Echoes of Titanic (31 page)

Walter nodded. “Probably. Instead, your father decided to dissolve the COO position and divide out its duties, most of which came to me.”

“Leaving poor Gloria passed over again.”

“I'm afraid so. Maybe you're right. Maybe her resentment had festered in the years since. She always worked well with me, but then again she was a professional, never the kind to wear her heart on her sleeve.”

Kelsey nodded in agreement. Some of Gloria's biggest lessons to her as
mentor involved keeping a level head and making business decisions with facts, not emotions. Acting from hurt feelings wouldn't fit Gloria's character. If she had chafed working under Walter, she had kept her feelings in check and done an excellent job without revealing what was really going on inside.

Which had probably only served to make the situation worse.

“Anyway,” Kelsey concluded, “I think Gloria may have taken all of that rejection harder than anyone realized. I think she'd probably been simmering with resentment ever since, just waiting for her chance to get even. That sounds impossible, I know, but it's the best explanation I've been able to come up with.”

They were both silent for a moment. Kelsey watched a plate of nachos go by and felt her stomach rumbling. Maybe when they were finished she would order some dinner for herself.

“But why now?” Walter asked. “It's been five years. Why choose this point in time to sabotage the company?”

Kelsey shrugged. “I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with the big PR campaign we've been conducting to promote the Tate name. How better to bring the company to its knees than by letting that campaign reach a fever pitch—all Tate, all the time—and then slam the Tate name with allegations of fraud? It's brilliant, actually. She sent that letter to Rupert Brennan a few weeks ago and set off a chain of events that just might lead to the end of the company as we know it. Voilà, sweet revenge at last.”

Walter sipped at his tea for a moment and then spoke. “Let's say you're right and that's really what she was trying to do. But to what end? What did she hope to accomplish? She's an employee of B & T herself, not to mention a stockholder. By damaging the company, she'd only be hurting herself. As my mother used to say, she'd be cutting off her nose to spite her face.”

“Which is why none of this made sense until I heard about the hostile takeover.”

He looked at her, squinting, and then understanding slowly flooded his features. “The stock value.”

Kelsey nodded. “It's my theory that Gloria wanted to drive down the value of the stock so that the takeover would be more feasible for Queen's Fleet Management Group. I'm sure Pamela promised her a cushy new position after the takeover—maybe even at the top spot. Gloria wasn't just being spiteful for spite's sake, Walter. She was killing two birds with one stone.”

“You're talking about corporate sabotage, young lady.”

Kelsey raised her hands, palms upward. “Hey, don't shoot the messenger.”

With that, she sat back and waited for him to process her theory. The poor man looked stunned, a general who'd just learned there was a traitor in the ranks.

April 12, 1912

A
DELE

T
he sea was calm again on Friday, and Adele and Jocelyn had spent half the morning on the boat deck, visiting, reading, and warming themselves in the sun. Now that lunch was over, Adele had come back up to the boat deck again, alone this time, to wait for her Uncle Rowan. The air was colder than it had been that morning, but it was still pleasant enough to be outside, thanks to the warm new navy coat Aunt Oona had made for her prior to the voyage. Adele didn't even need her hand muff, though she was glad she'd thought to wear her gloves this time.

At the moment, Jocelyn was three decks down in the enclosed promenade. She had found some storybooks in the library and brought them with her, hoping to help entertain some of the children there. As for Tad, Adele had a feeling he was currently in the smoking room. She wasn't sure what the men did in there all day, but apparently that had quickly become one of his favorite places on the entire ship. At least he seemed to have made some new friends in there. Right now, Adele was grateful for the relative solitude of the boat deck as she waited for her uncle's arrival. They had an exciting appointment coming up in a little while, and she was relieved to have this chance to relax and focus on what lay ahead.

Once Uncle Rowan joined her, the two of them would be going into first class to have tea with Mr. Neville Williams. Only they had been invited, and though Adele wasn't sure why Jocelyn and Tad had been excluded from the
event, a part of her was glad. She hoped to discuss matters of business and finance with Mr. Williams, and that would be easier and far more pleasurable without the bored, glazed-over eyes of her cousin or the scornful, dismissive looks of Tad.

At least he had begun to tone down all of that a bit. Last night at dinner, Adele had been trying to calculate how many meals would be needed for the entire voyage. When she expressed her final estimate aloud, rather than ignoring her or making fun, Tad had actually responded with interest. Soon, they were entertaining everyone at the table with various facts they had learned about the galley; for example, that the ship had started out with fifty tons of meat and poultry and five and a half tons of fish, all served on twenty-one thousand plates and washed down with beverages in thirteen thousands cups.

It made for a fascinating discussion, and by the time the meal had drawn to a close and Adele pushed the last of her dessert aside, the two of them had moved on to a spirited debate about how much coal was burned in a single day in order to maintain a speed of twenty-two knots. By the time they finally agreed on six hundred tons a day, the conversation had shifted to whether that speed would allow
Titanic
to break the record for the fastest crossing of the North Atlantic. Tad claimed he had it on good authority that the ship was traveling fast enough to arrive a day early in New York, thus ensuring they would make it into the history books. Adele countered that this was just nonsensical smoking room talk, and it would be far too dangerous to maintain that speed through the ice fields to come.

After dinner, as the men and the women parted ways so that the ladies could visit the library and the gentlemen relax in the smoking room, Tad had actually taken hold of Adele's hand and brought it to his lips in farewell. She wasn't sure how she felt about such an action—or about him, for that matter—but she'd been flattered by his attentions regardless. Perhaps he was the one who had given a bad first impression and was not nearly as obnoxious as she'd thought.

“Adele!”

At the sound of her name, she turned to see her uncle moving toward her across the open deck, a wide smile on his face.

“Oh, good,” Rowan said, coming to a stop in front of her. “I had hoped you'd be out here already so that we would have a few moments to chat before going to tea.”

Adele noted that her uncle had changed into his finest suit for the occasion. She, too, had taken care with her appearance, styling her hair and donning another of her new dresses, an emerald-green wool crepe with a shadow lace collar and plaited-front skirt.

“You look absolutely lovely, by the way,” Rowan said, eyeing her outfit approvingly.

“And you, sir, look as if you must have wandered into second class by accident,” she replied with a smile. “Better get back to first class by dinnertime, or they will be missing you at the captain's table.”

A trio of female passengers began moving their way, so before the women could attempt to engage the two of them in friendly conversation, Rowan took Adele's arm and steered her in the opposite direction.

“Our mutual good looks aside,” he said jovially, “I need to bring you up to date on the situation with Mr. Williams before we see him. I apologize that you and I have not had the opportunity to speak alone prior to this.”

Adele told him not to worry, that she had known he would get to it eventually.

“If you recall from our conversation Tuesday night,” Rowan continued, “I told you that while I had been quite impressed with Neville's new company, Tad had not shared my high opinion. In the end, he chose not to invest, and so I had followed suit.”

“That's what you said on the train. I was disappointed, but I trust your judgment. There will be other opportunities for investment.”

“Yes, well, let me continue. You see, at the time I had deferred to Tad's expertise in the matter. He's young, yes, but I assumed Sean would not have sent him as his representative unless he possessed the ability to evaluate an investment properly. After all, Tad came with the authority to commit a much larger sum to Transatlantic Wireless on your father's behalf than the amount I had hoped to commit on yours. If he truly felt the company did not deserve the fifty thousand dollars Sean had allotted for the investment, who was I to think I knew better and hand over the money you had entrusted to me?”

She nodded. “I see what you mean.”

“You have strived so diligently over the years to create a large nest egg for yourself, and I have not taken lightly the trust you've given me to make the decision about whether or not to invest it in Transatlantic Wireless.”

“I have absolute faith in your judgment, Uncle Rowan,” Adele said,
glancing at the older man. With a twinkle in her eye, she added, “Though I assume what you are about to tell me now has to do with that last-minute ‘change of plans' you had on Wednesday morning, prior to our departure.”

He smiled. “You know me well. That's correct. Though I turned Neville down on Tuesday afternoon, I awoke Wednesday morning with a new view of the situation. The man had mentioned he would be attending a breakfast meeting with his partners there in Southampton prior to boarding the ship, and so while you and Jocelyn were dining with Tad at our hotel, I was paying a visit to that meeting to let Neville know that I wanted to invest with him after all.”

Adele stopped walking. “And?”

Rowan stopped as well, turning to face her. “And he was delighted to see me. He and I were given access to a private room where we conducted our transaction.” Lowering his voice to a whisper, Rowan added, “I am happy to tell you, my dear, that you are now the proud owner of ten one-thousand-dollar bonds from Transatlantic Wireless, Limited. They are in the safe in the purser's office, though I will gladly hand them over once we reach America.”

Thrilled, Adele gave her uncle a big hug. This was tremendous news! Not only did this make her a real, legitimate investor at last, it also gave her a wonderfully striking trump card, if needed.

“You must promise me something,” Adele whispered eagerly, gripping his hands. “Promise you won't breathe a word of this to my father.”

Rowan raised an eyebrow.

“Don't misunderstand. I actually think of this as his money,” she continued quickly. “After all, I wouldn't even
have
a nest egg if he hadn't sent funds for my support so regularly all these years.”

“Don't be modest, Adele. It was thanks to your tight budgeting and your clever little investments that you were able to grow each month's leftover cash into an amount so great.”

Adele shrugged. “Regardless, I would have none of it if not for him. I will be giving the bonds over eventually, but I need to do so in a way that serves as leverage—when I'm finished with college and ready to join Brennan & Company as an employee.”

“Leverage? What on earth are you talking about?”

“If my father resists having me in his employ, if he says no, that a woman has no place in business, I will tell him, ‘On the contrary, Father,' and then I will pull out the bonds and hand them over with a flourish. They will be
proof positive that I
do
know what I'm doing, that by using my money skills I managed to parlay a small portion of the monthly allowance he sent for my support into bigger and bigger investments until I worked it up to ten thousand dollars—which I then invested in bonds. He will have no choice at that point but to welcome me into the ranks.”

Adele was grinning at the very thought, but all Rowan could do was groan.

“Fine, I will do as you have requested,” he told her, shaking his head piteously, “but I don't think such a presentation will ever be needed. My brother is a fine man and a forward-thinking individual. He also loves you very much and will surely do whatever he can to make you happy, proof or not.”

Adele considered his words, hoping he was right but grateful to have the bonds just in case.

“In any event,” Rowan said, taking her arm and continuing their walk, “I would imagine that the reason Neville has invited us to tea today is to celebrate your investment and to assure you of its validity and potential.”

“You told him it was my money you were spending?”

“Not at the time, no. But after our tour of first class yesterday, he kept saying what an impressive young woman you were, and in the end I was unable to resist. I bragged about how you have strived over the years to amass such a tidy sum. He was deeply honored that I had chosen to entrust that amount to him on your behalf. When his invitation to tea arrived this morning and your name was included, I can't say I was all that surprised.”