6 January 2013
The end of a journey was always the hardest part for Winthorpe, the third Earl of Ramsbottom. During his tour of the former colony's he had great difficulty leaving whatever vessel he happened to be on. He had an irrational fear of land and he also feared Americans. He could not explain quite why exactly, despite his privileged education at the hands of the great educational establishments of Botswana during the early to late 1880's. His condition was not made any better for he was about to step foot on American soil.
The Titanic had been in dock for roughly seven days, quarantined due to an outbreak of norovirus. Food supplies were running out and morale was at an all time low. The ships only form of entertainment were a quintet that insisted on playing music no matter what. They had played the same song almost non stop for the full week.
Winthorpe was at his wits end and to escape the hell of first class he disguised himself an Irish street urchin and infiltrated third class. During this time he befriended a young American teen named Edward Cullen. Edward was a miserable soul and preferred his own company for the most part, unless that was if he managed to find someone who was equally as miserable as he.
Winthorpe in his disguise was not miserable at all. You could say that he was quite the opposite. He was the life and soul of the party, however party's were few and far between in the lower decks of third class. Parties were reserved for the well heeled dignitaries of first class, not due to cost, it was because everyone in third class had hepatitis-a, sharing food with these people was life threatening. Sometimes second class passengers were allowed to attend first class party's but only if they had a dinner jacket that did not smell of horse and wet dog.
Edward and Winthorpe did not get on. They had nothing in common. Disappointed by his inability to find entertaining entertainment, Winthorpe abandoned his disguise and went back to the comforts of first class where he proceeded to eat cheese from various continents and drink the finest wines for the rest of the quarantine period.
Winthorpe had a man servant as any person of substance would. His name was not important. Winthorpe would only call him "you" or on occasion "peasant". Peasant knew his place in the world. He was a fine man servant. His circumstances meant that he was ideal for the role, first and foremost he was a man and secondly he was a servant. When he was not on duty he would on occasion mingle with others who were also in service aboard the ship. His favourite pastime while out a sea was iceberg spotting. He had in fact succeeded in identifying one just a few days before they entered into dock. If it wasn't for Peasant, there was one hundred percent chance that the Titanic would have hit it, who knows what would have happened if she did.
Winthorpe was eternally grateful for his Peasants contribution in the avoidance of the crash, as was the captain of the vessel. As a reward Peasant was given an orange which he shared amongst his servant brethren. The vitamins from the orange did help speed up their recovery from the norovirus and after about two days in quarantine the ships doctor, Dr Dre, prescribed oranges for all. Although those in second and third class could not afford them.
With the virus spreading through the ship there was talk of throwing those in third class overboard. The idea was shot down when the first class passengers realised that if this was done, there would be no one to fetch the wine at lunch and their slippers and pipe on an evening.
The captain of the Titanic formed a committee who's single task was to find a resolution where everyone could benefit....
The Heart Of The Titanic (2) • Opuss № I