Part 21 (2/2)
”You mean before or after you tried to brain me with that bottle?”
He laughed, then coughed wetly.
”I'm sorry about that, too.”
”Don't be, kiddo. I should've told you the truth. But would you have come along if I had?”
”I don't think so.”
”Are you glad you did?”
”To be honest, I don't know,” I replied.
”Maddy?”
”Maddy.” I watched for any kind of sign from him, then decided to ask the question that burned uppermost in my mind. ”Was she a setup, Harlan? Was she supposed to keep me here, if I found out the truth too early?”
”You really think I would do that? Do you think I could make her love you?”
”I don't know what to think.”
”I've only known her for a short while, Trev. She truly cares for you.”
”Too bad it's all for nothing.”
”Is it? I would say you're the richer for knowing her, and she for knowing you. And isn't that what it's all about?”
”Harlan Astor, the philosopher?”
Harlan laughed again, stifling a cough with the back of his hand.
”When you've got the grim reaper staring you in the face, you tend to spend a lot of time pondering your life. And I'll tell you, kiddo, there's a few things I'd do differently if I had the chance to make things right.”
”The way I see it, you've got nothing to feel sorry about. You've done a lot of great things. You've remade your family's fortune.”
Harlan's tiny smile was fraught with irony. ”Yes, but I've no one to leave it to, Trev. I spent so much time consumed by ambition, I never bothered to find anyone to share it with.” He fell silent for a moment, the emotion flus.h.i.+ng his face a pale crimson. ”Can we stop now, I'm getting tired.”
”Sure, no problem.”
Sadly, I reached for the stop b.u.t.ton.
18.
”What time is it?” Harlan asked.
I glanced at my watch. ”Just after six.”
”Will you open the curtains for me?”
I walked over and threw aside the heavy drapes covering the large rectangular windows. The sky was a riot of color, and the sun stood poised just below the horizon, though its rise would be hidden from our view by the stern of the s.h.i.+p. Harlan stared out at the sea, preternaturally calm in those predawn moments, his eyes bearing ineffable sadness. ”It's beautiful, isn't it?”
”Yes, it is,” I said.
”Captain Pierce tells me the weather tomorrow night will be much as it was a century ago. I find comfort in that.”
I turned from the window, no longer able to remain silent.
”Maddy's going with me.”
He nodded. ”I thought she might. Her little boy, now you. Two very powerful incentives.” He grimaced as a pain shot through his ravaged body.
I approached the bed. ”Maybe there are others teetering on the edge, like the ones who got off at Cobh. Maybe they'd like another shot at whatever they have left. You don't have to do this, either, Harlan. Disarm the bomb. Let the t.i.tanic complete this voyage.”
He looked up at me then, tears running down his cheeks. ”I-I can't, kiddo. If I try to turn it off, it'll blow; it's sort of a fail-safe.”
”Then let everybody off in the boats. With only five hundred of us on board there's more than enough room for everyone.”
”They won't go.”
”How do you know that? Tell them. Let them know it's okay. If they know you're going, the rest will follow.”
”I can't,” he said, his compressing into a tight line. ”After the others left, I gave them my word the rest of us would all go together.”
My anger boiled over then. ”You gave them your word? Jesus Christ! What the h.e.l.l kind of a thing is that?”
Harlan pushed himself up, and I could see it took monumental effort. ”IT'S THE ONLY THING I HAVE LEFT!” He collapsed back onto the bed, coughing uncontrollably, and I went to him. I felt awful, yet I did not regret a word I'd said. ”Are you all right?”
”I think, sir, that you'd better go.”
I looked to the door and saw Henry standing there, immaculate in his white steward's jacket, the White Star Line burgee embroidered over his left breast. His expression was grave, and not without a touch of menace, something of which I would never have thought him capable. I turned back to Harlan who now had his eyes closed, his breathing rapid. His skin was pale to the point of translucence, and a sheen of sweat covered his skin.
”You have the power, Harlan. You're the only one who can change what's going to happen....”
Henry moved further into the room. ”Mr. Hughes, if you please.”
I walked out, stopping in front of Henry only a moment. ”He can stop this, Henry, if he really wants to.”
The older man's features softened. ”I know, Mr. Hughes. I'm just not sure I want him to.”
His words shocked me, but they shouldn't have, for I knew a good many on board felt exactly the same. But maybe if Harlan let them know that he bore them no ill will, that it was okay to change their minds, some of them, however small a percentage, would join me and Maddy in that lifeboat. If that happened, I knew I'd be able to leave the rest with a clear conscience.
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