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Tango
As he pulled away, she cocked her head to one side, the soft skin of her alabaster cheek brushing his and said in a breathy whisper, “Well then, dance with me.”
Smiling a crooked grin, Charlie nodded, saying “All right, then, Miss Meg.” Taking her hand in his, he led her out to the makeshift dance floor, muttering quietly under his breath “but you’ll be sorry you asked.”
Except she wasn’t sorry. As the rhythm of drums and violin increased, he wrapped one arm tightly around her waist, still holding her other hand in his and began to move her swiftly around the dance floor. Neither of them had any clue how to do the steps the Third Class passengers around them knew so well, but that didn’t stop them from trying, and when they couldn’t figure it out at all, Charlie would take the lead in one of the many ballroom dances he did know, which oddly enough, from his perspective, she seemed to know as well. He twirled h
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“Everything okay?” Charlie asked as he stepped over to where Meg was still standing, her eyes cast down to the floor in contemplation.After a moment, Meg nodded. She finally pulled her eyes away from the floor, and as she leaned in, she whispered into Charlie’s ear, “Can we go somewhere quieter, where we can talk? The promenade perhaps?”“Of course,” Charlie replied, raising his eyebrows in surprise. Taking her by the hand, he carefully led her over to the stairs, ignoring the jealous eyes that followed them as he did so.Meg knew the change in location meant Jonathan wouldn’t find them directly, but her conversation with Kelly had sobered her up a bit, and she concluded she had some important things to say to Charlie, things she could hardly say while gallivanting around the dance floor.Once they reached the deck, Meg began to shiver. At first, she thought it might be because of the conversation she was a
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Meg’s forehead furrowed in confusion. “What? No. I’m not sure I understand what could possibly be so humorous,” she insisted, seeing the amusement playing in the corners of his eyes. “Charlie, I’m serious. There are so many things that you don’t understand—important things.”Charlie did his best to stifle his laughter, and with both of her hands in his, he pulled her closer, saying, “I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you. I promise. Just listen, Meg, whatever it is that makes you think you’re not good enough for me, it doesn’t matter. You’re wrong.”She shifted her position again, pulling back a bit and turning to face him even more. “No, Charlie. That’s just it. Don’t you wonder why I won’t tell you my last name? Or who I was before I got on this boat? Doesn’t it bother you at all that I won’t answer any of your questions about my family or
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When they reached her door, Meg realized Charlie was going to kiss her again, and she was going to let him, because this was likely the last time it would ever happen. She would stand there in her borrowed dress, outside a Steerage cabin aboard the grandest ship in the world, and let her fiancé of three years kiss her for only the second time, while he still had no idea that she was a lying, cheating, corrupted whore. Because that’s what people like Mary Margaret Westmoreland did.When she finally returned her attention to the gentleman before her, he was standing very close to her, his green eyes smiling at her, despite the terror she was only barely managing to hold back. “Thank you for asking me to dance,” he said quietly, smiling down at her as he brushed her hair behind her shoulders and then wrapped his hands around her waist.She placed her hands on his chest and managed to return his smile. “Thank you for… everything else,&
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Meg had slept in the morning of April 13 well past the last call for breakfast. Kelly had also slumbered on for quite some time, though hungry children were able to poke and prod enough to finally get her out of bed in time for a morning meal. While Daniel was still in obvious pain, he had managed to leave the small cabin with the boisterous little lass, her sister, and their overly tired mother, leaving Meg to roll back over and continue what could no doubt be considered the best sleep of her life.There had been no nightmares, despite the fact that she knew she’d be walking in to a real live one later that evening, and she had dreamt only of Charlie and the life they would have had together had she only done the right thing in the first place. When she finally pulled herself from bed and dressed just before noon, she did so with an air of solemnity. Regardless of how she handled herself this evening—walking into the hornet’s nest without giving him fair wa
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Meg took a deep breath and steadied herself to say a phrase she had only repeated to those the very closest to her over the last several years. “My Uncle Bertram began molesting me when I was seven years old.” Molly gasped, but Meg didn’t wait. She needed to power on or else she would lose her courage to speak. “I thought it was my fault, that I’d done something wrong. I tried to tell my mother, but she punished me severely for saying such things about my uncle. Anytime I tried to reach out to anyone, that person would end up hurt… or worse. I even contemplated telling Charlie, but my mother read everything I wrote to him. I had no one to turn to, and despite the fact that marrying him would provide a means of escape, all my mother ever talked about was marrying into the Ashton family so we could live by their means. My mother is a greedy, vindictive woman. I have no idea how someone as kindhearted and loving as my father could have ever seen her
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