Listening to her aunt laugh, Beth felt that she’d chosen the concert well. The music had been lovely, but she’d laughed at the comedian Little Tich and enjoyed the well-known singer, Vesta Tilley, though it was a melody sung by Eugene Stratton that had brought tears to her eyes.
‘Well, that was a proper birthday treat,’ Aunt Helen said when they left the theatre and caught a tram home. ‘I don’t know when I’ve enjoyed myself so much, Beth. Thank you.’
‘I enjoyed it too,’ Beth assured her. She’d been anxious to pick a show her aunt would approve and felt relieved that it had all gone so well.
‘My father never approved of the music hall or the theatre in any form,’ Aunt Helen said. ‘When your mother first started courting, I had to go with her, because our parents insisted – and your father took us to the theatre twice. I liked it then too but I’d forgotten how much…’
She looked thoughtful as she led the way into the kitchen and put the kettle on the gas hob. Beth cut them both a piece of seed cake and they ate their supper almost in silence. Her aunt seemed lost in thought and when Beth bid her goodnight, she merely nodded and sat dreaming over the teapot, clearly lost in her memories.
Had her aunt once had dreams of love and a family? Beth would never have guessed it, but now she wondered. Her grandfather had by all accounts been very strict. Beth’s mother had been allowed to marry, but Aunt Helen had stayed at home to care for her father until he died, making her living by sewing for other women. Was she ever envious when she made beautiful evening gowns for others, knowing that she would never have a chance to wear such things.
It had taken all of Beth’s bonus to pay for their treat. She couldn’t afford to do it again for ages, but she would save what she could and perhaps they could visit the theatre again nearer Christmas, which was ages away yet.
Turning over in bed, Beth heard her aunt come upstairs at last. She was glad that she’d had the idea of taking Aunt Helen to the theatre as a birthday gift and hoped that perhaps it would lead to a better understanding between them.
It would help if she earned a little extra every week, but she couldn’t expect to get a bonus all the time and she wasn’t due for a pay rise yet. Maggie had got hers early, because she’d moved up from junior to sales staff, but Beth would have to wait a little longer. Still she liked her job and after seeing how long Sally’s hours were now, Beth didn’t think she’d want her job. Promotion sounded wonderful and it was, but it also brought a lot of work and responsibility.
It was Tuesday morning and Sally was at her desk, busily working her way through the list of firms she wanted to visit when the door of the office opened and Ben Harper walked in. He looked at her and his face was as white as a sheet. Sally’s heart missed a beat because there was clearly something very wrong.
‘Have you seen Jenni this morning?’ he asked.
‘No, she hasn’t come in yet.’
‘She must have heard the news,’ he said and sat down heavily in a chair. ‘It sank – can you believe it? They said it couldn’t sink and it went down so fast, hundreds of them died. If Jenni had been on board…’ He gasped and ran his fingers through his hair before turning to her. ‘It’s all due to you, Sally Ross! If you hadn’t spoken out, Jenni would have been on that ship… she’s alive because I asked her to stay on and teach you her job…’
Sally gasped. ‘You don’t mean… the Titanic has gone down? They said it was so strong… how could it happen? Did someone attack it? Was it an explosion?’ She shook her head in disbelief. Everyone had said it was the safest ship ever to sail and it had sunk on its maiden voyage.
‘The news is filtering in bit by bit,’ Ben said, sounding shocked. ‘I’ve heard they hit an iceberg and went down before any rescue ships could get there… The worst thing is they’re saying in the paper that the ship didn’t have enough lifeboats. A lot of the passengers must have died…’
‘Thank goodness Jenni didn’t take that ship!’ Sally said, deeply moved. The shock and horror of it made her feel sick for a moment.
‘Amen to that,’ Ben agreed, ‘but one of her friends may have – and Marie had her young son with her. Jenni will feel terrible if they didn’t get off in time…’
‘Yes, of course she will,’ Sally agreed, realising how it would make her employer feel. ‘It is absolutely terrible – and I know there were hundreds of people travelling steerage. They were looking for a new life in America, and now…’ Tears were trickling down her cheeks, because it was just so sad. All those people dying in a freezing sea when they’d expected to have a wonderful voyage. Her first relief that Jenni Harper wasn’t on board had given way to distress for the people who had perished.
‘I must go to the hotel and speak to my sister,’ Mr Harper told her, seeming to summon his strength. ‘If she hasn’t come in, it’s because she is too upset. I know Jenni; she will be blaming herself for her friend being on that ship.’
‘Yes, of course,’ Sally agreed.
After he’d gone, Sally continued to feel sombre. She was in need of company and decided to leave her work for a while and seek out her friends in her old department. It might be a good idea to see how the new stock was doing compared to the Mexican silver they’d been selling.
Mrs Craven smiled at her as she entered the department. Beth was serving a customer with hats and Maggie had just sold a silk scarf, which she was carefully wrapping in tissue.
‘I thought you might visit us,’ Mrs Craven said. ‘I’ve put some of the new stock out this morning, and I’ve already sold two of the bangles with semi-precious stones.’
‘That is one of the things I wanted to discuss,’ Sally said. ‘Did you think it compared well with what we had previously?’
‘The bangles are better quality and they sell for the same price. I don’t think you need to buy much more of the Mexican silver, Miss Ross. The customers seem to think the new stock is better value.’
‘Yes, it is,’ Sally agreed.
They spoke for a few moments of the other stock and she made notes in her book, because Maggie needed more gloves in the small size and scarves in muted shades rather than the bright colours that sold less often.
‘Have you heard the news?’ she asked when Mrs Craven had finished outlining their recent sales. ‘Mr Harper told me a few minutes ago. It is so shocking – the Titanic hit an iceberg, last night I think. The news is uncertain at the moment, but they’re reporting that not enough lifeboats were supplied and that means hundreds of people died in the sea…’
‘Oh no! I hadn’t heard. Fred’s son was on that ship as a steward,’ Beth said and gasped with horror.
Sally and Mrs Craven turned to look at her. She’d finished serving her customer and had come over to speak with them when she heard the terrible news.
‘He was so proud of him getting that job and now…’ A tear trickled down Beth’s cheek. ‘It will break his heart…’
‘I’m so sorry,’ Mrs Craven said. ‘Would you like to take your break now and go down and speak to him?’
‘Yes please,’ Beth said, hesitated, then, ‘I wanted to tell you, Miss Ross – we have sold all but one of our black hats…’
‘Thank you. I ordered a new range and there are several smart ones in black. The company director promised me they would come in today or tomorrow.’
Beth nodded, turned away at once and left the department.
‘It makes it personal when you know people who were travelling on the ship,’ Sally said. ‘Miss Harper would have been on it had she not stayed behind to teach me her job… but she sold her ticket to a friend who had a small son with her…’
‘That is terrible for her,’ Mrs Craven agreed. ‘She will feel guilty about the people who died, because she is safe.’
‘Yes. Mr Harper told me the news and then went over to his sister’s hotel to see if he could comfort her…’
‘A tragedy like that casts a shadow over everything,’ Mrs Craven said, looking pale and concerned. ‘It’s all the more dreadful because everyone thought that ship was so sturdy.’
‘I can hardly believe it…’ Sally shook her head. ‘I just feel like crying, but I have work to do. I wondered if you would like to have some travelling dressing cases here. Some of your customers for bags might like to buy them….’
‘I think they would do better to stay with luggage on the ground floor,’ Mrs Craven said. ‘The silver jewellery and the bags keep me busy. I see I have a customer now, please excuse me…’
Sally nodded. Maggie was serving two customers with gloves, so when a lady walked in to look at hats, Sally stopped to serve her and ended up making a good sale of three expensive creations.
‘I think you have the magic touch,’ Maggie said when the customers had all been served and gone. ‘Beth showed that lady some hats yesterday, but she bought nothing then.’
Sally nodded. ‘I think they look at our stock, think they’re too expensive and then try elsewhere and come back when they can’t find anything as nice for the price. However, I’ve found a new range and I think they will sell at slightly lower prices, which means we may do even better.’
‘Beth thinks we haven’t been selling enough hats,’ Maggie told her. ‘She will be pleased if your new range sells well.’
Sally nodded and left them to get on with their work. Beth had been too upset to speak about her work much, but Sally would make a point of talking to her later, when she’d had a chance to get over her first shock.
As she entered the lift, Miss Hart was coming out. She looked upset and stared at Sally for a moment as if she wanted to speak, but then shook her head and walked off. Clearly she’d heard the news and wanted to discuss it but not with a girl she disliked for some unknown reason…
Beth could see that Fred had heard the news. He was sitting on his chair, his face ashen and his eyes dark with grief. She saw that a mug of tea stood cold on the bench beside him and he was staring vacantly into space.
‘Oh, Fred, I’m so very sorry,’ Beth said and went to sit on a stool by his side. She reached for his big, work-worn hands and held tightly to one of them, feeling his fingers curl about hers. ‘It’s terrible news, but you mustn’t give up hope. Some people will survive…’
‘He’s just a steward – it’s women and children first, that’s the law of the sea, as it should be. My boy wouldn’t try to take a place that a woman or child could occupy. Them boats must have been loaded afore they cast off…’ He shook his head sorrowfully, looking at her with misted eyes. ‘My boy told me there wasn’t enough lifeboats, but they never thought it would happen in a million years – it was supposed to be the one that was safe…’ A little sob escaped him.
‘They would’ve needed crew to row the boats,’ Beth said, trying to cheer him. She could almost see the panic amongst the people on board and hear the screams as they fought to get into the lifeboats and discovered there were not enough. It must have been terrible and she could not imagine how it felt to know you would die in icy cold water in the dark…
Fred felt the shiver run through her. ‘My boy knew what could happen. He had no fear of the sea. He would try to swim for it – maybe he managed to hang on to a boat until rescue came.’
‘Did a ship come to the rescue?’
‘The paper says it was the Carpathia,’ Fred said in a low voice that was choked with emotion. ‘Arrived a couple of hours after it sank, but there were only a few hundred survivors in the boats – that means fifteen hundred or more died. The paper says they don’t know for sure how many were in steerage, but that may be just a tale…’
Tears trickled down Beth’s cheeks and she put her arms about Fred’s shoulders and hugged him. She felt him let go and sob and she wept with him. After a minute or two, he snorted and pulled back, taking out a rather grubby handkerchief to wipe his face.
‘This won’t do, miss. My boy wouldn’t like it. If he went down with that ship, he was doin’ his duty by the passengers and that’s how he lived.’ Fred wiped his eyes and looked at her. ‘I know my Jack’s gone. He would never take a place that a lady or a child could take. I’m proud of him, miss.’
‘Yes, you should be,’ Beth said and wiped her own cheeks. She felt a warm caring sensation towards this man who had taken the loss of his eldest boy so bravely. Fred was like the father she’d loved and lost too soon and she made up her mind that she would secretly adopt him. Fred wouldn’t know, but if there was anything she could do, Beth would do it. Little things like bringing in cakes and buying him some cigarettes and a card on his birthday. ‘You’re not the only one worrying, Fred. I think the nation will worry and wait with you…’
Fred nodded, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. ‘You get back now, miss,’ he said. ‘Thank you for thinkin’ to come down to me; it helped and I shan’t forget. Go on now, I’ll be all right. I’ll see my boy in Heaven one day.’
‘Yes, of course you will,’ Beth said and kissed his brow before she left him. Her heart ached for him and for all the others who had lost friends and relatives on that ill-fated ship. She knew that there was only one God and yet at times like this it was hard to reconcile that with such a terrible tragedy. Why would the god who had died for them demand such a sacrifice of lives?