The shipbuilder's daughter

April 10th, 1912

« You will take good care of him, won't you James? » Lily asked the butler, hugging her dog for one last time before she has to leave. « Of course, Miss. Your little one will be treated as it was a member of the Royal Family » says James, warmly smiling to this young woman he had seen growing up through all these years. The little « Pep » Lily is cuddling is a Dachshund, which is quite small. She would have taken him with her on the maiden voyage if she and her father didn't plan to keep working, even on board.

The Andrews' luggage was set and brought together in frond of the main door, waiting for their owners to begin their incredible journey. « Ready, Lilybug? » Thomas Andrews asks his daughter, kindly looking at her saying her goodbyes to Pep. « I am » she says, giving one last kiss to the dog before standing back up. Both the father and the daughter are going to live an unforgettable moment; the maiden voyage of the ship they've been working on until this day. The greatest ship of all time: bigger but also far more luxurious than any others before, and this was accurate for all the classes. Thomas thanks his butler and the housemaids, then kisses his daughter on the top of her head as a gesture of pride.

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On the docks of Southampton, people are massing in front of the iron giant. Passengers coming from the surrounding streets could see it from several miles away, being more and more overhung as much as they are approaching their boarding gate. Titanic is magnificent. Everybody's amazed and can only agree on this statement.

Lily and her father had arrived in advance. Indeed, both of them wanted to make a first analysis of their construction while boarding, in order to target whether some details were going to need modification when boarding on the return trip.

To divide the work between them, Thomas is in charge of the first class passengers boarding. Indeed, he is the one of the two who is best suited for this task. Lily, on the other hand, has to look after the boarding of the second and third classes.

At around ten o'clock, Lily and her father part ways and she heads for the entrance to E-deck. Third class passengers had already started to board. They are first subjected to a health inspection, to ensure that none of them come on board with lice or any other health problem. The shipbuilder's daughter so soon finds herself stuck in the middle of a mass of people, impatient but civilised and calm.

"Mummy, look at the lady's clothes!" exclaimed a little boy pointing his finger at Lily. "Tim, it's not polite to point at people like that" replied his mother.

Lily, however, does not react. She just turns slightly towards the child and smiles gently at him, before continuing her way.

She was used to her outfit being the object of attention, indeed, wearing trousers was not something very common for a young woman.

In her left hand, Lily carries a small notebook and a pencil to take notes on what she is observing.

Feeling that the situation seems to be perfectly managed by the crew, she decides to turn her attention to the passengers. From time to time, she stops a few of them to ask their impressions. Are they excited about the trip? Do they find the boarding crew polite and professional? Do they feel unfairly treated because of the health inspection?

The passengers she interviews are taken aback, often left speechless. Not only are they not used to so much consideration, but even less from this strange, neat-looking young woman wearing trousers. However, these passengers quickly come back to their senses and respond favourably to her various questions. While taking notes, she starts walking towards the second class boarding gate. Unfortunately, with her head down on her notebook and lost in her thoughts, she ends up bumping into someone. She immediately raises her head to apologise. The man she had just shoved does not seem the least bit embarrassed, he smiles at her. "There's no harm done" he replies. "Do we have to take a survey?" he then asks, pointing to Lily's notebook, as he had already spotted her moving between the passengers to ask them her questions. "You don't have to, I've already been able to interview a few people" Lily politely replies, smiling back. "But I'd love to" the stranger simply adds, his smile growing wider and wider.