A Life Unnown

Authors note: What follows is a work of fiction based on real life events. None of the characters depicted are real and any similarity to real people living or dead is purely coincidental .

This is a sequel to my story "Message in a bottle" which should be read first.

Thanks are due to Purplefizz who contributed ideas for this story.

A Life Unknown (Part 1)

In July 1970 a lawyer in downtown San Francisco opened a white envelope which had lain in his office safe for the last 5 years. On the front written in block capitals was the instruction, "TO BE OPENED IN THE CASE OF MY DEATH."

Mr Dawkins had been a lawyer for 10 years and had been tasked to be the executor of his client's will and he had already been well paid to perform this task. As he opened the envelope and removed the paper sheets covered in spidery writing he imagined that there would be just one more straightforward list of bequests, but as he started to read he realised that he was mistaken.

May 7

th

, 1965

Cobh, Ireland

Dear Mr Dawkins,

What follows is a description of some of the events in what has been by any standards an eventful life. It will soon be apparent to you that I have sinned on many occasions in my life, and some of my sins are described very graphically in this letter which can be considered to be my life story (or at least the parts I consider important), a confession, and a will (you will note it has been duly witnessed and signed). The witnesses to my signature did not read any part of this document.

Please do not be too judgemental of me when you have read this manuscript. I feel the need to leave a record of what It means to be me.

I was born Victoria White on November 12

th

, 1889, in Ripley near Guildford in England. My parents were Alfred and Emma White. My father died when I was young leaving my mother independently wealthy and she brought up four children David, James, Emily, and myself without wanting or needing to remarry.

I was home schooled until I was sixteen years old following which my mother sent to me to a boarding school in Geneva for two years.

During Christmas 1911 I was at a house party somewhere in Suffolk when I was introduced to George Jamieson. He was rich, handsome, and American and he swept me off my feet and despite the protestations of my mother and against the advice of my brother David we were married in a civil ceremony in Guildford, England in early June 1912 .

We travelled to the United States leaving Southampton a few days after we married and spent our honeymoon on the RMS Olympic. The Olympic was the sister ship of the Titanic, but thankfully on that occasion I managed to cross the Atlantic unscathed.

When I married I was a virgin and rather eagerly looked forward to my wedding night which turned out to be a damp squid. In fact I didn't have time to get damp. He was an inconsiderate lover and after he had taken his pleasure he rolled off me and went to sleep. He took no precautions and had already made it clear that he wanted a son and heir.

***

After our arrival in New York we lived in his opulent house on 5

th

Avenue. We had servants, cooks, and a housekeeper and there was nothing for me to do. It soon became quite clear that I had made a huge mistake in marrying George. He was no longer the attentive suitor but had become a boorish, jealous, and abusive husband.

At the time I married George I had known that he was a jewel dealer. Indeed, he had visited Amsterdam during the time he was in England, and I had assumed it was business that had taken him there. I quickly learned that there was far more to him than met the eye. He did not own a shop and held many furtive meetings with extremely shady looking characters in his study in our home or his office downtown. I had never entered either of these places, his study being completely out of bounds to me. I was told never to talk about any of the people whom he invited to our home, and he never discussed business with me.

I started to understand that he was likely to be engaged in criminal activity.

Soon I came to realise that he had married me for two reasons. He was a social climber, and it did not hurt to have a beautiful young Englishwoman as a wife. He would show me off at parties or the opera where he kept a box seat, and he made it clear that I was a brood mare whose job was to bear him a son; and the quicker the better.

So smiling softly he showed me off as he introduced me to his friends and acquaintances as Lady Victoria, and then he took me home and disinterestedly screwed me every Friday night in what turned out be a vain attempt to get me pregnant. Several nights a week he didn't sleep at home; or if he did he returned late, drunk, and smelling of cheap perfume.

And then one Friday evening after we returned home after an evening out, something happened.

A young man had been particularly attentive to me, and I had been flattered and must have shown it. George sat silently beside me in the cab, and I could sense his cold anger.

The butler had opened the front door and withdrawn when George turned and softly spoke.

"You damn hussy. Go to your bedroom and take of your clothes. I plan to teach you a lesson."

Ten minute later he gave me my first taste of the dog whip.

I was trapped in an abusive relationship with no money of my own and nowhere to go. I had to smile and play the loving wife and endure his Friday night fucking. Periodically the dog whip was applied to my bare arse. He was careful not to mark me where it might be seen. Finally in March 1914, almost two years after we married, he stopped having sex with me altogether.

"You're barren," was all he said.

***

Unknown to George I had very recently started a dangerous liaison with William, the young man who had earnt me my first thrashing. You have to understand I was driven to infidelity. I was lonely and frustrated and had made up my mind I might as well "get hanged for a sheep as a lamb."

The first time we went to a hotel during the day and signed in as husband and wife. It was the first time a man had made proper love to me, and it was wonderful.

William was everything that George was not. He was gentle and unhurried and considerate. He allowed me to strip naked and get under the cover of the sheets whist he took a shower and then slipped naked into bed beside me.

I felt his erection against my thigh as he kissed me on my mouth and then my ear lobes, neck, and breasts. When he started to nibble each of my nipples in turn I started to feel a wetness between my legs. more profound than anything I had felt before.

Soon he was inside of me. His long slow strokes made me moan with pleasure and as he increased his tempo and we bumped bellies I experienced the first male induced orgasm of my life. My vagina and anus spasmed as I drove myself against him in a desperate attempt to increase the all-encompassing pleasure I was feeling. Slowly I recovered and then he started to move again with the same result. Time and time again he took me to orgasm. It was as if he understood how love starved my mind and body were, and they were responding in turn to him.

Multiple climaxes later I was a sweaty, sated wreck and only then did he pound against me, shorten his stroke, withdraw his member, and groaning loudly spurt his seed in a long white arc over my belly.

This was the start of a short affair and I saw him on half a dozen consecutive Wednesdays before disaster struck. I had returned home from our rendezvous and was in the bath washing away any trace when George arrived home. It was late afternoon, and this was very unusual, and I sensed something was wrong. He entered the bathroom stood over me and looked down.

"You adulterous bitch. You've been banging that prig every Wednesday for the last month!"

"Whilst it's fine for you to screw Helen every Tuesday and Dorothy every Friday!?" I shouted back.

"And when did you last fuck your wife properly? If ever? I want a divorce!"

"Fuck off," he said calmly, before turning and leaving

***

I never saw William again. I hadn't been in love with him, but he was a friend when I needed one. For the next four months I was a prisoner in the house. The doors to the house were kept locked, and my keys taken from me. George did not speak to me, and we lived in different parts of the house and took our meals separately. Sometime around the end of August George came into to my bedroom early one morning.

We are going out this evening. I've told our hosts that you've been unwell but have recently recovered. Stick to that story. This evening It's formal. Then he was gone.

After that things improved slightly. We started to socialise together once more and were civil to each other around the home. Most importantly my keys were returned, and I was allowed out unaccompanied. He continued to fuck a series of young tarts but no longer lay a hand on me either in love or anger. Nonetheless I was trapped and when I mentioned divorce or returning home to England he refused to listen. He was determined to punish me for my infidelity. There was no sign of William, but I didn't dare ask George if he knew where he had gone. He had almost certainly been frightened off and I hoped hadn't been too badly hurt.

Finally in the Spring of 1915 I realised that I would have to find my own way out of my predicament and started to plot. George appeared to be increasingly stressed over his business dealings and he was drinking more and had started to become violent once again. One evening he came home half-drunk, stripped me naked, and gave me a dozen or more strokes of the dog whip on my bare arse. From then on I started to plan my escape and I knew that I would need money and a means of doing it.

George had a large metal wall safe in his study in which he kept his stock of jewels and large sums of cash. The safe had two locks. The key for one of these he locked in the top drawer of his desk and the second key and the key to his desk he kept on a chain he wore around his neck at all times, even when in bed. He didn't know that I knew this, but I had seen him unlock his safe on one occasion when he had left his study door ajar. I also knew that it was rare for him to unlock his safe on Fridays or Saturdays.

His end of week routine was fairly fixed. We would often go out on a Wednesday or a Thursday evening, and he would invariably end up drinking too much brandy and sleep soundly until morning. Fridays he always stayed out overnight to sleep with one of his whores.

I hatched a plan. It was simple as most good plans are. On a Thursday evening I would slip him a sleeping draught with his brandy, take his keys, and open the safe. I would take money and on Friday morning book passage on a ship to England departing Friday or Saturday before he could notice I was gone. I was confident I would find a berth at the last moment since the War in Europe had started the previous July and I surmised less people might want to sail into it. I was also prepared to bribe my way on board if needed.

The butler and housekeeper were married but lived in a small cottage next to the main house so there was little chance I would be disturbed when I opened the safe.

***

My chance came right at the end of April when I learnt the RMS Lusitania was sailing from New York to Liverpool on Saturday May the 1

st

.On the Thursday before the sailing I was able to drug George and whilst he slept I stole his keys and opened his safe.

The safe was filled with ledgers containing records of his business dealings and bribes to city officials and police and I left these well alone. There was over five thousand dollars in cash so I took a thousand dollars reasoning that he might not notice the missing cash unless he counted it. There were several gold ingots too heavy to carry and a large box containing expensive rings, bracelets, and necklaces. At the back of the safe hidden behind the other contents were three leather pouches, and on closer examination I could see they contained diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. The rubies were large and cut. I had heard that large rubies were the most valuable gemstone, and they were light and easy to carry and hide. I took these and replaced them with stones from the garden path which ran just outside his study door. I wasn't greedy and I put everything else back as I had found it and closed the safe door and locked it.

A few minutes later George's keys were back around his neck, and I left him snoring loudly and went to my room.

The following morning I was having breakfast when George appeared. He looked a little worse for wear but after drinking two cups of black coffee he got up and wordlessly left the house and I silently prayed I would never see him again.

That morning I visited the Cunard Office, and for 175 dollars and a ten dollar bribe I booked a saloon (first class) passage to Liverpool under an assumed name. I would use George's money to travel home in style.

I spent the rest of the day in an agony of waiting and then in the early evening I gave the butler and the housekeeper the evening off. I had been doing this for several months, so they were not suspicious. Even though I did not expect George to return I was not willing to take this chance and just after dark I left the house locking the front door behind me. I carried only a single suitcase and my handbag. I walked rapidly away from the house and hailed a passing cab who took me to a cheap hotel close to the docks.

***

I spent a long nervous night expecting George to turn up at any minute and drag me home. I knew it was an unreasonable fear, but I was so close to regaining my freedom I was scared it would slip from my grasp at the last moment. He would be livid at my "theft" although I did not see it that way. He owed me something for the years I had given him.

Eventually the clock rolled around to 8 o'clock and I made my way to Pier 54 where a line was already forming to board the Lusitania. As we boarded our bags were examined and tickets checked but eventually by around ten o'clock I reached my cabin on B deck, locked the door, lay on the bed, and waited for the ship to sail. At a quarter past twelve we departed New York and I believed I was safe.

It was an eventful Voyage.

I met Edward Jefferson, a young virgin travelling with his parents, and I seduced and deflowered him. That was when my penchant for virgins was born; but more of that later.

And of course the damn ship sank, torpedoed of the coast of Ireland; but you know that.

The day before the sinking I had placed 21 rubies and a declaration in a sealed wine bottle which I planned to throw into the sea if the ship sank and if I thought I would not survive . I was aware of the risk that this might happen and didn't want the rubies to be lost to the ocean if the worst came to pass. The "message in a bottle" asked any potential finder to ensure my wealth was passed to my heirs, namely David, James, and Emily, or their offspring.

As fate would have it I survived, and the bottle ended up in the sea.

I don't know if the bottle has been found yet. David and James are dead, and I no longer have any contact with Emily. It may be that the bottle and its contents are lost or still bobbing around the ocean, or maybe a total stranger has become suddenly rich. It no longer matters to me, because as you read this my race is run.

But on the day the Lusitania went down it was not my time.

***

You will be aware of the warnings given to the passengers on the Lusitania prior to its departure from New York, and many of the passengers became increasingly nervous of the possibility of a submarine attack as we approached the war zone off the coast of Southern Ireland.

On Thursday morning the day before the sinking I was woken early by a clanking of chains. It was the sound of the lifeboats being swung out. I understood this was precautionary and because we were now within 500 miles of the Irish coast and the war zone. Predictably it did little to improve the growing sense of disquiet amongst some of the passengers.

The night before the sinking I had slept in my clothes (but without a corset) and had not slept well. I woke early around six o'clock and had breakfast. I remember that I ate well before going onto the deck but there was little to see, and the ship was in deep fog. I went to the music room and passed the time playing the piano and was surprised when sometime later the ship's foghorn sounded. It seemed to me that we were advertising our presence.

A little after ten o'clock the fog started to clear and by midday we were steaming in bright sunshine and the sea was as smooth as a millpond. Just as I was finishing lunch, around half past one in the afternoon, I was approached by Edward who excitedly told me that the coast of Ireland was visible on the left side of the ship. I put on my woollen coat and took my bag and stood with Edward and his parents as the land slid by and we made our way up the coast. It was only a few miles away and we could see trees and houses quite clearly until ten minutes later the Lusitania changed course and started to steam away from land.

Mrs Jefferson had been pleased at our proximity to the coast of Ireland.

"Maybe we're safe now," she said. And then as we turned out to sea she spoke again, "why would the captain want to do that?"

She was clearly irked, and a little while later Mr Jefferson took her back to their cabin for "a little lie down."

Edward and I stood awkwardly side by side. I sensed that he wanted to take my hand in his, but this was clearly inappropriate, so we stood in silence looking out over the calm sea.

Edward broke the silence. "Can I see you when we get too England?"

"It was nice, but I can't see how. I'm still a married woman."

Just as Edward had turned to me to reply there was a sudden sound like a faraway thud, and just for a second or so the deck appeared to rise under my feet before settling. And then the ship immediately started to list over onto its right side. For about 30 seconds the world was silent and then a growing number of people started to flow onto the boat deck where we were standing.

"Torpedo," said Edward. Then," find a lifeboat and save yourself. I must find ma and pa."

I nodded and he was gone.

***

It was pandemonium .The lifeboats on the side of the ship where I was standing were overhanging the deck because of the angle at which the ship was lying, making them difficult to launch. When they did, some remained over the water because the cables were too short and some capsized because the Lusitania was still moving forward through the water. I watched one lifeboat hang lopsidedly spilling everybody into the sea. Shattered lifeboats were crushing people who had been thrown into the water. There was wreckage everywhere on the surface of the sea. I could see bodies floating motionless in the water whilst others hung on to anything they could find that would help them stay afloat. People milled around me looking for a way to survive. A few had returned to their cabins to die in comfort.

I waited until the ship had slowed and was settling further into the sea until I made the decision to jump. I had seen a white life buoy floating in the water below and knew I must act before the ship went down taking me with it. I climbed over the railing and stood for a few second looking for a safe spot to land and close to the ring and holding my bag and its precious contents I jumped.

It was about 15 feet to the water, and I must have gone a good few feet underwater before I broke surface. And when I did my bag was gone! It had been torn from my grip as I entered the sea. The ring was within a yard from me, and I swam to it and held on then scanned the sea for my bag which was nowhere to be seen. At that point I did not care. Survival was my only priority.