No Greater Love Read Free Page B

and instructedtheir drivers, and urged them to leave so they wouldn’t miss the ship. She was sailing in just under five hours.
    “She’s sailing at noon, isn’t she?” He pulled out his pocket watch and consulted Bert, as Kate gave Liz a last hug and then climbed into the car, pulling Alexis in beside her.
    “Yes, she is. We’ll be there in plenty of time.” It was seven-thirty in the morning on the tenth of April.
    “Have a marvelous trip! She’s a great ship! Good sailing!” He waved as the first car drove away, and Liz stood close to him as the second car followed, and then the last, as Kate waved from the window with a broad smile, with Alexis on her lap, and Bertram sitting next to her with an arm around her shoulders.
    “I love you!…” Liz called out as they sped away in the roar of the engines. “I love you …” The words faded away as she wiped a tear from her eye, not sure why she felt so worried. It was silly really, she’d be seeing them all again in August. She smiled to herself then as she followed Rupert inside. He locked himself in his library as he frequently did in the morning, and Liz walked back into the dining room to stare at their empty seats, and watch their empty plates being cleared away, and a terrible feeling of loneliness overwhelmed her. Where they had been only moments before, the room that had been so full of life and the people that she loved, was all so empty now, and she was alone again, as the others sped toward Southampton.

Chapter 2
     
    AS THEY APPROACHED THE DOCK AT SOUTHAMPTON, THE CAR that Kate and Bertram were in led the convoy of Lord Hickham’s automobiles to the place where first-class passengers were embarking. In the second car, George was jumping up and down on his seat, and Edwina finally had to insist that he sit down before he drove her and Phillip utterly crazy.
    “Look, look at her, Edwina!” He was pointing to the ship’s four impressive smokestacks, as Phillip urged him to calm down. Unlike his more exuberant younger brother, Phillip had done considerable reading about the ship as soon as he knew that they would be sailing on her maiden voyage. She had a nearly identical sister ship, the
Olympic
, which had been in operation since the year before, but this was literally the largest ship in existence. The R.M.S.
Titanic
was marginally bigger than her sister ship, but she was half again as large as any other liner afloat, anywhere in the world, and Georgewas in awe of her when he saw her. His father’s newspaper had called her “The Wonder Ship” when they’d written about her, and on Wall Street she’d been called “The Millionaires’ Special.” It was an extraordinary privilege to be sailing on her maiden voyage. Bert Winfield had reserved five of the twenty-eight special staterooms on B Deck, which were among the many features that set her apart from any other ship in operation. These staterooms had windows instead of portholes and were beautifully decorated with French, Dutch, and British antiques. The White Star Line had outdone themselves in every way. And the five staterooms of the Winfield party were interconnecting so as to make them seem like one very large suite, rather than several adjoining rooms.
    George was going to be rooming with Phillip, Edwina with Alexis, Oona with the two little ones, Fannie and Teddy, and Bertram and Kate were in the largest of the staterooms, in a room just next to the one occupied by their future son-in-law, Charles Fitzgerald. It promised to be a festive crossing, and George could hardly wait to get on the ship, as he dashed out of the car a moment later and headed for the gangplank. But his brother was too quick for him and he grabbed his arm and hauled him back to where Edwina was helping her mother with the others.
    “Just where do you think you’re going, young man?” Phillip intoned, sounding more like his father than himself as George gave him a look of intense irritation.
    “You’re