‘Well, the number of days at sea, how many people. I bet I could make a good guess about what they needed to do.’
Emma sits up straighter in her chair. ‘Well, for a start, Les already worked out that they would have needed 1,190 buttonholes.’
Clem raises her eyebrows. ‘There we go. And what else? First question, how many passengers? Do you know?’
Emma makes a grab for the notebook in her backpack, ‘There could have been around 2,500 passengers, but there were 1,317 on board for the maiden voyage, plus the crew.’
‘That’s a big ship,’ Clem acknowledges. ‘I know they’re building some liners that will take, oh, five thousand and more, but theQE2was still a world of a ship and that took around two thousand passengers. And how full the ship is doesn’t matter as much as how full it could be. You’ve still got to have everywhere looking its best.’
A ship full of flowers.
‘Now, the work would depend on how long they were going to be at sea.’
Emma is already on it. ‘From leaving Southampton, it was due to take about seven days to New York, via Cherbourg and Queenstown.’
Clem chews on her thumbnail. ‘You’d have to change the flowers atleastthe once. The thing is they’d want the ship to be looking good when they got to New York. Ma, she said they did tours of theQE2when they got to America– you know, VIPs and such like coming to have a poke around.’
Emma stretches her legs out, luxuriating in the warmth of the sunshine and the absorbing conversation. She remembers a piece she’d read during her research and turns eagerly towards Clem. ‘TheOlympichad eight thousand visitors when it first docked in New York.’
‘TheOlympic?’
‘It was theTitanic’s sister ship; they were built alongside each other, but theOlympicwas launched a year earlier. It was basically the same ship, but when it came to finishing theTitanic, they made some changes, like closing in one of the decks and turning one of the promenades into more cabins and a French-style café. It wasn’t that theTitanicwas so much bigger than theOlympic, in fact it was only three inches longer– it was just heavier– and that’s how it came to be known as the largest ship in the world.’
It amazes Emma how much she now knows about theTitanic.
Clem nods and puts her wine glass down. ‘So, where were we? Your florist would have to change the flowers at least the once.’ Clem looks thoughtful for a moment. ‘Do you know whether they were getting telegrams on board?’
Emma looks up. ‘Yes, they were. In fact, there were so many messages to do with the passengers that they weren’t following the shipping news and weather– that was all part of the problem. Somebody in theTitanic’s radio room actually sent a message saying, “Shut up, I’m busy”!’
Clem shakes her head, adding, ‘Well, that’s more flowers for you. People sending their loved ones flowers on board.’
‘So, you think there really would have been a florist?’ Emma asks, trying hard not to plead.
‘Look, I can only go by my mother’s work, but I know she was often rushed off her feet. I’d say theTitanicwould need someone on board, someone who had a gift with flowers.’ She looks pensive for a moment. ‘But without a shop to manage, they might be working at other stuff, too. That’s my guess.’
Not The Florist, then, but a stewardess (or steward) who had a gift with flowers– Emma rather likes that thought. She thanks Clem and tells her to wait while she goes next door to a delicatessen and buys a bottle of Prosecco and three cakes. She lets Clem’s assistant, Gilly, choose the first cake and pours some Prosecco into her mug, before returning to the garden.
Clem looks as though she is asleep, but she opens an eye when she hears the glug and fizz of the wine. ‘It’s a shame Betty couldn’t come,’ Clem says, raising her glass in a toast to her.
‘I know.’ Emma pauses. ‘When we went to Stamford together, I think she enjoyed it…’
‘But?’ Clem looks at her over her wine glass.
Emma doesn’t say anything.
Clem laughs. ‘Did she talk a lot?’
Emma gasps in relief. ‘She never stopped.’
‘She does that when she’s nervous– doesn’t pause for a single breath. It’s quite something.’
‘Nervous? You think so? I thought she was really looking forward to it.’
‘Doesn’t mean she wasn’t nervous,’ Clem says, leaning forward and choosing a cake.
‘I’d not thought of that.’
‘And you, well…’ Clem is studying Emma.
