Disclamier: I own my bicycle, three pairs of red shoes and an antique writing desk. Not Pirates of the Caribbean though.

Chapter one: the Lady and the Lieutenant

"It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the seas,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know,

By the name of Annabel Lee; -

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

Than to love and be loved by me."

Annabel Lee, by Edgar Allan Poe

Lieutenant James Norrington was most pleased. His personal life, and foremost his career was proceeding just as he had hoped. And planned, for all that. He had only just turned twenty-five, and therefore both his promotion to lieutenant and his engagement to a Lady, was most promising.

As he watched his fiancée pour a cup of tea for him under the daunting eye of her aunt, he decided that he was very pleased with his choice. Young miss Jennifer Hawk was a simple girl, the only child of an impoverished country squire, but Norrington deemed she had great potential. In time she would make the perfect wife for a naval officer.

He took the cup she offered him and their hands brushed ever so slightly. It made her blush and avert her eyes, which only pleased him further. A good girl of sound principles, not likely to go beyond what was decent.

–I trust your father is well, Miss Hawk?

– I thank you, very well.

They relapsed into silence, Norrington not being a man used to pleasant conversations nor pleasant company. He had returned to London and England with the exact purpose of finding himself a wife. His grandmother had long abandoned Worcestershire for the entertainments of London, and although he had only met her twice in his life, he relied on her judgment. His own father, dead since three years, had been a younger soon, leaving his home country to seek fame and fortune in the Caribbean. James had been born there, only returning to England a handful of times.

His grandmother was a capable woman, however, and had written him some time ago that she had found just the girl for him.

He had, although he trusted Lady Norrington, wanted to meet her in person. A marriage to a young man with such prospects as himself could only please the young lady in question, but he felt that it would do better to meet her face to face.

That had been four weeks ago, and he was proud that he had fixed his interest with her in such an expedient time. His duties in Port Royal beckoned, but he could not leave until he had organized her departure in a manner fitting for a future Mrs. Norrington.

Auntie Helen coughed loudly, which returned Norrington to the present. It brought a blush to his bride's cheeks and a cornered look to her eyes.

– W…when…when do you plan your return, lieutenant? She asked, stuttering slightly and glancing to her aunt for guidance. Auntie Helen beamed, so apparently she thought the subject appropriate.

– The Victorious leaves in a week's time, miss Hawk. Doctor Brandon needed time to collect his last potions and medicines.

Jennifer nodded as if she found this information of great interest.

– Is the governor very ill? She asked, knowing that her aunt would rebuke her if she didn't converse with the lieutenant.

– The local doctor doesn't give governor Welsh more than a year to live. That was why he sent me to bring a practitioner from England, Norrington answered. His tone was clipped, but he did not consider that. Business always made him sound efficient.

Jennifer Hawk did not know that, and as her dark eyes scanned his figure, she could not understand why he seemed so distant. The affair was not of long standing; their engagement had only been in the papers a week ago. But whereas she had loved him from the second she first laid eyes on him, she doubted that he felt anything like that for her. While he was a man of the world, a handsome officer with a bright future, she was just a little girl, barely out of the schoolroom and poor as a church mouse for that.

– How good of you to undertake such a voyage for sake of the governor, Aunt Helen put in with a smile. Her eyes berated Jennifer for not keeping the conversation flowing with the ease and grace she should.

Norrington eyed his fiancée, wondering absently in her negligence. While courting her, she had been a pleasant companion, so happy to listen to stories about his ship and the Caribbean seas he sailed her in. But since their engagement had been made known to the public, she often sat silent and thoughtful. He noted she was a little pale and the freckles around her nose stood out more clearly. Quite adorable really, he thought fleetingly, before turning his thoughts back to the affairs at hand.

– Really it was nothing, Miss Mason. My commission sometime means that I have to sail more for leisure than for warfare.

– But surely that must be preferable, lieutenant Norrington, Aunt Helen put in again. She was seriously considering to poke Jennifer or in some way make her aware of her rude behavior. But that would not quite

The reply made Norrington smile, and as he answered he quickly forgot miss Hawk's paleness.

– The sea is my mistress, madam, as long as I can sail it, I will go wherever duty takes me, he said with a heartfelt smile.

Opposite him, what Jennifer Hawk felt at his words was truly heartfelt, but it was not of a kind to make her smile. The sea was his mistress. The confession of a true sailor. He would never be content loving a silly little chit like herself. He only craved the salt seas and a boat to sail them on. He would never be that loving husband of her dreams. He had proposed only because he saw in her a pleasant wife. Not because he loved her. It was as she had feared for quite some time now.

– I...I think I hear papa downstairs, she burst out. I will bring him up to see you, lie…lieutenant.

And before her aunt or her fiancé had time to react she had left the room, pressing a hand to her eyes.

For a stunned moment, neither Miss Mason nor lieutenant Norrington spoke. Remembering again her paleness, Norrington wondered if she was sick.

– Is Miss Hawk well, Miss Mason? I have not done anything to offend her?

Helen Mason smiled thinly at him, moving as to pat his hand. She realized in time that he was not a man to be patted and settled for words.

– Do not worry, lieutenant Norrington. My niece has acquired a childish infatuation for you, that is all. In time she will prove to be a most comfortable wife, I am sure.

While she spoke Lord Hawk entered the room with his daughter in tow. Stunned James lifted his eyes to hers, but she didn't meet his gaze. She really was quite pale, her dark eyes and dark hair making her skin seem almost see-through.

– Lieutenant Norrington has been kind enough to pay us a visit, papa, Jennifer said, motioning to Norrington who had risen to pay his respects.

– How de'do, lieutenant, Hawks said. Always a pleasure to welcome you to our home.

–Thank you sir, Norrington said, his eyes still searching Jennifer's face.

A childish infatuation, her aunt said. Miss Hawk had never seen very childish to the lieutenant. Innocent and naïve perhaps, but not childish. Love? Had she come to love him in such a short time? How could that be? He did not hold himself to be an especially loveable man. He was a sailor, not a courtly gentleman.

– Will you stay for dinner, lieutenant? Mr Hark asked him, cutting short his train of thought.

–Thank you sir, but I shan't trespass on you anymore, Norrington answered.

His reply made Jennifer raise her eyes and give him a swift glance. What she saw in his face seemed to puzzle her and she lowered her gaze again.

–I assure you, we are only to glad of your company, lieutenant Norrington, Lord Hawk said. But then we will meet you at the assembly Saturday?

–Indeed, sir, it will be my great pleasure.

He bowed to Lord Hawk and Miss Mason and then stooped to kiss Miss Hawk's hand.

Then he left.

James Norrington, his mind in a whirl, steered his steps toward the docks. With the salt air of the distant ocean in his face, he felt he would be able to think clearly. He had never felt very comfortable in sitting rooms and parlors. He had spent to much time of his life at sea to readily sit still in soft chairs.

That Jennifer Hawk was in love with him came as a surprise to him. Not because he didn't believe it was possible, but because he hadn't considered her feelings, further than that she most be honored to be the subject of his proposal. With an uncomfortable feeling in his gut he realized he had not considered her at all. He knew nothing of her preferences, her interests; nothing.

'But I am not used to womenfolk', he told himself. 'I do not know how to treat them.'

Sadly, he knew he was lying to himself. He was well brought up, his mother had seen to that before his father took him to sea. He knew very well that, although his name and his fair prospects was enough to recommend himself to her father, he had done little to recommend himself to his future bride. Even if he knew not how to return her affection, it was his duty as an officer and gentleman not to let her know that was the case. She would be a pleasing wife; he had little reason to doubt it. He now realized that he had something of an equal responsibility to be pleasing husband.

With renewed determination he turned his steps back towards town. He had arrangements to dine with his grandmother later the same evening.