@dravghtsman
My muse is dead. Tell me how yours is dealing with it.
At first she does not believe it-- she refuses to believe it-- but when the papers stop running the story of the Titanic's ill-fated maiden voyage, Mairead resigns herself to the fact that her fiancé is dead.
At the funeral, she manages to maintain a certain amount of poise, showing grief enough that those in attendance know she is troubled by this. She accepts condolences with his mother, while his father goes to talk with the men here from the White Star Line.
She returns to Dublin a week after the funeral--there was no body in her dear one's casket-- and busies herself with work. Every day on her way home, just as the sun sets over the River Liffey, she ducks into a church and lights a candle for him, and stays a while to talk to the small light. This is a habit she keeps along with her engagement ring-- probably half his pay for designing that damned boat!-- and she is lucky that she can go up to Belfast for the holidays with her late fiancé's family, who welcome her as if Thomas were still living and they were due to be married any day.
