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Her eyes shine with tears and she looks out at the flat ocean. ‘All those lives lost because of a view. I can hardly bear to think of it.’

‘It will go down in history as one of the greatest tragedies.’

‘And one of the most senseless.’ She turns to me, her pale face bathed softly in sunlight. ‘Thank you for looking after me, Miss Fleet. If it wasn’t for you, I might be at the bottom of the sea with all those other poor souls.’

I smile at her warmly. I’ve only known her a couple of days, but I’m truly fond of her. ‘I wasn’t going to leave you, Ruby.’

‘You’re very kind, ma’am. I’m sure many people thought only of themselves.’

‘You’re family.’

She blinks at me in amazement. I don’t imagine many mistresses would consider their servants family.

Her eyes drop to her hands and she takes a deep breath.

A moment passes during which neither of us speaks.

Finally, she nods thoughtfully and lifts her gaze to the horizon once more.

‘You’re the only family I have, ma’am. Your words mean more to me than you could ever imagine. ’

I put my hand on hers and squeeze it. She’s too overcome with emotion to smile.

Cavill finds me sometime later, leaning on the railing, looking out at the vast expanse of ocean. It will take a couple of days to get to New York. I wonder how much longer I’ll need to stay in this time. I trust that when the moment comes to leave, I’ll recognise it.

‘Miss Fleet, I want to thank you,’ Cavill says, slipping in beside me. He’s so close, our arms are almost touching. I look into his weathered face, at the lines and shadows that grief has left upon his skin, and feel ever more urgently the longing to stop this charade and tell him who I am.

‘I thought you’d died,’ I say softly. ‘How did you escape?’

‘I wouldn’t have survived if it had not been for you.

’ He looks across at me. His face is sombre, the frown lines deep upon his brow.

‘I did as you said. I raided the bar in the smoking room and downed as much whisky as I could manage without losing consciousness. I found Lester on the boat deck, trying to bribe his way onto a lifeboat. He wasn’t having any luck.

There were no lifeboats left. I thought we were doomed. ’

‘So, what did you do?’

‘I did what you told me to do. I persuaded him to come with me and we went in search of a collapsible lifeboat. How did you know about those?’

I shrug. ‘I talked with the crew. You learn a lot of things if you talk to people.’

He nods slowly, weighing up my answer, but I can tell that he knows there’s more to it.

‘We found a collapsible but were unable to get it upright. The water was coming in too fast. It was mayhem. So many people trying to get aboard and then it slipped away, into the waves. I managed to swim out to it and climb onto the hull. Lester was right behind me. I pulled him up beside me where we clung on for dear life. If it hadn’t been for the whisky, I believe I would have died of cold.

’ He knits his fingers and stares at them as if working out how best to formulate his next question.

I know what’s coming and frantically try to think of a good answer.

‘How did you know about the Carpathia ?’ Before I have time to reply, he adds.

‘You see, I can’t make you out, Miss Fleet.

You knew something terrible was going to happen.

You were right. Was it just female intuition?

’ He turns to me, and his blue eyes are full of confusion.

‘And you called me Cavill. You called me Cavill in a way that was strangely familiar.’ He shakes his head and throws his gaze onto the waves churning below us.

His frown deepens. ‘Perhaps grief has made me find echoes of my wife where there are none.’ His voice cracks and it’s as if he’s now talking to himself.

‘But you’re so very like the woman she once was. ’

At those words, my chest tightens as if crushed by a great weight. How I want to tell him the truth. That I’m not Constance, or Hermione, but Pixie Tate. To tell him to look deep into my eyes and find me there.

I’d recognise your soul if it was a ray of light among a thousand rays.

I see the muscles in his face harden as he fights to control his emotions.

‘I know you,’ he murmurs emphatically, his gaze digging into mine, probing, seeking. ‘I don’t know why, or how, but I do. Who are you?’

I can feel tears stinging and struggle to hold them back. ‘Don’t ask me that. You would never believe me.’

‘Try me.’

‘I can’t.’

‘You must.’

I hesitate. His familiar eyes hold me in their thrall and I feel myself sinking into them, weakening. Surrendering.

Perhaps I can disclose a fundamental truth he can believe, without compromising Constance. ‘I will tell you one thing and one thing only.’ My heart is now thumping wildly, hitting my ribcage like a hammer.

‘What?’

He leans in.

‘You are very dear to me.’

With those words I hurry away through the clusters of survivors who are gathered on the deck.

Tears blur my vision so that all I see are great brush strokes of greys and black, like a painting smudged in the rain.

I need to get away from Cavill before I tell him too much.

I curse my weakness and remind myself of what I’m here to do.

Who I’m here for . I need to find Lester and get off this boat as swiftly as possible.

I must put Cavill out of my mind now and concentrate on my mission.

I haven’t slid for him . I’ve slid for Lester.

It’s Lester’s soul I must save. That is my only job.