The next morning Will woke up early, slowly inching out of bed so as not to disturb Ana. She mumbled slightly at his loss, but grabbed a pillow to replace him. He drew on a robe, softly closed the door and made for the lobby. Given the weather there weren't many guests, which meant that he could grab the manager's attention quickly. The man gave him a slight bow. "Mr. Murdoch, I hope you're having a good morning."
"It will be if you can arrange for a large breakfast for us." Will rubbed his arms, the hotel was certainly cold away from the radiators. "Eggs, bacon, toast, practically anything you can bring."
The manager furrowed his brow. "I'll see what I can arrange, we haven't had any trains from the country in lately so our food supplies aren't the best."
"Whatever you can." He knew Ana would have preferred a whole tableful of food, but she would eat anything they brought. He'd see to that. "I don't suppose you know of anything entertaining to do here?"
"Most of the town is shut down." The manager pointed to the windows though. "Although some of our other guests are going to walk down to the beached ship later today, and I could rent you and your missus a camera to take pictures of it."
Will nodded, Ana needed to exercise. It would help with her recovery. "That would be good, thank you." Will left him in the lobby, returning to the room. The fire had burned down to coals and he quickly brought it back to life. As much as he would have liked to burn the newspapers for kindling, he left them alone. Once it was burning merrily, he turned back to the pile of papers he had left in a chair last night.
He needed to know what had happened.
He started with the oldest ones first, the initial confusion far too familiar. The storm had come in with a fury that hadn't been anticipated, at least it appeared that way at first. There were quotes from the weather bureau saying that they had run up all the signals for a hurricane, and had been ignored. Captains that had been able to make it in tried to explain themselves, saying that their predictions were always wrong. Then the reporters had feasted, reporting wreckage and bodies washing up in both American and Canada. Speculation was made about exactly who was to blame for all of it, and the families of the men lost were quick to blame the shipping companies. It was all the greedy owners who had pushed for their men to go out for one last run and killed them.
Will flinched as he read that, because he knew at least one owner didn't push for it. He glanced over to the bed, seeing Ana still curled up on her side. He pursed his lips, there was nothing he wanted to do more than ask her about what had happened in New York after he had left. It was odd to have no callers, for none of her friends or even acquaintances to come over. But Ana was delicate right now, yesterday had shown him that.
He looked back to the pile of papers, switching over to the written reports. There were on Dalian letterhead, and it seemed Ana had requested copies of every bit of information they had on the lost ship. Cargo records dating back five years, plans from when she had been built and a crew manifest. Will read through it, cursing as he did. Thirty men, and the youngest only nineteen, little more than a boy, all lost.
"Will?" Ana's voice was sleepy, but she sounded better. "What are you doing?"
He stood, coming to sit beside her. "Reading, but it's a good thing you're up. Breakfast should be here soon."
"Mmmm," She sat up a bit at that, but looked to the table. "You were reading the papers?"
"Yes," He slipped his arm around her. "I didn't want to make you tell me anything after yesterday." He felt her lean into him. "I don't suppose you want to keep them?"
"No."
"Then let's get rid of them." Will helped her to her feet, and they spent a pleasant time feeding the papers into the fire. The thin newspaper went up quick, the black ink illegible as the paper crisped and curled in the heat. Ana saved back the Dalian papers though, and he tucked them away in a drawer. He'd return them to the offices later, she didn't need to go back there. A knock sent her scurrying to the bathroom though, and breakfast was quickly brought in. Despite the manager's concerns an adequate spread had been managed; eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, a pot of coffee and a bottle of milk. The bellboy handed over the rented camera as well, quickly giving instructions on how to use it.
It was a simple Kodak Brownie, and a fresh roll of film had been supplied for their use. Will was tempted to just purchase the entire camera when they came back, for he quite enjoyed the way the camera would pop out from its case and he was still grinning over it when the bellboy left. Ana, hearing the door close again, chose that moment to emerge from the bathroom. Will quickly lifted the camera up and snapped a picture, making her gasp. "I'm in my nightgown!"
"And we're alone." He set the camera aside, "Besides, you've sent me pictures of you in far less. Now, come sit down and eat."
"Wherever did you get a camera," She grumbled as she sat, filling a plate with eggs and buttering a piece of toast. "I should take that thing from you."
"The hotel is lending it to us, for our walk later."
"Walk?"
Will added a few more pieces of bacon to her plate. "Yes, exactly how much exercise have you been getting since you came here?" She pursed her lips and looked down to her plate. "That's what I thought, so we're going on a walk along the lake later, to the Hawgoode. I thought we might like some pictures of it." He wiggled the camera in front of her, "And I think I'll just ask the hotel if we can buy this from them."
She snorted, "Let me buy you a new one when we get home."
"No, I prefer this." He lifted it up, catching her with a forkful of eggs in the viewfinder. "You look so pretty through it, and I know a new camera can't compare." She rolled her eyes at that, and he smiled. Ana was coming back to herself, at least a bit. "Now, eat up so we can head on down to the ship." He kept an eye on her eating, and he couldn't help but notice that she only took a single helping of each item. He took eggs from his own plate and added them to hers, and sat until she had eaten every bit of food.
She grumbled as she stripped out of her nightgown and donned her chemise, "Honestly Will, you don't have to fuss over every bit of food."
"I can tell you haven't been eating." He replied, lightly lacing her corset. "Now, did you bring a coat?"
"Of course I brought a coat." Ana snorted, and they were shortly dressed for a cold walk. Will grasped his wife's hand through their thick gloves, and held her close as they stepped outside. The sand of the beach was covered by a covering of snow, and both crunched underneath their feet as they made their way towards the massive red bulk of the Hawgoode. They were not the only ones, a good crowd had gathered around the ship and Will spotted a couple of newspaper cameras set up. Ana glanced over to him, "Looks like this is quite the draw."
"Yes," Will tried to move around the crowd, although he did pause for a moment to snap a picture of the Hawgoode by herself. "Let's see how close we can get." For all that the ship was grounded, she was still in the water. But they were able to get relatively close to the bow, close enough to make out windows and even rivets on her hull. He could hear the crowd behind them cheering on one man who had decided to brave the cold surf to see if he could climb aboard, and he held Ana a little closer. He could tell she was watching the man try and surge through the cold water, and he cast about for something to distract her. "Now, how exactly do these ships work? I mean in terms of loading and unloading, I don't see any hatches on the sides."
She shook her head, "They're on top, and there's no crates. It's all grain or ore and they just send them down spillways and into the hold. They use steam shovels to empty them."
"Rather cumbersome way of going about things, if you ask me." He muttered, pulling on her arm to move them away from the attempted boarder who was currently hooting about how cold the water was. Neither of them needed to hear that. The snow crunched underneath their feet, and Will huddled close to keep the wind off of her. "Is there anything else you need to do before we leave?"
"Leave?" She sounded confused. "When are we leaving?"
"Tomorrow, if I can arrange everything." He felt her stop, and she withdrew her hand from his. "We don't need to be here any longer than that."
"But what about-"
"It's your managers here that need to handle everything, not you. That's why you hired them."
She bit her lip, thinking. "I need to return those reports, and see if they're doing anything for the families. Not to mention the wireless order for the other ships."
"You," Will picked up her hands, kissing them through the gloves. "Need to stay here and rest. I can handle all of that, and arrange for the car to be hooked up to a train."
"Will, you," She sighed, looking down. "You don't need to do that."
"Yes, I do." He tucked her hand to his arm, and gave her a smile. "And I need to purchase this camera from the hotel." She chuckled at that, and he counted that as a victory. At this point any smile or squeeze of her hand was all he could have wanted. They didn't pass back by the Hawgoode, instead climbing up the shore and back into town. Some progress on cleaning up was being made, a veritable army of men and boys were out and shoveling streets.
Ana still slipped on a patch of ice, and Will quickly caught her. She glanced up to him, "Thank you."
"I'll never let you fall." He replied, holding her close and just breathing her in for a moment. Ana leaned into him, and he drew her aside to clear the path. He brushed his glove over her cheek, "Ana, you have to stop thinking about it."
"But it's all still happening." She mumbled into his coat, and Will opened it to wrap the front around her.
He shushed her quietly, "Exactly, which is why we need to leave. Things can be dealt with without you worrying yourself into an early grave. Now, the hotel." She nodded, but didn't leave his coat. Will pressed a kiss to the side of her head, "I can't exactly walk with you still there." She blushed and stepped away, but Will quickly took her hand again. Finding the hotel wasn't very hard, and Will gave the manager a smile as they entered. "My compliments on your camera, sir."
"I'm glad that it pleased you," The manager stepped forward, holding out his hand. "We can see the pictures developed and mailed to you."
Will look aside to Ana, "Actually, I would like to purchase this one."
"Sir, we need to use it to for other guests."
Will waved away that concern, watching as a small smile appeared on Ana's face. "And I imagine your guests would much prefer a brand new one. How much for it?"
"Seventy-five," The manager answered after a moment. "Since I will have to purchase another."
"That's robbery." Ana spoke up, her brow furrowed. "Fifty."
"Sixty."
Will looked to Ana, who gave a slight nod. "Very well, add it onto the tab." After that bargaining it was back to the hotel room, both of them shedding coats after the door was closed. He watched Ana unbuttoning her waistcoat, "I'll head back out in a moment, and you can spend the time resting." He moved to the bed, turning down the freshly made blankets and fluffing a pillow. When he turned back Ana was down to her shirtwaist, her skirt and petticoat on the floor. He swallowed as she shed her final piece, leaving her in her corset and chemise. Ana seemed to shiver as he approached, his fingers on the laces. "May I?"
"Yes," Her voice was tremulous, and she almost jumped when he began to unlace her. Soon enough the corset was on the floor, and she shivered. "Thank you."
Will couldn't help himself, he let his hands rest on her waist and dropped his head to her shoulder. "I don't have to run out straight away you know, I could stay for a moment." He wanted her, wanted to see her forget what had happened and focus only on his touch. He gently tugged her back against him, "If you like."
He could see her close her eyes, her breath shaky. "You should head out, if we're to catch the train tomorrow." Will pursed his lips, but nodded. It was her choice after all, and he did have quite a bit to do. Ana followed as he drew his coat back on, "I'll probably be sleeping when you come back, but you could join me?"
Will caught up her hands, kissing the palm of one and pressing it to his cheek. "Noting could stop me." Ana held his gaze for just a moment before her hand dropped away and she turned toward the bed. Will made sure to do his coat up over his clothes correctly, taking a bit longer to watch as his wife settled herself down. He drew the curtains before he left, and pulled the collar of his coat up. He'd tucked the papers from the offices in his pocket, and quickly had a cab drop him off outside.
The clerk from yesterday answered the door again, "Oh, Mr. Murdoch. Hello, again."
Will nodded to him, "Sorry about yesterday."
"I should apologize sir," The clerk opened the door wide to allow him in. "I shouldn't have acted as I did."
"It's alright, you didn't know me from Adam." Will shrugged, stamping the snow off his feet before stepping inside. "I've got some papers to return."
The clerk held his hand out. "Ah, the ones Mrs. Murdoch requested? I can see them back." He puttered off after Will had handed them over, and he mounted the stairs to the offices up above. As before most of them were empty, but Will quickly found the head manger in the only occupied one.
The man stood, "Mr. Murdoch, sir, please come in."
"Thank you, Mr.-" Will cut himself off, "I'm afraid I didn't catch your name yesterday."
"Joseph Chelsea, sir." He gestured towards the chair on the other side of the desk. "Please, sit. Is there anything I can do for you, or Mrs. Murdoch?"
Will lowered himself down, "I was hoping to get any more word for Mrs. Murdoch before we leave."
"Ah, well, nothing has been reported beyond what we had yesterday." Chelsea busied himself with various papers on his desk. "Some towns in both countries are reporting bodies washing up but none of ours."
"That's horrible."
Chelsea looked up, curious. "It's not that out of the ordinary, sir. The Lakes tend to keep the men they take, and November storms like this aren't that unusual. We usually see at least one ship lost to them each year, sometimes more."
The logical part of Will's brain that had dealt with weather almost as long as he had been alive rebelled. "If these storms aren't unusual then why are any ships out in November?"
"Well, it's up to the captains. And the weather bureau reports they get are wrong more than they're right. I'd assume Captain Frein thought he knew the best."
"Anastasia mentioned that the ships that had wireless stayed in and survived." Will couldn't help the anger in his voice. "I would have thought you would have made every bit of information available to him if he was to make his own decisions."
"I know you are a merchantman yourself, Mr. Murdoch," Chelsea spread his hands. "You understand how much they gossip, if we gave them wireless systems it would be over for us out there!"
Will bit his tongue for a moment, controlling the initial rage he felt. "So you're saying that you are not intending to order wireless for the other ships?"
"No," Chelsea laughed, leaning back in his chair. "I assume you understand how hysterical Mrs. Murdoch is because of all of this, she was simply overreacting." He sighed, pinching his nose. "Although after what was said when she got here I can't blame her."
Will had been intending to lash into the man for his insult to Ana, but held himself in check for a moment. "What was said to her?"
"Oh, a mother was here with her children and yelled at Mrs. Murdoch that she was a widow and her children fatherless all because of her." Chelsea waved it away, "Not that she really did have anything to do with it, she wasn't even here. You know how women get, all hysterical."
Will choked down a curse, Ana had hardly given orders for the men to put themselves in danger. And Chelsea here wasn't exactly helping calm him down. "Regardless," He took a deep breath, "You're still refusing to follow her orders."
Chelsea glared, "I'm simply waiting for whatever momentary passion she has passes."
Will stood at that, glaring down at him. "You will order those wireless systems."
"Sir, you don't have any influence in the company." A confident grin spread across the man's face. "I'm afraid that you can't order anything done."
He drew in a sharp breath, because to be quite honest, Chelsea was right. Will didn't have any right to order the man about, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. "So you refuse to listen to one of the company's owners, simply because you believe she is hysterical. Shall I get Mrs. Dalian to send down a similar order? Would you follow that?"
Chelsea furrowed his brow. "I should have to think it over. The costs associated with those systems are quite high, and to multiply them by the number of ships we have would be almost enough to wipe out our profits for this branch. I can't reasonably spend all of our profits to satisfy her wishes."
"You will." Will slammed his hand down on the desk, leaning over the man. "You will order them and the staff to attend to them immediately."
"I will not be ordered about by you. You have no authority to order me, you are only an officer of the company, below me." Chelsea stood, forcing Will back. "I can tell that you refuse to listen to anything beyond what your wife says and I am asking you to leave these offices immediately." Will had his fist clenched and was considering giving the man a haymaker when the door banged open and the clerk from the front stumbled in. Chelsea spat at him, "What is it?"
"Sir, I-" The clerk was pale, and Will saw Chelsea's face pale as well. "Mrs. Dalian is here for you."
"Indeed I am." Ruth's voice was calm and composed, and she swept in in a stylish mink coat and sable muff. "I thought that both owners should be present after such a tragedy. I understand that my daughter is currently indisposed, so you can deal with me." She gave Will a smile. "And my son-in-law, of course. I fully trust him to act as a proxy for Anastasia."
Will nodded to her, "Ruth."
She smiled and sat in Will's chair, gesturing for both of them to resume their seats. "Shall we discuss this like civilized people?"
"Mrs. Dalian," Chelsea stammered, watching as the clerk brought in another chair for Will. "I wasn't expecting you."
"I should think not considering that I only just got off the train." Ruth caught the clerk by the arm, "Could you be a dear and bring up a round of tea and coffee? And perhaps some food?" The clerk hurriedly bowed and left the room, the glass in the door shivering as he did. "Now, which one of you would like to explain why I could hear you arguing as soon as I stepped foot inside?"
Will jumped on his chance. "Ana said that she wished to have wireless systems on the new ship and to fit the others with them. Mr. Chelsea here is refusing to follow her orders."
"I was simply waiting for her emotions to settle down before making a decision." Joseph held up his hands, shaking slightly. "What she's asking for is very expensive and I wanted to make sure she didn't change her mind before we ordered them." The silence after he spoke stretched for a bit, so he blundered on. "She also said she wanted turbines for the new ship, I just don't think she has a firm grasp of the costs yet. She's only been acting in this capacity for a little over a year, I've been managing these operations for eight years and working for the company for ten!"
Ruth raised an eyebrow, "You're assuming that we wouldn't draw from our investments in order to fund these expenses?"
"I would never assume." Chelsea ran his hand along the edge of his desk, and Will couldn't help but enjoy seeing the man squirm. It lasted a bit longer though as the clerk came back in with a pot of tea, cream, sugar, a pot of coffee and mugs and cups for all of them. A loud bark echoed up from below through the open door, one that Will knew quite well, but it made Chelsea jump. "What is that?"
"My wife's dog." Will answered, making a cup of tea for himself. "Don't worry, he's quite well behaved."
"And he has two of our servants to watch him." Ruth sipped at her coffee, sighing. "Ah, now that is better. Don't you think so, Mr. Chelsea?"
The coffee in his mug shook as he sipped, brown droplets splattering the edge of his desk. "Yes, much. Mrs. Dalian, I want you to know that I never intended to fight on these issues. I was going to wire back to the main offices for further instructions, I swear."
"I'm sure you were." Ruth's tone of voice made it very clear that she didn't. "And yet you had an owner of the company here, had orders from her, told her you would follow them and then dismissed them entirely." She blew gently on her coffee. "You must understand, that doesn't look good."
Will could swear her could see Chelsea sweating, and he sipped at his tea with a smile. "I can assure you that my wife would agree."
"I can," The manager stammered, "I can make out the orders right now, I assure you."
"There's no need," Ruth smiled, "I've already seen to it that your staff has already made the orders for the wireless and given them the funds to see to them." She was clearly relishing this. "The turbines will be seen to by the shipyard. But I must say Mr. Chelsea, I am highly disappointed in your actions during this event." The man visibly swallowed as Ruth let him dangle for a moment. "Now, have you made payments to the families?"
"The insurance company is seeing to that," Joseph scrambled for some papers from his desk, laying them out. "And the Lake Carriers Association is figuring out exactly how much to each family."
Ruth considered the papers he put forward, a single gloved finger tracing its way down. "Hmm, I believe we should supplement the payment to each family, from our personal funds of course." She looked to Will, "How much do you think would be appropriate, Mr. Murdoch?"
Will sipped his tea for a moment, thinking. "Perhaps two hundred to each family?"
"I think that is just right." Ruth nodded, standing and looking down to Chelsea. "Now, will I have to ask your staff to see to that or can I trust you to see the money to each family."
Joseph floundered to his feet. "I shall see to it immediately, Mrs. Dalian."
"I will have Mr. Keller come see how you are getting on in the next month or so." Ruth held out a hand, very clearly meaning for Will to take it. He did so, tucking it around his arm. "When he comes back we shall discuss your continued employment with Dalian Shipping."
Chelsea lurched for the door, opening it. "I will improve myself, you have my word."
"I hope so." Ruth paused for a moment as she went out the door. "And in the future, when Mr. Murdoch has an order from my daughter to relay, you shall treat him as if she was right beside him. I do not want to hear the word hysterical in my offices ever again, am I clear?"
"Of course, ma'am." Chelsea did all but bow them out, and Will couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at the way his mother-in-law had so thoroughly dressed the man down. The office staff almost seemed to view her as a goddess come down to earth, and all stood respectfully as she made her way towards the door. Rigel ruined the moment though, happily dragging Reggie behind him as he saw Will.
Will used his unoccupied arm to pet him behind his ears. "You didn't have to bring everyone, you know."
"Oh hush," Ruth tapped his arm as she released him, sending her hands back into her muff. "It will provide a sense of normalcy, which I know we all need at the moment. I've already seen that the car will be hooked to the next train in the morning, and we have a cab to see us back to the hotel." She waited until they were all ensconced in the somewhat warmer cab interior. "Now, how is Anastasia?"
"Tired, and she was very upset by what happened." Will sighed, leaning back into the bench. "One of the family's yelled something quite rude to her when she got to the offices and I fear that she has taken it to heart."
"That poor girl," Reggie mumbled, although he immediately looked down. "My apologies, Mrs. Dalian."
"Reggie, you know full well we are not that formal when we're alone." Ruth demonstrated this by throwing her muff aside to clasp her hands in Rigel's hair. "And you are quite right, I'm afraid that Anastasia will need all of us to help now. Try to cheer her up, and don't let her near any drink." She looked over to Will, "I've already had Peggy lock things up at your house."
Will pursed his lips, "Why not just throw it all down the drain?"
"Because I know it's high quality," Ruth smiled, "Anastasia would be quite upset if it weren't available once she feels herself again. Are there any restaurants that you've noticed? She might like a nice dinner."
Louise spoke up, "It looks like things are pretty well shut up, ma'am."
"Yes, the hotel wasn't even sure they would have had breakfast for us this morning." Will nodded, "So I think we shall have to make do with what we can get." That lead to some grumbling, but they all generally agreed that they could deal with it for the night. They'd be home tomorrow, after all. When they reached the hotel, Will paused outside the room. He looked to Reggie, "I can take Rigel, go help Ruth settle in." The leash was handed over quickly, and Will knelt down to press his head to Rigel's. "Now, you have a very important job. Go wake her up, and make her happy."
Hoping that the dog understood him, he slowly opened the door and let him trot inside ahead of him. There was a good deal of snuffling, and Will could make out the bed through the weak sunlight that managed to make its way through the curtains. Ana was still in bed, laying on her back, which meant that she was in a perfect position for Rigel to leap up onto the bed and drape himself over her. Ana's hand moved up to pet him, her voice soft. "Rigel?"
"Yes," Will spoke quietly, coming to sit on the bed with Rigel who was currently snuggling up to his wife. "Your mother decided to follow me, and she brought him."
Ana struggled up, dislodging Rigel but only briefly. "Mother's here?"
"I met her at the offices, but she wants you to rest." Will leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek, holding her head close as he rested his head on hers. "As do I, but I thought Rigel might help things. I could always stay too."
"Yes," Her breath was warm against his cheek, and Will quickly stripped down to his shirt and trousers before crawling under the blankets. Rigel took his usual place when he was on the bed, down at their feet with his tail thumping happily against the mattress. When Will hesitatingly put an arm around her, she leaned into and molded herself to his side. Her eyes were still sleepy when she looked up to him, her mouth open. "Will, thank you."
He chuckled, leaning down to press a kiss to those lips. "I'm your husband, I think it's my job."