"He fell in love, with a woman as harsh as changing and untamable as the sea. Him never stopped loving her."
Tia Dalma, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Dead Man's Chest (2006)
"A woman's heart is a deep ocean of secrets."
Rose DeWitt Bukater, Titanic (1997)
Not for the first time that evening, she wondered if she had chosen the right shade of damask blue. Papa had always said that she looked fetching and presentable in all and any colour, but she supposed he was her father and thus perhaps somewhat biased on the whole matter.
The seamstress had complimented her on her choice of fabric, remarking on how well the navy blue silk brought out both the cream and roses of her English complexion and the soft dark gold of her long hair. Usually she would have worn her shining tresses down and free from the constricting hold of the latest heavily coiffed hairstyles that apparently were so much in fashion back in the high society of London.
But tonight was different, tonight was special. Tonight she would be presented to the society of Port Royal as the young lady she had become and cease to be viewed as the child she had been for once and for all. She knew sixteen was a respectable age, an age at which she would finally be taken more seriously and no longer have to suffer the doting and disregard that came with being a young girl. Her opinions would matter and people would be forced to listen to them.
"Beg your pardon my Lady, the first guests have already begun arriving."
Elizabeth turned away from her shimmering reflection in the tall wardrobe mirror, her nerves already perilously on edge.
"Very well Estrella, tell my father I shall be down momentarily." She didn't watch her maid bow and take her leave, she was far too tense to concentrate on anything other than the impending party already coming to life downstairs in the luxurious parlour. Her very own coming out party, her debut into society.
She couldn't afford to leave anything to chance and as the Governor's only precious daughter she knew that the pressure on her to impress and awe would be far greater than it had been on other girls her age. The Swanns were considered the leading household in all of Jamaica and perhaps even in all the nearby British colonies of the Caribbean. They would have to lead by example and although maintaining this image of power and prestige was not as important to her, she understood how important it was to her father and to his social standing on the whole. Tonight she would be perfect. She would be gracious and obliging and a wonderful hostess. She would listen and smile and feign interest no matter how boring or loathsome she found the majority of her guests to be, no matter how empty and trivial their incessant chatter would inevitably prove to be.
She spared herself one last glance at her bedroom mirror, her large dark eyes taking in every aspect of her person, from the folds of her perfectly tailored blue dress to her choice of sapphire necklace and earrings to the carefully arranged hairstyle of dark gold curls that Estrella had spent hours trying to tame into place. Elizabeth took a few extra moments to practice her politely interested smile. To her own eyes it looked forced and synthetic but she knew for a fact that few people bothered to notice what was truly beneath it and so she decided that it would simply have to do.
Estrella had forgotten to close the bedroom door behind her and so as Elizabeth neared the exit to her chambers she could already hear the sounds of distant music and chatter drifting through the large ornate hallways of her father's grand estate. Reaching the beginning of the first floor stairway, she allowed herself a calming intake of breath and then firmly grasped the intricately carved stairway bar, descending the steps as carefully and as gracefully as her confining choice of attire would allow.
The tall double doors ushering into the main hall were open and already she could spot Mr. Wills, the household's head butler, politely directing newly arriving guests towards the grand ballroom at the end of the right hand side corridor.
Her steps almost faltered at seeing just how many guests her father had seen fit to invite but she forced herself to continue her descent nonetheless. She wasn't very fond of crowds, never had been, but she knew that a large number of the people congregating to the now rapidly filling ballroom were her friends and acquaintances and if nothing else at least she could look forward to seeing them.
Her careful strides soon brought her to the threshold of the spacious and tastefully decorated room that would serve as the party's main location. She made her way in, her head held high and her posture proud and perfectly controlled, the way her governess had insisted on drilling into her head ever since she was old enough to understand just exactly how much was expected from a girl of her social stature.
She smiled and accepted nameday wishes from her father's many guests, making small talk about the latest news arriving fresh from England and all the while keeping an eye out for a particular guest she had secretly hoped to see at her celebration.
It was silly of her, she knew of course that not all of Port Royal's high society led the same frivolous and carefree lifestyle as her and the majority of the guests present. There were those few who had their duty to first and foremost ensure the safety of the populace and of the colony itself. Those who were most likely currently busy perusing navigational charts and issuing orders rather than on their way to a silly party.
Elizabeth reached for a glass of light amber liquid, assuming it to be some particular brand or other of expensive wine -nothing but the best for the Governor's household, and took a large sip. The unfamiliar taste was not wholly unpleasant but rather warm on the back of her throat and she reminded herself that she was a woman of sixteen now, she would have to get used to consuming alcoholic beverages in soirées. Besides, it wasn't just that the drinking and holding of the glass gave her something to do, it also served to occupy her thoughts and that was something that she desperately needed.
She did have the personal insight to recognise when she was being unreasonable. Her father had spent a small fortune on this event, ordering the finest food, drink and linen that money could purchase. He had even gone as far as to have the entire ballroom decorated with her favourite indigo orchids, which she knew was no small feat as they had to be brought in all the way from the mountainous region on the other side of the island. She had been allowed to invite her friends and their families and she had been given free range to spent as much as she could possibly wish on a new dress and fine jewellery. And yet, despite the extravagance of it all, she was still not truly happy and it was frustrating her almost to the point of tears. She should be happy, what else could she have possibly demanded out of her already highly privileged life?
If her governess could hear her inner thoughts she would undoubtedly tell her that she was acting like a willful, spoiled child and Elizabeth was not entirely sure that she could bring herself to disagree with her. She had always been spoilt or overindulged, depending on how one chose to phrase it, and she supposed it made perfect sense in a way. After her mother's passing she was all her father had left and so she understood his need to treasure her. She was grateful, she truly was, but a small part of her always wondered if all the fine clothes and baubles and riches were enough to satisfy her and provide her with all that she really craved out of life.
Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of a dark blue and gold Naval uniform disappearing in the crowd and placing her now empty glass on a nearby linen-clad table, she swiftly made her way in the same direction. She tried to keep her steps at a dignified pace, successfully suppressing her need to speed up and at the same time still managing to nod greetings here and there at passing guests.
Finally, towards the front of the luxurious room she could just make out the splash of elegant dark blue and gold and she picked up her steps. However the closer she neared, the more she realised that she had made a mistake. The height was all wrong. Her heart fell when her suspicions were confirmed and it was Lt. Groves that turned to greet her and express his most heartfelt congratulations on her splendid debut party. His genial tone and kind words served only to make her feel more guilty and she tried to smile prettily and hope that he wouldn't notice the disappointment practically pouring out of her in waves. He was not who she thought he was when she had taken out after him and although she appreciated him making an appearance and complimenting both her and the party overall, he was not who she had been hoping to see.
"Ah , Lt. Groves I see you have found my Elizabeth. I have been looking for her all evening." She turned at her father's comfortingly familiar voice and allowed him to embrace her briefly in greeting.
"Forgive me Papa, I was mingling with the guests." He smiled at her fondly and she knew he was not really upset with her, before once again turning to address the Lieutenant.
"It's a pleasure to see you Theodore. I do hope your wife has accompanied you, she and Elizabeth have always been the greatest of friends."
Elizabeth tried not to grimace at her father's choice of words, she understood he was being cordial and diplomatic. It wasn't a complete lie either, Emily Groves and she had always been on good terms but she wouldn't go as far as to refer to her or any of the other ladies in her circle as friends.
She didn't stay to listen to more of the conversation between her father and the Lieutenant. She would have gone back into the ever growing throng of guests milling about the ballroom but she didn't think she had it in her to stand another minute of mindless chit chat for politeness sake, at least not without a small respite first.
She knew of course that the evening was still young, the first dances hadn't even been announced yet and then there was the sitting down dinner and her own formal "presentation" to the guests which would probably be followed by yet more dancing and dining. Already just thinking about it made her feel drained and all she wanted to do was to retire to her chambers, read and daydream the night away. But that was wholly out of the question of course. She couldn't simply abandon her own party no matter how much she was sorely tempted to do just that.
Making her way out of the ballroom and towards the direction of the library she told herself that she would compromise.
Elizabeth discreetly grabbed a bottle of dark red wine on her way out, before secluding herself in the peaceful sanctuary that the library had always provided her with. She perused the seemingly endless shelves for a few moments before finally reaching for a leather bound volume at random and taking a seat on the plush ivory carpet in front of the grand fireplace. Flicking through the crisp grey-white pages she read a passage on the early history of the King's Royal Navy, looking at the beautifully drawn sketches of some of the earliest ship designs and marvelling at the irony of selecting this particular book even at random.
By the time she was halfway through the volume, three quarters of the wine bottle were now gone and with them so were some of her more morose thoughts regarding the disappointing way that the evening had turned out. Eventually, she found herself running her fingers over the intricate pictures depicting men of the King's Navy in various different models and styles of uniform. Her hand hovered over the page depicting the customary uniform worn by a Captain but her eyes weren't seeing the face of the man in the book in front of her but rather the face of someone else entirely.
Reaching for the remaining wine she took a generous sip, letting it burn pleasantly down her throat. Had her senses not been so tamed by the effect of the heady beverage she had steadily been consuming for the past two hours or so, she would have been more alert to her surroundings and she most definitely would not have missed the very obvious sound of the library entryway opening or that of steady footsteps coming her way.
Elizabeth wasn't sure when she had first become aware that she was no longer alone in the room. Raising her eyes from the book splayed open in front of her, she looked up to see a pair of inquisitive sea green eyes looking down at her with a mixture of curiosity and amusement.
"Good book Miss Swann?" His deep rich voice broke her out of the brief spell induced by meeting his penetrating gaze and all at once she flushed with embarrassment at her less than ladylike conduct. Swiftly rising to her feet, she smoothed down her dress and tried to get her breathing under control.
"Captain Norrington. Forgive me, I - I thought I was quite alone. I didn't expect..." She was bubbling and she knew it. Why could she never bring herself to have a normal, coherent conversation with him these days? Why did she always have to stutter and make a fool of herself in his presence?
She watched the corner of his lips turn up in a small almost smile and despite her mortification at him of all people finding her in such an improper position, she couldn't help but smile in return. It was difficult not to.
"I believe Governor Swann is quite distraught over your conspicuous absence. I imagine he is at present very much scouring the halls looking for you."
Elizabeth gulped, not quite certain that James was only teasing her. No, not James. Captain Norrington. Strictly speaking she hadn't been allowed to call him by his Christian name since she was twelve years old. Her governess had walked in on them one afternoon as James was teaching her how to use a compass and she had all but bristled at the impropriety of the situation. Afterwards, Elizabeth had had to endure a half hour lecture on how respectable young ladies didn't go around calling men who weren't related to them by their first names and how proper young ladies of her stature didn't corner officers of the King's Navy and demand lessons in navigation. Back then Elizabeth hadn't understood why her governess was so upset. James was her friend and he always made time to see her when he came to visit her father on business. In all honestly, part of the reason she had admired him so much back then was that he seemed to be the only adult in her life that didn't insist on patronising her and treating her like a silly petulant child.
"Oh no, is he terribly unsettled? I only meant to step away for a few moments." She smiled innocently, appearing just the right amount of apologetic and contrite.
"I'm sure you did." His tone was definitely teasing this time and of course she should have known that he saw right through her feeble attempts at deception. It was something he had always been able to do and much as she tried she could never get away with things where he was involved. Unless he allowed her to, which to be fair he always seem to do.
"Oh god James you won't tell him that you found me, will you? I can't bare to go back to that ballroom until I absolutely have to." Her own voice was pleading and she knew that had she used this particular tone on her father it would have worked like a charm. Alas, James was not her father and she knew it would take far more than her batting her eyelashes at him demurely for her to get her way.
"I don't know Miss Swann. I don't consider lying to your father a particularly ethical code of conduct." His words were curt but his sea green eyes betrayed him and she knew that he wasn't being overly serious.
She didn't know what possessed her to utter the next words she did, but before she could think to stop them they were tumbling out of her mouth in quick succession.
"You don't have to lie. You could keep me company and then you wouldn't have to see him at all. At least not until we both have to go back for my presentation." The wine she had consumed was making her bolder, drowning her usual feelings of self-consciousness when she was in his presence and before she registered what she was doing she had already stepped closer to him and placed a small fair hand on the navy blue sleeve of his uniform.
The part of her that was still unaffected by the alcohol and still in control of her actions warned her that she had gone too far. She wasn't a little girl of twelve anymore and secluding herself with James in the quiet confines of the library alone and unchaperoned was no longer acceptable. In truth it had never really been acceptable but back then at least she'd had the excuse of being a child and of course her father and James had always been very good friends. But now, if someone were to walk in and discover them in such an intimate situation she knew there would be no excusing her behaviour this time.