteous nod of his head.
“Mrs. Trentham.”
“What did we miss this morning?” Eva asked.
“Radio operators,” the gentleman informed her. “Interesting stuff about ice warnings and such, but Senator Smith was quite ... well ... very ... long-winded in his questions. Far too many details.”
Kate allowed herself a small, smug smile as she thought of the unsuspecting captain of the Californian.
Eva turned to look at her. “What are you smiling about? There’s nothing new to be learned from radio operators. They won’t have anything to say about Ismay. He’s the one they should be talking to.”
Kate bit her tongue. She had not shared any information with Eva about Danny McSorley’s discovery. Eva had no idea that Ismay was not the only person who was facing public humiliation. So long as Joe managed to get to Boston before the Californian sailed, Captain Stanley Lord was going to have some questions to answer.
Kate hurriedly changed the subject, leaning across to Eva and saying, “Thank you again for taking me in.”
“I don’t know why you left,” Eva said. “Why did you have to go running all over New York? You could have accompanied me from the boat. No one would have said anything.”
“I didn’t know you wanted me to—”
“Then why didn’t you ask instead of running off?”
Kate didn’t offer a reply out loud, although she whispered the question in her own mind. Why didn’t you ask me to stay? If you needed me, why didn’t you say so?
“Oh well,” Eva said. “You’re here now, and this is going to be much more fun than having Bridie with me. She’s a good woman, but she can’t make up a fourth at bridge. I’ll keep her with me until my leg is healed, and then we’ll ship her off to Chicago. After that, well, the world is our oyster. We’ll have to go to Europe, of course, but you will not be jumping ship in Gibraltar or throwing yourself at impoverished Spaniards. Perhaps you should marry a title. It makes for a good start and never fails to impress. On the other hand, perhaps you shouldn’t marry anyone, or at least not until your looks begin to fade. I will enjoy seeing you break hearts.”
Kate turned her face away, afraid that Eva would read her confused expression. She wasn’t sure she wanted Eva to plan her future, whether it meant finding her a titled husband or keeping her around so that Eva could watch men’s hearts breaking. She did not currently have any other plans, and she had enjoyed her night in a comfortable bed. She was still enjoying the feeling of silk underwear and fine linen, but she could not shake the memory of her night at the Salvation Army hostel, the ragged women, and the humiliating health inspection, from scratching through her hair for lice to being examined for venereal disease.
The hearing room had not been set up to resemble a courtroom. The two senators, Smith and Newlands, sat at a long table, with other officials arrayed around them. The witness was apparently expected to simply sit on the other side of the table. Nothing in the room gave the impression of a criminal hearing. No one here was accused of a crime, or at least not yet.
Kate searched for Ismay, but she could not find him among the fashionable ladies and gentlemen seated around the room. She did, however, recognize Carlos Hurd sitting with a group of reporters. He had already accosted her as she had made her way into the hotel, insisting that she provide the story she had promised. She was still mulling that over in her mind. She was not going to tell him anything of what had transpired in the senator’s suite last night, with Danny declaring that the Californian had been a mere ten miles away when the Titanic had sunk.
She did not see Danny here now. Perhaps he would not be permitted into the hotel again in light of the amount of damage Wolfie had inflicted during his brief visit. Perhaps he had already left for Washington, although she could not imagine why he wanted to leave the lights of New York City.
She turned her attention to the deal she had struck with Carlos Hurd. What could she tell him to fulfill her side of the bargain? Perhaps he would like to hear how the immigrants had been locked belowdecks. Maybe he already knew. Well, she would tell him again. If he didn’t like it, he wouldn’t have to print it, but she would have fulfilled her promise.
A hush fell over the room as Senator Smith rose to his feet. He waited until the last whisper had died away and then took a paper from Will McKinstry. He took his time about removing reading glasses from his pocket and settling them on his nose. He had not needed glasses last night. This, Kate thought, is pure theater. I wonder what he will say.
The senator cleared his throat and looked over the top of his spectacles. “Ladies and gentlemen, members of the press, I have been asked to make a public statement. Before doing so, I request that no representative of the press or other person shall ask any question of me before beginning or during my statement or after I have finished. What I say, I desire reported accurately, and I wish the public to know that this statement is the only official utterance I shall make before resuming our inquiry in Washington.”
Kate heard the whisper rustling through the room. “Washington? Who is going to Washington? What does he mean?”
Senator Smith took another paper from McKinstry and set it on the table. “This list will be provided to the press, and I have no need to read it aloud here. All these witnesses, along with officers and crew of the Titanic, have been summoned to appear in Washington on Monday morning at ten o’clock. At that time, this investigation will be resumed, and no further testimony will be taken at this hearing.”
The audience gave an audible groan. They had come to witness a spectacle, but apparently, they were to be disappointed. The whole three-ring circus, as Smith had called it, was moving to Washington.
“The object of this committee in coming to New York coincident with the arrival of the Carpathia was prompted by the desire to avail ourselves of firsthand information from the active participants in this sad affair,” Senator Smith said.
Once again he looked over the rim of his spectacles. “Our course has been guided solely by this purpose—to obtain accurate information without delay. Information had been received that some of the officers of the Titanic, and the managing director of the White Star Line, who are British subjects residing in England, desired and intended to return to their homes immediately upon arrival at this port. We concluded that it would be most unfortunate if we were deprived of their testimony for any indefinite period, and felt that their removal beyond the jurisdiction of our authority might complicate and possibly defeat our purpose.”
“Well,” Eva said, her voice carrying in the stunned silence. “He certainly showed them, didn’t he?”
“Yes,” Kate whispered. “I was there. I saw what he did. I was with him when he first met Sir Bruce Ismay. It was not a pleasurable meeting.”
Eva smiled happily. “Of course not. Push me out of here, Kate.”
“But he’s still talking.”
“I don’t need to hear what he’s saying. We have to make reservations on the train to Washington while they are still available, and we will have to obtain the very best hotel rooms in Washington before someone else does.”
Kate did not move. Maybe Eva would try to scold her, but Kate was not ready to leave. She needed to hear what the senator would say next.
“In closing this statement,” Senator Smith said, “I desire to acknowledge our debt of gratitude to the representatives of the press for their marked consideration and courtesy in this most trying situation. I wish to assure them that everything that has transpired of public interest has been entirely in their presence and that this course will be pursued, so far as I am concerned, in the future hearings before the committee.”
Before Senator Smith could resume his seat, the representatives of the press, apparently not reassured by what he had said, were on their feet.
“What does the president say?”
“The British will protest?”
“What are you trying to prove?”
“Do you have new information?”
Senator Smith shook his head, scooped up his papers, and took Senator Newlands by the arm. He departed through a side door, leaving McKinstry to hand out the list of witnesses who would be summoned to Washington.
“Get a paper,” Eva demanded. “Go on, Kate. Get me a list.”
Kate pushed her way through the throng, almost losing her hat as she squeezed between the gentlemen of the press and finally managed to grab the only remaining sheet of paper. By the time she returned to Eva, the room was already emptying.
Eva held out a grasping hand. “Show me. I want to see how much trouble he’s going to make.”
Kate held the paper away from Eva as she skimmed the list. She was surprised at the amount of pleasure she felt in reading one of the names. Danny McSorley had been summoned to Washington. He was going to get his wish.
As Kate handed the list to Eva, she became aware of two figures approaching her. She recognized Carlos Hurd but not the woman at his side. She had already met Mrs. Hurd on board the Carpathia, and this person was not Hurd’s wife. She was a tall, big-boned woman with iron-gray hair pulled back beneath a small, unfashionable hat. She wore a skirt and jacket of mismatched tweeds and held a notebook—another reporter.
“Miss Royston,” Hurd said, “this is Myra Grunwald, one of my associates at the newspaper. She has been assigned to your story.”
“I don’t have a story,” Kate said impatiently while keeping one eye on Eva, who was studying the list of witnesses and alternately smiling and grimacing.
“You promised me a story,” Hurd insisted.
“Yes, yes, I know. Well, here it is. I spent a night at the Salvation Army hostel, and I talked to the immigrant women. They say they were locked belowdecks and only broke free at the very last moment. That’s my story. You can also add that female immigrants who enter the United States are subjected to humiliating so-called health examinations, and someone should put a stop to it. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to take Mrs. Trentham home.”
“No, you don’t,” Eva said, looking up from the list. “What sort of humiliating examinations are you speaking of?”
“I’ll tell you later,” Kate hissed.
Myra Grunwald gripped her pencil and gave Kate a long, searching examination from the top of her hat to her new shoes. When she spoke, she revealed a deep voice and a slight hint of a German accent. “We have already obtained stories from steerage-class passengers, Miss Royston. As for the Salvation Army, well, it is not wise to speak ill of them. They do good work.”
“I was not speaking ill of the Salvation Army, Miss Grunwald. I was speaking of immigration officers.”
The reporter gave her a bleak smile. “You may address me as Myra, Miss Royston. I do not have any interest in announcing my marital status by the use of a prefix.”
“Oh, I like that,” Eva said. “You’re quite right, Myra—a woman should not be identified by whether or not she has a husband. Yes, very good.” She looked up at Kate. “Push me, Kate. We have to be on our way.”
“Not yet,” said Myra. “Miss Royston, I am not interested in the immigrant story. I am interested in you.”
“Why would you be interested in me?”
“Because you are a mystery. Mr. Hurd found you on board the Carpathia, where you say you acted as a governess, but he thought it was obvious that you came from money, even wealth. He suspected that you were involved somehow with Mr. Cottam the Marconi operator, but we have seen no evidence of that since the Carpathia docked. However, you were seen on board the Carpathia in the company of Senator Smith and Sheriff Joe Bayliss. Another mystery?”
“No,” Kate said. “There’s no mystery.”
Myra held up a finger to silence Kate. “Last night,” she said, “you appeared outside the Waldorf Astoria, dressed in rags, soaked to the skin, and frantic to tell your story to Mr. Hurd so that he could confirm your identity. You were running away from someone, weren’t you?”
Kate tightened her grip on the wheelchair. “I have told you all what I intend to tell you.”
“You have told me nothing.”
“Because it’s none of your business.”
“I am a reporter, and everything is my business. Your name is familiar, Miss Royston. I have read it somewhere before, possibly in my own newspaper.” Myra looked up at the ceiling and appeared to be deep in thought.
Kate watched her with a sinking heart. She inched the wheelchair forward. “We have to go.”
Myra refocused her eyes and gave her a predatory smile. “It is only a matter of time, Miss Royston. I shall consult my newspaper’s archives, and I will see you in Washington. By the time I arrive, I will know all about you. Auf wiedersehen, fräulein.”
The San Francisco Call
April 22, 1912
64 BODIES OF TITANIC VICTIMS FOUND
The first bodies were reported and recovered from latitude 42.1 north, longitude 49.13 west. The cable repair ship MacKay Bennett ... was the first to flash the news to the signal station at Cape Race that salvage was already begun.
Halifax Morning Chronicle
May 2, 1912
With the exception of about 10 bodies that had received serious injuries, their looks were calm and peaceful—Dr. Thomas Armstrong, ship’s surgeon on the Mackay-Bennett.