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nap, but the child protested. “I’m not the least bit tired. I want to see everything on the ship.”
    “ It’s such an exciting day for her. I think we can skip naptime just this once.” Richard took the little girl’s hand and looked at Beth. “We won’t be gone long.”
    Beth sighed and watched them leave, happy to see Richard doing what he’d told her he wanted to do—spend time with his daughter. She returned to the stateroom and wrote a short note to her parents, using the elegant stationery the ship provided. Later, a steward brought her a tray containing a pot of tea and a few biscuits. She welcomed the time to herself, which would be, she supposed, rare. She expected few breaks during the crossing. After all, in spite of Richard’s attention to the child that day, she was responsible for Kathleen’s care and safety. She knew well that governesses seldom enjoyed off-duty time.
    In the late afternoon, she ventured outside again. After a while, she thought she might see the ship’s arrival at Cherbourg, but the dock was too small to accommodate a vessel as large as the Titanic. It was almost seven o’clock by then and too dark to make out much except black shapes of buildings and lights in the distance. Two tenders approaching the ship contained more passengers boarding for the voyage. Then, when a sudden squall brought rain and wind and made the sea choppy, she retreated to the protection of her cabin.
    Moments later, Richard knocked on the connecting door.
    “ Come in,” she said, and he entered, frowning.
    “ I’m afraid I have a favor to ask of you.”
    “ Not at all. I’m here to do whatever you want.”
    “ Kathleen has fallen asleep. Poor thing. I suspect she’s rather worn out from the excitement today. In addition,” he added somewhat sheepishly, “I may have walked her around the ship too much this afternoon.”
    Beth rose from her chair and followed him into the sitting room, where Kathleen lay on the sofa, eyes closed. She surmised that his favor involved staying with Kathleen while he went to dinner alone; her recess had come to an end.
    “ I’ll get her into her night-dress and stay with her,” she told him. “Go on to your dinner.”
    “ But—” he protested.
    “ I don’t mind, really. That’s what I’m here for.” She gave him a reassuring smile.
    He shrugged but carried the child into the other room and laid her on the bed in her sleeping alcove. He turned to leave. “I shan’t be long.”
    “ Please don’t hurry on my account. Just ask the steward to bring me something.”
    “ If you’re sure.”
    “ I am.” She paused. “There is one favor I might ask of you.”
    “ Anything. What is it?”
    “ Since you will be dining in the first-class saloon and I’m told there are many famous people making this maiden voyage ...”
    “ Yes?”
    “ I’d like to know if you see anyone important, if some prominent people are seated at your table.”
    Richard chuckled. “So you might attend vicariously.”
    “ Yes. Perhaps you could describe them for me. That will be almost as good as meeting them myself. My mother and sisters would be thrilled to know I came close to such persons. Especially Lady Duff Gordon.”
    “ Lady Duff Gordon? Who’s that?”
    “ She’s the famous couturier who calls herself Madame Lucile.”
    “ She’s on this ship?”
    “ She and her husband boarded at Cherbourg because she had just visited her Paris salon.”
    “ How did you come to learn all this?”
    “ I overheard some ladies talking about her when I walked on the promenade deck this afternoon.”
    He shrugged. “I can’t guarantee I’ll see anyone famous, but I’ll do my best.”
    When Richard left, Beth gently removed Kathleen’s clothes and got her ready for bed. The child wakened only briefly during the ritual, smiled a moment at the sight of Beth and fell instantly asleep again once the covers were pulled up to her chin. Beth turned out the light in the alcove, left