She pours us both cups of tea and sits down facing me. “It is not your day off and I can see you are upset. There’s no need to be afraid, Lou. Tell me the truth, and I’ll stand by you if you’re in some kind of trouble. Have they dismissed you? Without a character reference, is that it?” I can’t help it, my eyes fill with tears. “If it was only that, Mother…” I take a deep breath, and my words pour out in a rush. “I am to go to America, to sail on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. Nanny Mackintosh has had an accident, and I’m to take her place. Mother, I can’t–don’t make me go!” Mother understands, doesn’t she? She must–nothing escapes her about any of us! Mother lifts her tea to her lips, sips, and puts it down again. She wraps her hands around the mug as if to warm them. Then she looks up and our eyes meet. In that instant, I know she is thinking of another day, when no amount of tea could bring comfort. She does understand. I knew she would! “If you can’t go, it is only fair to let Lady Milton know at once, Lou, so that she may hire someone else.
