"Interesting," Giselle said as she looked through a telescope into the horizon, "There's not a single ship to be seen." She continued looking when the doorman walked in.
"Mrs. Bennet," he announced and then a tall, well aged woman stepped into the room. Bowing his head at her, the door man left, leaving the two women alone in the room. There was a brief silence before Giselle made a gesture.
"Umm…won't you sit down?"
"Oh no my dear," Mrs. Bennet smiled, "I won't be staying long. I've just come to see how much you've grown."
"I'm sorry, but have we met?" She asked with intense confusion, but the woman merely laughed.
"I didn't expect you to remember me, but I used to take care of you when you were just a baby." Mrs. Bennet explained. Giselle wanted to ask: why, of all times, did she come to visit now, but thought that would be rude. Mrs. Bennet continued explaining, "Your father told me that you recently turned 19 and then asked me to play matchmaker."
"Are you serious?!" Giselle was shocked. She knew her father wanted her to get married, but this was a little too much. Then she started thinking about it, "If you aren't staying long, then how are you going to 'play matchmaker'?"
"I'm not staying long because…I denied your fathers request. You're old enough to know whom you wish to marry, and so be it." She smiled, "And besides, you shouldn't have any trouble finding a suitor with your face." Giselle smiled and thanked her quietly, although she was still rather confused. Mrs. Bennet said good day and then left. A few moments after her departure, Giselle's father entered the room and greeted her with a kiss on the forehead.
"You act as though everything is normal, father." She said and her father gave her a quizzical look.
"Oh, you're talking about Mrs. Bennet," he realized, "Yes. I supposed she told you why I had asked her to come here." Giselle nodded. "Humorous, yes? Well, since she said no, she wanted to come and see how beautiful you have become." Giselle's face flushed a bit, she became embarrassed when people complimented her. Her father started leaving the room when Giselle started conjuring up questions.
"How come she didn't take care of me through childhood?" She followed him out of the library.
"Her husband was asked to leave Greece and go to the Caribbean. He was a guard for one of the governors." He explained and he led her out of the manor towards the carriage. "I'm going to check the docks if you'd like to come."
"No thank you. I'll stay here and catch up on my reading." Nodding in comprehension he left and Giselle reentered the doorway. Ignoring everyone who passed her, she went straight up into her bedroom and opened her drawer. Inside was a book in Greek about how to fish in the deep ocean. Of course, Giselle would never actually fish, but it helped her Greek vocabulary. As the hours passed, her mind wandered from the book back to the telescope. Since the sun had set, it was hard to see anything, but she looked towards the front of the house and saw her father's carriage coming in. Knowing that she should be in bed, or at least in the process of going, she quickly ran back to her room and got dressed for bed. Putting on a robe, Giselle went downstairs and greeted her father.
"I suppose all went well at the docks?" She asked and he nodded.
"I just bought a ship that can take us long distances." He said with a smile and Giselle's jaw dropped.
"You're joking!" She exclaimed and then hugged her father, "Are we going anywhere soon?"
"Actually, we're due for Port Royal in the Caribbean tomorrow afternoon. Mrs. Bennet spoke so well of it, that I thought we would see what all the fuss is about." Giselle had the hardest time controlling her excitement. How was she to sleep knowing that she would be sailing somewhere completely new the next day?
"We must waste no time, tomorrow I'll start packing and then we'll set up everything on the ship, and…"
"Slow down Giselle. First you must sleep, now go off to bed," He ordered gently and she obeyed. Although she couldn't fall asleep she imagined what it would be like to be sailing to the Caribbean. She thought to herself about the ocean surrounding her on all sides and then slowly drifted to sleep.
The next morning Giselle woke up a bit later than usual but was too excited to care. She got dressed as soon as she could and then found a trunk that she would be using to pack. One of her maids helped her pack and could see the joy in her face.
"You seem excited, miss," The maid said with a slight smile.
"Oh, you have no idea," Giselle smiled back and continued packing. Time was moving so fast that it was already time to go to the ship once Giselle was finished. Her and her father set off in the carriage and she was fidgeting as if an electric current was running through her body.
"Giselle, quit fidgeting," her father commanded, but it was beyond Giselle's control. After ten minutes of fidgeting, the carriage made it to the dock, and Giselle was led onto the ship by her father. Stepping slowly on the wood she looked around and saw people in constant motion. No one was just standing there (except herself), but as she was observing the crew her father was trying to introduce her to the captain.
"Giselle, this is Captain Diodorus. Captain, this is my beloved daughter Giselle," he smiled as they greeted each other. Giselle looked up at the Captain and saw a very handsome face no older than 25 that made her cheeks burn slightly.
"Pleasure to meet you Captain," she said with a curtsy.
"The pleasure is all mine," he responded and kissed her hand, causing Giselle to blush even more. Her father noticed and grinned ear to ear, I think I found her suitor, he thought to himself. A crew member whispered in the Captain's ear and then he excused himself. Giselle watched him leave, smiled to herself, and then looked at her father.
"What?" she asked almost laughing at the sly look on her father's face.
"Oh nothing. Nothing at all," he sighed and then beckoned her to follow him. He led her to a room that was almost as regal as the one in her home, "This is where you will be staying. From the looks of it, the maids have already unpacked your belongings." As soon as he left, Giselle sat down on the bed and reminisced in her thoughts. A few moments later, her thoughts were disrupted by a knock on her door.
"Come in," she responded and her maid, Ofelia, came in.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, miss, but the Captain requests that you come on deck to watch them set sail."
"Alright," and with that Giselle hurried herself on deck where she was accompanied by Captain Diodorus.
"Miss Telis," Giselle almost didn't respond. It had been a while since someone has said her last name, "We're about to set sail."
"Is there anything I must do?"
"No, I just thought you might like to see Greece drifting away from us," he said and pointed to the land mass in front of them. Giselle nodded and the Captain gave the orders to set sail. Big white sheets were hoisted up and the wind filled them with its air.
That was it.
They were off.
Giselle watched as the land became smaller and smaller until she had seen enough of it. She turned around and saw the Captain staring right into her eyes.
"Erm…" Giselle tried to find something to say, but was in too awkward of a position to do so.
"Your father tells me you spend most of your day searching the horizon for ships," he explained with a slight grin, "Have you any experience with them?"
"I just like the look of them. I've never actually learned anything about them," Giselle lied. She knew plenty about ships, but she thought this would be the perfect opportunity to have a decent conversation with the Captain.
The Captain took Giselle around the ship and showed her every inch of it, while explaining its purpose. Although she learned a few new things, Giselle had prior knowledge to just about everything Captain Diodorus was explaining. The hours passed until it was eventually time for Giselle to dress for dinner. Bowing, the Captain left Giselle in her chambers to get ready. The things she had to do was quite annoying. Taking off the dress, then the underwear, then the corset, putting a new corset on, finding new underwear, and finally the evening gown; it was so much work. When the long process was finally over, she went to the dining room where her father was waiting for her along with the Captain.
Dinner started, continued, and ended in silence, and then Giselle was once again led into her chambers. As soon as she was in her sleeping gown, she plopped into bed and fell asleep almost immediately.