Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Emma

Scabious a new film she'd heard about; an old song she loved. Before they knew it, people would tell Betty about their childhood, their families, and how they'd always wanted to play lead guitar in a band. It seemed there was nothing people weren't prepared to share with her. Emma hadn't wanted to replicate this– she still felt the need to keep a distance– but she had wanted to take a small step towards having a conversation, making a connection. And so she had begun to mention having seen a programme about the Titanic to customers. And it had worked. It seemed everyone had something to say about the Titanic .

Tamas is back– and it seems he is no exception. ‘I have been thinking and reading about the Titanic . It was a remarkable and big ship: two-hundred and sixty-nine metres long, twenty-eight metres broad, with a height of fifty-three metres from the keel to the top of the funnels…'

Since introducing the subject into conversation, Emma has begun to recognise different Titanic types. Some, like Tamas, are Numbers Nerds, with an astonishing range of facts and figures at their fingertips. Others, like Les, are Detectives, fascinated by uncovering the real reason behind the sinking (so far: a fire in the hold; poor grade steel; shoddy rivets). She has talked to Romantics (oh, the dresses; the Turkish baths; the only way to travel to New York), the Sympathisers (can you imagine what it was like…), the Conspiracy Theorists (it didn't sink; was never actually finished), the Morally Outraged (stokers abandoned; company cover-up), and the Unbelievers ( Titanic ? That's just a film, isn't it?). She's not quite sure where she fits in all of this. Maybe there should be a category of Recently Obsessed?

Back home in her cottage, she has also discovered there is an online community of Titanic devotees. Among the people she has encountered, there are two who she would like to get to know better. One is a woman in London who is curating a forthcoming V&A exhibition about life on board ocean liners– Emma has already put the date of the opening in her diary. She worried at first about going where there would likely be crowds, but when she framed it in her mind as a ‘research trip', she found the prospect far less scary.

The other person she has connected with is a retired perfumier living in Paris, well known for creating a famous range of floral fragrances. His area of interest is the phials of perfume carried on the Titanic that were found intact on the ocean floor. They have only had a brief exchange, but Emma is keen to know more about the perfume, and she wonders if, like her, he would be interested in finding out more about the flowers on board.

She has tried to keep her research focused on the flowers and The Florist on the Titanic , but every now and then Emma has found herself pulling up The Nurse's photograph on her phone. She keeps staring at her face, trying to make sense of the feeling she had the first time she laid eyes on her.

Meanwhile, Tamas is still in full flow. ‘… and sixty-six thousand tons of water it moves ouf of the way…'

To try to stem the flow Emma throws in, ‘Romania?'

He bites. ‘No! You must try again!'

‘Bulgaria?'

He shakes his head, and before she can make her next suggestion, he points out of the window. ‘There he goes, that sausage dog. We have a dog such as that one.'

Emma knows she looks surprised.

‘Yes, I see you think I would have a big dog. A wolf, as big as a horse.'

She smiles. ‘Well, yes, Tamas, I suppose I would.'

‘Ah, well, you are right. Mitsy is not our dog. It is the dog of our daughter, Greta.'

‘Do you look after Mitsy for her, then?'

‘I am supposing you would say we are adopting her dog. Greta, our daughter, she died.' Tamas slaps his arms around his body as if he is suddenly cold, and his eyes brim with tears.

Emma is shocked. She knows there is nothing she can say that will help, but she says it anyway. ‘Oh, Tamas, I'm so sorry.' Then she reaches out and rubs the big man's shoulder.

‘My husband died just over a year ago,' she tells him. ‘He had an undiagnosed heart condition.' It is the first time she has volunteered this information to anyone. It feels like a small offering to a man who has lost his daughter– a man she didn't even thank for finding out about the Bealings.

‘I am very sorry for your loss,' Tamas says.

Emma is moved by his quiet formality. It seems very unlike the man who bounds and stamps his way into the Cabin delivering their flowers.

He looks away, out of the window. Without turning around, he says, ‘It is a journey you are on. Do not try to travel all of it on your own. This is what I say to Berta.' He pauses for some moments. ‘I am not sure she is listening to me. I think perhaps she does not wish to travel with me.' With this he gives a shake of his head and turns and leaves.

Emma watches him striding away down the path. Then she looks under the counter for the Back in 5 minutes sign, hangs it on the outside of the door and goes to find Betty.