Women and Children First
They survived the Titanic, but their lives were changed forever…
Gill Paul
Copyright
The facts surrounding the sinking of the Titanic are portrayed accurately in this novel, but otherwise it is a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
AVON
A division of HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
A Paperback Original 2012
Gill Paul asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST. Copyright © Gill Paul 2012. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ISBN: 9781847563255
EPub Edition © FEBRUARY 2012 ISBN: 9780007453306
Version: 2018-06-05
Dedication
For Ana, Rhuaridh, Barnaby, Harvey and Florence
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Reg’s hands were shaking so hard he couldn’t hold the…
PART ONE
Chapter One
It was one in the morning and first-class victualling steward…
Chapter Two
Lady Juliette Mason-Parker knelt on the bathroom floor, acid scorching…
Chapter Three
Annie McGeown sat on the edge of a bunk and…
Chapter Four
Reg lay awake mulling over what he’d seen on the…
Chapter Five
Next morning at breakfast, Reg couldn’t meet Mrs Grayling’s eye,…
Chapter Six
After breakfast Margaret Grayling found a deckchair on the promenade…
Chapter Seven
At luncheon, first-class passengers could choose from a set menu…
Chapter Eight
The stewards were free from the end of lunch service,…
Chapter Nine
By dinner time on Saturday evening, Juliette was restless in…
Chapter Ten
Most tables in the first-class dining saloon seated eight people.
Chapter Eleven
After breakfast on Sunday morning, Annie McGeown went with her…
Chapter Twelve
As passengers began arriving for breakfast on Sunday morning, Reg…
Chapter Thirteen
John was worried about Reg. He seemed distracted on this…
Chapter Fourteen
‘I hope there isn’t some kind of illness being passed…
Chapter Fifteen
The engines had stopped almost immediately, and the silence that…
Chapter Sixteen
Annie McGeown was lying in her bunk unable to get…
Chapter Seventeen
As Reg walked along B Deck, passengers were beginning to…
Chapter Eighteen
When she woke, for a few seconds Juliette couldn’t remember…
Chapter Nineteen
‘Annie? It’s Eileen.’ The words were accompanied by urgent knocking.
Chapter Twenty
Reg walked over to the port side of the boat…
Chapter Twenty-One
A surge of third-class passengers arrived on the boat deck,…
Chapter Twenty-Two
The water came faster than Reg had expected and he…
Chapter Twenty-Three
Annie sat huddled on a bench in Lifeboat 13, so…
Chapter Twenty-Four
As she watched the Titanic sliding beneath the water, Juliette’s…
Chapter Twenty-Five
Reg was shivering convulsively and if it hadn’t been for…
Chapter Twenty-Six
‘Was that a shooting star?’
Chapter
