However, Simone’s pout disappeared when, at the center of the Cour de Rome, she spotted Monsieur Renard, a friend of her parents, who sometimes visited their home. He had come to bid them farewell, holding two beautiful balloons. At the sight of the balloon that was intended for her, Louise started kicking and clapping vigorously. She grabbed the gift and began shaking it in all directions, giggling. But, in her excitement, she let go of the string and burst into tears when the balloon flew away. Monsieur Renard comforted her and immediately went to buy her another one.
As Monsieur Renard and the Laroches entered the Saint-Lazare station, the rush of people swallowed them. The children were in awe of the crowded Café Terminus, of the bustling platforms, of the railway men in their uniforms and the porters weighed down by suitcases. Travelers hurried to get to their cars, the women in beautiful outfits and the men with elegant top hats.
“Mom, look!” Simone said, pointing at the building’s brilliant metal frame and glass roof. She took two steps forward, two more back, stopped, and then lifted her head again as a ray of sun filled the concourse, accentuating the vastness of the place.
“Simone, rété la!” her father called when Simone let go of her mother’s hand and walked away, as she did every time something intriguing or enthralling captivated her. She could not help it: the wonders of the world were like magnets. She could not resist them! To Simone, the sights at the Saint-Lazare station were even more beautiful than the view she’d admired from the Renault AG1 taxi. She watched a locomotive chug away as big smoke clouds puffed to the sky.
Two special trains had been arranged for the Titanic. The first had set forth at 7:45 for Cherbourg, carrying 103 third-class passengers. The second one, scheduled for 9:45, would transport 161 first-class and twenty-seven second-class travelers; the Laroches belonged in that train.
On the platform, Joseph and Juliette exchanged a few more words with Monsieur Renard until, at last, it was time to depart. As the family got into the car, Simone could tell their friend had a heavy heart. The adults, she was sure, pondered one question, although no one dared voice it: When would they see each other again?
The New York Express7 was a luxury train that included a restaurant and private cabins for the wealthiest, among which was the American magnate John Jacob Astor8. Head of a financial empire and a luxury hotel chain, he was traveling with his new spouse Madeleine. In September of the year before, their marriage had shocked America. At seventeen, the young woman was a minor; her husband was forty-eight. In order to escape the scandal, the couple had left for Egypt, and later Europe, along with a valet, a housemaid, a nurse, and a dog. Now that Madeleine was ready to give birth, however, they were back in the United States. In comparison, twenty-three-year-old Joseph and twenty-two-year-old Juliette Laroche lived a simple, private life.
On board the train that reached ninety kilometers an hour, a reasonable speed, the Laroches allowed “Little Simone,” as her mother called her, the pleasure of admiring the view. An overly excited Louise had a hard time falling asleep, despite the monotonous turning of the wheels on the railway.
The Laroches did not take long to befriend the other occupants of the cab, Albert and Antonie Mallet9, a French couple who lived in Canada. Albert Mallet was unpretentious and jovial. He worked for the former mayor of Montreal, Hormidas Laporte10, who imported alcohol, tea, fruit, and spices from Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. Mallet was in charge of the cognac orders and often traveled to Paris. He took advantage of the opportunity to bring along his wife and little boy.
John Jacob Astor
John Jacob “Jack” Astor IV (1864–1912) was a wealthy American businessman, a prominent member of the Astor family, and the first multimillionaire in the United States. He traveled with his wife on the opulent New York Express to the Nomadic and died in the early hours of the sinking of the Titanic. He was the richest passenger aboard and was believed to have been one of the wealthiest men in the world at that time.
Interesting anecdote: A charity once called Astor for a possible contribution, a request he responded to by donating fifty dollars. When being told by a disappointed committee, “Oh, Mr. Astor, your son William gave us a hundred dollars,” he replied, “Yes, but you must remember that William has a rich father.”
They were on their way back to Quebec with their son André11, two years old, after a few days vacationing with family in France.
Just like Juliette Laroche, Antonie Mallet, twenty-four, was a stay-at-home mother, content with her life. She found joy in taking care of her son, her husband, and her house. She admitted being envious of Juliette, who proudly flaunted her high hairdo and her round belly.
“When are you due?” Antonie asked.
“Can you believe she’s only in her first trimester?” Joseph said, before his wife had a chance to reply.
Albert Mallet laughed heartily, and so did Simone. She was happy. For the first time that day, her father was not frowning. Which one of the four adults had first broken the ice? Who among the Mallets or the Laroches had started the conversation? Was it the husbands between themselves? Was it the wives? After an hour, no one really knew. But that was no longer important. They were friends now, and all delighted by the good company.
Joseph confided to Albert Mallet that he was proud of the fact that one of his children would be born in his home country. The perspective carried some kind of symbolism. What a marvelous way to launch their new life!
To Antonie, Juliette explained that her pregnancy was part of the reason they were traveling on the Titanic. The original plan had been to travel later the next year, but when the “unplanned” pregnancy had been revealed a few weeks before, Joseph had decided on an earlier departure, so that the crossing would be less exhausting for his wife.
Otherwise, they would have had to wait another twelve months.
As the train moved toward the unknown and Antonie and Juliette got to know each other, they discovered they both had revised their initial plans.
Both women had first considered embarking on the France, another ocean liner of the moment, which followed the same itinerary as the Titanic, with a decor just as magical. But when they had learned that children on board were not permitted to eat at the same table as their parents, Antonie and Juliette had changed their minds and finally opted for the Titanic.
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On April 19, 1996, as she stands at the commemoration on the dock in Cherbourg, Louise is once again thinking of this twist of fate. Since her father had already purchased the tickets for the France, he’d been deeply annoyed by the rule regarding meal times: in the dining room, children occupied an area away from their parents. Thankfully (or so he believed at the time), when he had requested the switch from one liner to the other, the employee at the counter had not given him a hard time.
Louise is overwhelmed by guilt. She’s possessed by this irrepressible and fleeting feeling every time she thinks of the Titanic, which is often. She is angry at her mother for having told her; she is angry at her father for having changed the reservations. She is angry at herself for being at the root of her family’s misfortune, and she is angry at Simone for the same reason.
Louise wishes quite simply that they had never taken the New York Express that day.
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As a cognac merchant, Albert Mallet had the gift of gab and knew how to connect with just about anybody. On the train headed toward Cherbourg, Mallet was happy to break the ice and exchange a few words with Joseph Laroche. He was intrigued by the tall, mustached man who shared his compartment on the New York Express. A black man among all these white people, that was not something one saw every day! As he listened carefully, he quickly understood that his singular fellow traveler was not an American, unlike the other wealthy passengers in first (and second) class. Mallet assumed Laroche to be either West