April 14, 2012

The view from the deck of the yacht was breathtaking.

A calm sea. She could easily see the stars in the sky, it was so dark.

There was a coolness in the air.

"You know Howard, I could easily imagine it," she told the man who had been her personal assistant not long after settling into a position at Pierpont International after she graduated at the top of her class at Harvard. She was expected to rise quickly in the family business, which she did.

Her brother Michael ran the company. He was the president and CEO.

She was the chief financial officer and carried the title of vice president.

"That was an excellent speech you gave, Ma'am," he said. "Very emotional."

"Oh, I've given it about a thousand times," she said with a slight chuckle.

Truth was, she was the keeper of the flame, the family historian about the tragedy that took place in almost the same spot 100 years before

Her brother Micheal, he spoke about the Titanic to groups, but not nearly as much as she did, and clearly not with as much passion, even though his name was quite linked to family lore. Hers' was, too.

Rachel Maddox-Hughes was the great-granddaughter of Titanic survivor and future company mogul Rachel Pierpont- Maddox. She and her sister, great-great Aunt Leah Pierpont-Morgan, were the two women who were worthy heirs of Agnes Pierpont, the two visionaries made the company a corporate giant.

Other family members, her cousins Rinehart Pierpont Morgan III and Wren Morgan Hamilton, also carried family duties in weaving the Titanic family tale to groups and were also important players in the family business.

But the family's Titanic legacy seemed to rest on her shoulders, a burden she didn't seem to mind.

This voyage she arranged among Titanic enthusiasts, who seemed to be enjoying their trip on the S.S. Pierpont on the 100th anniversary of the ill-fated voyage. She was the ultimate host, having authored two best-selling books on the Titanic sinking and the aftermath.

"Howard, if you don't mind, can you tell the others I won't be joining them," she said. "I just want to spent the next couple of hours with my children, and Pippa."

"As you wish, ma'am," he said departing her personal suite.

Her good friend Pippa Rinehart was the only other person who knew the true family story of what happened that night. She and Rachel were college roommates and best friends. Her great-grandfather was the first cousin to Michael Rinehart, and related by blood to her cousins Wren and Rinehart.

Michael Rinehart's youngest sister died of cancer, leaving two very young sons. Leah and her husband John Morgan adopted them. They were Wren and Rinehart's grandfathers. They both married cousins in the Pierpont family, which united the two families by glood.

"They were extraordinary women," Rachel said to Pippa as they sipped tea in a lounge room where a stately portrait of the three Pierpont women hung, Agnes flanked by her granddaughters, Rachel and Leah. It was painted after the sisters joined the family business after graduating 1-2 in their class at Vassar College.

"You were lucky to have known them," Pippa said.

Both women lived into their 90s. They poured out their knowledge of running the Pierpoint company into their heirs. But Rachel was the one they shared their most intimate tales of the tragic voyage that would change forever two families.

Rachel, in turn, shared the full tale to Pippa, swearing her to keep the secret, which Pippa had. Pippa always had her back, especially after her divorce.

Suddenly, three weary-eyed kids came bounding into the room.

"Oh my God, they've grown!" Pippa said when twins Ryan and Cheyenne and Amber came into the room.

Ryan and Cheyenne were 12. Twins ran in the family. Amber was 10.

"How is Ryan doing with therapy?" Pippa asked Rachel.

"He has done very well," Rachel said. "Really been a trooper at the conferences with other kids, too."

As they sat out on the deck, Rachel read from the diaries of the three Pierpont women.

They looked out into the ocean and saw the other boats, several surrounding the site and participating in the anniversary in their own way.

Rachel at her watch. She looked at Ryan and Cheyenne.

"You've got your clothes picked out?" she asked her eldest children.

They nodded and walked quietly to their room.

They emerged a few minutes later.

"You didn't tell me they were going to wear replica dresses," Pippa whispered to Rachel.

"I told them the full truth about Michael and Leah after we made the decision fro Ryan to transition," Rachel whispered. "The girls were the ones who came up with this idea after they found out we were coming to the site. Great-grandma Rachel and Aunt Leah donated the dresses they wore on the night of the sinking to the company museum in Philly. We found a designer to make replica dresses."

The five women carried roses and threw them into the sea.

"For the lives lost," they said in unison at about 2:15 a.m., the time of the Titanic's sinking.

They then lit two candles on a table on the deck.

"For the lives reborn," they said again as Leah Anne Hughes lit candles for herself and great-great Aunt Leah.