“Yes, perhaps that’s not so surprising,” he said.
“I think they might be chatting somewhere. Or maybe having a stroll around the ship, maybe even in the rain since it’s a little lighter right now. Lighter than it has been, anyway. Luckily, I thinkthey’re both feeling well overall. Keeping their hands and minds occupied making clothing was not so tempting for either of them. Truthfully, I’m not even sure if Cassian knowshowto work a needle and thread.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t think so,” James said, huffing a light laugh. “Cassian Penn Livingston knitting? Not a chance. I’d have been beyond shocked to see him out here, fashioning a baby’s bonnet. In fact, I’d have needed another couple of swigs of laudanum to cope with the sight, maybe.”
Ethel began to chuckle.
“Yes, I would have been surprised, too,” she said. “But, well, Cassian has surprised me a lot over the last week.”
Ethel smiled wryly and lifted her eyebrows to emphasize her point. James’s face became hot, and he shoved his hands in his pockets.
Rocking back on his heels, he said, “I suppose that’s true. He has surprised me quite a bit, too. He’s not as... uncaring as he seemed to me when I first met him. Funnily enough, I still liked him then, even when I thought he was probably too selfish to see past his own nose. But he’s not like that. Not really.”
“He’s a complicated man,” Ethel said. “More so than I once thought as well.”
“Complicated is an apt description, I’d say,” James agreed. “Cassian Penn Livingston is a lot of things at once. Some of them bloody infuriating.”
Laughing lightly, Ethel said, “Good luck, James. I can imagine that he’s a hard man to please.”
James chuckled a bit more and shrugged.
“He is. But I like it that way.”
Ethel smiled up at him fondly. She reached out and patted the empty chair next to her.
“Would you like to sit with me?” she asked.
“Depends,” James said. “Can I make myself useful?”
“If you can knit.”
“I can. A little. I’m better at sewing, though.”
Ethel pursed her lips in thought. After a moment, she excused herself and walked over to a small group of women who were working on clothing on the other side of the room. James watched her chat with them for a minute or two. Then, Ethel returned with what looked like a partially finished shirt, along with a needle and thread.
“Here,” she said, handing the items to him. “One of the ladies over there started to sew a shirt for one of the surviving crew members. Apparently, he’s a fair bit taller than all ofCarpathia’s passengers and hasn’t been able to find an extra shirt that fits well.”
James inspected the fabric. “Did this used to be a bedsheet or something?”
“Most likely, yes. I made a little girl’s dress yesterday from a bedsheet.”
Running his fingers over the linen, James considered whether he ought to stay and work on it. He supposed a poorly sewn shirt would probably be better to that fellow than no shirt at all. And besides, someone had started it already. Hopefully he wouldn’t be able to botch the rest of it too badly.
“Alright, sure, I’ll help,” he said.
Both he and Ethel sat. All James needed to do was sew on the sleeves and then add the buttons. Not a small amount of work, but not impossible, even for a novice like him.
Over the next hour, James and Ethel worked side by side. James was surprised that he wasn’t as bad at sewing as he’d remembered. He couldn’t help but feel a little proud of his work, even after only finishing one of the sleeves. More than that, though, he felt so Goddamned happy to know he was helping.
“Are you looking forward to living in New York?” Ethel eventually asked.
“Yes and no,” he replied honestly. He lowered his voice even though it seemed as though no one else was close enough to hear them. “I’ve never even visited your country. I’m not certain how I’ll like it. Besides that, everything with me and Cassian feels so uncertain now. I’m not even sure what I’ll do for work, not to mention where I’ll live. Unfortunately, I’m not qualified for much. I was only a hall boy and a footman before starting as a steward for the White Star Line. And I can’t imagine that Cassian would want me to be someone else’s servant. He’s a bit protective. Or, well, possessive, even, as you can maybe imagine.”
Ethel let out a laugh mixed with a hum.
“Yes, I certainly can imagine that,” she said. “Judging by what I’ve witnessed so far, Cassian seems to be extremely taken with you. He’s enamored. And, yes, protective.”
James wrinkled his nose. Ethel had likely seen Cassian cuddling him over the last couple of days, hadn’t she?
