>The best part of all was that the lady loathed the cad and wanted nothing to do with him.
I sensed that in the subtle way she mouthed "Get me away from him." A faint, but never the less visible clue that a lady is not enraptured. And when he bought her that first drink and she left it at the bar, and he followed her with it "humorously" saying "Hey! You forgot something." I ALSO recall, that on day #1, when I said to her "Madame, I wish to offer you my protection for the duration of the voyage" while doffing my hat and offering my calling card, you put me on the champagne cut-off list for the next 45 minutes.
>I wonder how many unattractive women were ever offered "protection" by a gentleman who was simply being chivalrous?
The Titanic's first class was awash in unattractive women. The woman who had repeated offers of protection, coincidentally, was borderline attractive. Something of which I WISH someone had informed her when she refered to herself as "the prettiest girl" later in an account.
"Pretty is relative, dear. Yes, in that crowd you WERE the prettiest. But dont get a swelled head. In that crowd, ca 1970 Ruth Gordon would have given you a run for the title."
Funny to note. The Lusitania was equally awash in women travelling single who did NOT resemble Jack Dempsey, Ray Bolger, or Babe Ruth, in drag. And a number of equally single male travellers. And there was a war on. Yet, not a single one of those who survived to write volumous accounts, or died with diary-style letters on their person, mentioned gentlemen formally offering their services.
Come to think about it, I can't recall any of the other unescorted female survivors of the Titanic ever mentioning gentlemen making formal offers of protection. Hmmmm.... maybe Gracie et al knew something about "The Prettiest Girl" aka "Among the Least Masculine Looking Women" not preserved by history.
I jest, somewhat, but agree with you that, in many ways, the Formal Offer of Service seems like just a means of getting a leg up over other men.
Evelyn Nesbit. Opportunistic whore who played her psychopathic husband and lover off of one another with fatal results. There. We've discussed her.