Cold All the Way Through, But Warming

A Turkish Bath

Dinner the night before had been a struggle, and I had watched as Will was forced to endure the questions of our dinner partners. They at least were kind enough to not push him about the mourning band, but they wanted to know everything about him and despite my attempts to intercede, had only spoken to him. The men had even tried to get him to come for cigars and whiskey after, but he had put them off. After everything he had been exhausted and had fallen straight asleep after giving me a kiss goodnight.

Considering how persistent our table mates had been I was dreading seeing them again. So in the morning I was fully prepared to have to avoid them with some elaborate excuse, but we were caught on our way out by a steward. The poor man was panting, his uniform disheveled. "Compliments of Captain Haddock sir, he wishes you and Mrs. Murdoch to join him for breakfast in his quarters."

The steward was obviously waiting for Will to ask for directions, but all he did was nod and take my arm. "We can see ourselves there, thank you."

"You're sure Captain Haddock isn't confused?" I teased Will as we gained the boat deck. "I thought he wanted to see us for dinner."

Will smiled a bit, "To be quite honest, I'd be glad to eat all of our meals with him."

"As would I." I chuckled, and stepped inside as Will opened the door to the officer's quarters. They had passed by in a blur when I had been in them before, but now I had a moment to take in the oak paneling and tiled floor before Will ushered me into what was clearly the captain's sitting room. It had been set for breakfast, with a spread covering every available surface, including the captain's desk.

Captain Haddock greeted us both with a smile, "What can I get for you two to drink?"

"Hot chocolate." I nodded, sitting and examining all the food that had been laid out. "Would you mind?"

"Not at all."

Will chuckled as I set to filling a plate with griddle cakes and a liberal helping of syrup, "You'll have to forgive my wife, Herbert, she's always famished when faced with a breakfast table."

"It's quite alright, better than those ladies that only eat a bit of watercress." Herbert smiled, relaying a request for hot chocolate and coffee to his steward. "Now, how exactly did you wind up marrying her?"

I flushed a bit, knowing that I had a bit of syrup on the corner of my mouth. "Oh, we met-" The end of that sentence died in my throat, and I brought my napkin up to dab at the syrup while ducking my head.

"We met onboard Titanic, and I hope you'll forgive Ana this moment." Will took my hand, squeezing it. "She lost her father in the sinking and the resemblance onboard is rather upsetting."

Herbert reached over, taking my hand from Will. "You have my deepest sympathies, Mrs. Murdoch."

"Thank you, sir." I nodded, "I'll recover in a moment, I'm sorry."

"Not a problem," Herbert smiled, clearly trying to recover the good spirits from a moment ago. "At least you came out of it with a husband, and a fine one at that."

I glanced to Will, currently about as red as the tomato he was slicing into. "He is, isn't he?"

"One of the finest officers I've ever had, and a good man beyond that." The captain seemed to enjoy teasing Will as much as I did, "And now a wealthy one!" A few more jokes were made at Will's expense, although he eventually quieted. Picking up a forkful of eggs, he sighed. "I wish I could say that I invited you two here under happier circumstances."

"Captain," Will looked up, "Is something wrong?"

Herbert set his fork down, dabbed at his mouth with a napkin and leaned back in his chair. "Unfortunately one of our stewards let it slip that we'll be passing close to the site of the sinking today. I was hoping that we could avoid any talk of it, but people seem to fasten onto events like that. Now, I know your names were printed on the passenger registers given to all the first class guests and I thought to myself last night that someone might remember your name and try to bother you about it." He looked to Will, "I don't want that happening, and so I have a request to make of the two of you."