Ok, here is another new story. I want you all to know, so I don't get flames, that I based a LOT of this on Pride of the Peacock...just look at the name. On every chapter there will be a few parts, one at least. So, please allow me a bit more time then normal. Uh...oh yeah, Jack isn't in here for a few chapters; just a heads up. I need to set down a plot-line first, and then it gets REALLY interesting.
Full discription:
A great English estate that is lot, and born anew...The wilds and dangersof 18th century Caribbean...A marriage of convenience and secret desire...
No one will tell Sylvia Sommers of her past, and so she grows up unaware of the dramtic forces that are now ready to shape her life. When she marries dashing Jack Sparrow, she intends to keep it a "marriage in name only". Then he takes her to the Caribbean, where her new life begins-and almost ends.
Chapter one: Farceur Manor
Farceur means Joker, in French. A rightful name in which was bestowed upon the large sprawling mansion over looking a bluff out to sea. It was named for my ancestor; Will Sommers, who had been the court jester during the Tudor Reign. A bastard son of his had made a fortune of blackmail, and settled down quite nicely. The only reference of the father that Edward Sommers never knew that was planted onto the mansion; was the name. Farceur Manor.
After Edward had settled down, he married, and had five children. He left his large legacy to slowly build, and the family fortune grow larger with each generation. Only just had the king finally recognized the Sommers as powerful people.
I never set foot in Farceur Manor, however. Instead, I would have to crane my neck so just to see the bluff it was situated on, from my window.
I was born into a sort of genteel poverty. Never really want of anything except for a little affection. My parents(though they seemed so old to me) never were mean, or went out of their way to be cruel. I could not stand living in Dover Field, however. For one reason.
My mother would walk around the small three story shack compared to that of the Manor, and mumble under her breath; "Oh what would Edward have said? God, why have you cursed me with such a husband? Why can't things go back to how they were; in their rightful place."
For you see, my father who was a heavy gambler, had lost the deed to the ancestral place in a game of poker, to a retired coal miner. If my mother wasn't such a saint as she made herself out to be, I think she could have killed him. Well; that's what my elder sister, Rene, would tell me. I wasn't born yet.
So we sold a few of the priceless heirlooms, to buy Dover Field which was so close to the mansion I should have grown up in. I was constantly reminded of that too.
"You were on the way, when you father..." My mother would always break off at that part; her lips forming into a thin white line. "Never mind. But you were on the way, and we had to do something. We couldn't well be destitute, now could we? So we had to sell the only painting of our Edward just to buy this heap,"
She gestured around the hall in which we were kneeling, scrubbing the floors with the strong lemon and soap she always favored. I wiped back a piece of my dark hair and blew another piece out of my eyes.
"It makes me ache to think that some old coal miner is sleeping in the same large four poster bed as Edward Sommers slept in. Oh, how I curse your father!"
And she would tell that to his face as well. He took it in great stride.
For a while, I would sit around my father's room and he taught me how to play poker; the game that lost Farceur. That was until my mother found out. Her face was so red with anger, it made her mousy brown hair streaked with silver seem even paler. I no longer played poker after that stuffy August day.
I had two older siblings. Rene, and Monty. Both were at least ten years my senior, looking more like those of my parents then I ever did. In fact, one could almost go as far to say that they looked like my grandparents.
Monty had married at twenty, and was living no farther then Kent. He would occasionally come down and visit on the rare occasion. Rene was still unmarried; which was almost unshakable at her age of thirty-five.
I myself at that time just before everything had happened was just twenty-two. An impossible age where I should have been looking for a suitor, but none came to call so far out at Dover Field. The only men in the town a mile away were either old and decrepit, or too young to even be thinking of such things of late. The thought of not one day leaving the dreary confines of the home that should have never been made me toss and turn at night; dreams of being like my mother filling my head. Of bending down low to scrub the floor, or arranging the flowers in a most un-decorative way, or even taking care of the woman who I never really loved in her later stages of life. It made me shudder.
The month before everything happened in my life, I was looking at a life of work and spite. I had no idea that everything would soon change, when the man who won the house that should have been ours, moved in.
Part one: Teddy
It was a cold and blustery day; the sea screaming and howling when I decided to go for a walk, my curiosity tugging at the better of me. I really want to go and see if I could catch a glimpse at the man who was called Theodore Cinny. Though what type of name Cinny was, I would never really begin to fathom. It was least on my list of problems.
I walked along the shore line, closing my eyes against the sea spray, feeling elated at the call of the seagulls who swooped in their lazy circles about my head. I had no bread crumbs for them today. I wrapped my thin cloak more tightly about my body, and stomped through the sand; my hair whipping out behind me, loose of its bindings.
"Shell and shard it!' I cried, one of my feet dropping into one of the many sinkholes on this beach. The hem of my dress was completely sodden and heavy with sand, scratching at my bare ankles. I flicked it off as best as I could, in a dilemma. Should I go back to Dover, and have my mother yell at me for shirking my duties and getting a hem of a dress ruined, or...what? There was no second option. There never had been either.
Turning around, I picked up my skirts and now muddied petticoats, grimacing as a cold breeze flittered around my already wet legs.
"Are you in need of assistance?" I looked around at hearing a deep and amused voice. I looked up to the bluff(on this bluff, leading down to the beach, one could either climb a set of hewn stares, or go about the sloping ramp that had only just been made up.
"Sir," I began, instantly lowering my skirts.
"Call me Teddy," the man called down. I narrowed my eyes to see him better, and noticed he was in one of those new contraptions; they are like a chair with wheels, so people with limited mobility could make it around somewhat.
The man I assumed to be Theodore Cinny was quite tall looking. He had long legs that were covered in a lap rug. His hair was more grey then brown, and he had dark eyes that held mirth and mischief. He had one jagged scar running across his forehead, which added to the mysterious shroud he placed around him cunningly.
"Would you like to join an old miner for some tea, by chance?" I looked around me, biting my lip. All my life I had been told to hate this man. He was the one who swept our family fortune and legacy away with a full house(jacks over aces), with the help of my erring father. But there was nothing but kindness in the mans voice, and the look in his eye was contagious.
"Only if I can warm by your fire," I called up, tilting my head back to further look at him.
"Goodo. Then climb this blasted bluff, and I'll have Jenks fix us some tea."
I did as I was bade, a slight chill creeping over my spine at the thought of finally entering Farceur Manor. Oh! What would Mother say, if she could see me now? I was thankful for the bank that hid me from view as I climbed the hewn steps and walked across the sprawling green lawns. I finally reached the entrance of Farceur Manor. It towered above me with the knowledge of quite a few years.
It seemed to be taunting me; living up to its name. And the way the wind played through the rocks on the other side of the bluff almost sounded like a jeering laugh. A warning.
I paid it no head. I was young and ready for something to happen, even if it took a lifetime. Something had to happen to me. I didn't know how I could live if it didn't.
With little fear I walked through the double doors, and a small gasp slipped through my lips.
It was large, ornate, and...beautiful. Everything was gilt, and done in a maroon and golden hue. Large tapestries lined the walls, and plush rushes were soft under ones feet. The arching ceiling showed a scene from the bible, of the Garden of Eden, with little cherubs lining the scene; their nude bodies covered artistically with drapes and white cloth; decanting lovely melodies with harps and reed pipes.
"Ah, madam, let me escort you to the master's rooms." I started, and swirled around to see a butler standing at my elbow. He gestured with a graceful hand down the entry way and up a large set of stairs.
"Of course," I said regally, trying hard not to show my amazement, and apprehension. What if Mother found out?
"You must be the Sommers girl, right?" As I walked into the man named Teddy's rooms, I saw him sitting by a fire in a large winged chair. He was faster then me!
"My name is Sylvia," I said, sitting down opposite him, in a small chintz. He looked me up and down, and snorted when seeing my bare feet. I quickly pulled them under my damp skirts.
"Come now, child. Pull them out and warm them up,"
I reluctantly did as I was told, and after five minutes, I was greatly improved.
"I always wanted to meet a Sommers." Teddy remarked, taking a sip of tea that was served before us by the butler. He gave a grimace as it scalded his tongue, then smiled up at me.
"Why sir...I mean Teddy?"
"Beacuse!" Teddy threw his arms out wide, and gestured around the large place. "Look at this! I am not as grand as all this. No, not me. I am just a simple coal miner, who was good at poker. More like, lucky. No matter how good you play your cards, it all comes down to Lady Luck, and she was on my side that night,"
I was enthralled. So fast, too. I leaned forward in the chair; for he had a way of speaking buoyantly, making the dullest tales fascinating.
"Yes, you are a breed apart."
"My mother is still angry at my father for losing the house," I ventured.
"Really? What was she like when she found out about it?"
"I wouldn't know," I shrugged, fibbing. I did have a clue.
"Weren't you there?"
"No. My sister was just barely eighteen, I believe,"
"Eighteen? You must be very far apart in age," I nodded, and it was true. I always felt like the add-on in the family. The one who was just an afterthought; the unwanted one that just came anyways.
"You are just a few years younger then my son,"
"Oh?" I was becoming almost vexed now. Why did everyone want to marry me off? True that I didn't want to spend the rest of my days in Dover Field, but there really wasn't any choice at the moment.
"Yes, but lets not talk tummy-rot about him. Tell me, what is your family like?"
I began to tell this old kindly man about my life. I felt very much so at home with all the grandeur around me, though I knew that it would never be mine. This old coal gouger had a heart and one to give to someone like me who was slowly becoming cold and bitter to the world. He made me warm by the fire, and not only were my feet warmed and my dress dried, but I felt better. I felt like my heart was melting. This old man could be my saving grace. Here I was, back into the home I should have been born in, but this time with the man who now owned it. I didn't mind.
I left after a while, having to go back to my own place. I knew Mother would certainly bawl me out for being out too late, and I planned not to tell her that I was coming over here. Teddy made me promise to come back again, when I could.
"I will," I promised, standing up from the warm chair and regretting it.
"Now, I know this should have been yours. But I want you to feel like it. If you ever need to go somewhere, you can come here. Don't even bother to knock."
I left Farceur Manor with a smile on my face, and went back home the way I had left; from the beach. Thankfully, Mother had gone to the town with just a single horse to fetch more lemons(though I doubted she would find any, it wasn't season for them yet), though I did get a stern look from Rene who was bringing out some of the preserves from the cellar.
"What took you so long?" She asked wearily, as I followed her into the kitchen, snagging a spoonful of the peach, and spreading it on a thick slice of bread.
"Lost track of time," I said easily, and left for my room.