Norrington, dress splendidly in full uniform, stood on the pier, watching as The Messily pulled into dock. The ship was a luxury class vessel, designed especially for the wealthy. How would Robert Baird's daughter be able to afford this trip? According to the account records he had received from her solicitor, there had been almost nothing left of her father's estate. Essentially, she was coming to him broke and alone.
Waves splashed, and wood cracked as the plank lowered onto the dock. The crew shuffled about making ready for the passengers to depart into Port Royal. It was early afternoon now, and the wedding was set for seven that evening. It left barely five hours for them to acquaint themselves to each other.
He watched as various people left the ship, small families, and the rich coming for a summer relaxation. Then he saw her.
Dressed in a green gown, she stepped onto the plank and began to descend. A hat, foppish at best, adorned her head. He saw red-gold curls falling from where they were tucked. He could make out her slim out line, pale skin. She was a beautiful woman, but not in the same way as Elizabeth. While Elizabeth had the beauty that he wanted to preserve, Jacqueline Baird had a different kind of beauty.
"Miss Baird?" he asked, his voice gruff.
The woman clad in green raised her head as she approached him, coming to stop directly in front of him. Up close, she was even more beautiful than he had seen. Her eyes, crystal blue, her lips a cherry red. Her handbag swayed from her wrist.
"I am Miss Baird." She stated, her mouth turned slightly down. She turned and waved to her maid. Norrington saw the young girl come forward, towing a suitcase behind her.
Norrington raised his arm, offering it to Jacqueline. "Bradley," he called. "Assist Miss Baird's lady-servant with their luggage." Deftly, he led Jacqueline to the carriage that awaited them at the end of the dock.
"You are Commodore Norrington?" she asked. She adjusted her hat to block the imposing sun from her eyes.
"I am," he stated stoutly. He walked them toward the carriage, and helped her inside. As he held her hand, he once again took her in. She was a beautiful woman. He entered the carriage behind her, and sat directly across from her. "Welcome to Port Royal."
"Thank you Commodore." She smiled gently. He seemed to be such a hard man, with little joy showing on his face. Would he be demanding or gentile? Why did her father trust this man? What did he have to offer in the ways of humanity? "I look forward to seeing more of it. I heard from a friend that it was indeed beautiful."
'Quite." He was being deliberately quiet, attempting to judge her mood, herself. "I have arranged for a few days leave, following the wedding tonight. Perhaps we can tour the town."
Her face lit up, but only for a second, before schooling her features again. "That would be lovely." She looked out the window, toward the passing town. "The wedding is set, then?"
Did she not know? Did her father not tell her that it would be after immediately arriving that she would marry? He cleared his throat. "Yes, Miss Baird, this evening at seven in the town chapel." Her features did not show any sign of emotion. "Your father felt it best that you, we, should marry as soon as possible."
She turned to face him, a light smile playing on her lips. "My father never really liked waiting." She opened her handbag, and pulled out a folded letter. "He left me a note, a few days before he died. He told me not to open it until I reached Port Royal and was safely married."
"You have not opened it?"
"Why should I? There really isn't anything that I would want to know that I don't already know. The solicitor was quite clear on the reason why my father wanted to see my safely married off. The only thing it could tell me, would be about you. And I honestly do believe that you will be more than forthcoming should I have any questions about your personal life." She spoke bluntly, but in truth, she was interested in what the letter did have to say. Would her father reveal secrets or some hidden truth about her new husband, or would he simply tell her to be good and do as she is told? In that moment, other questions arose. What would he allow her to do, what would he forbid her to do? Would she be allowed to continue her work? What about her writings, her research? Would he scorn? Would he laugh? Would he take away the only true passion she ever had?
"And what reason, Miss Baird, did your father have for…passing you off to me? A man so far removed from the society and place of your birth?" He asked the question gently, but there was some bitter scorn in his voice that he could not hide. This new life on which he was about to embark would require some adjustment, not only to his day to day activities but to his personality also.
Miss Baird looked out the window once again. "I am not a virgin, sir. No man in England would want a tainted wife." He heard the cold iron in her voice, almost as if a dare to speak ill of her. He wondered if her temper matched her hair color. "Especially one with no dower to speak of," she continued. She kept her face turned away, making her words slightly muffled by the glass.
He sat back in his seat and watched as the young woman before him curled into herself. She was still a girl, he suspected, in some ways. But if she admitted to knowing a man before taking her vows, then she was also most defiantly a woman.
"Tainted? Tainted how, Miss Baird?" he asked. How could Robert not tell him? How could he be expected to take a woman to wife that was 'tainted'? He was not in that much of a need.
She looked at him then, her eyes flashing blue fire. What had her father told him? What did he know? "I cried rape, sir." She leaned forward. "But Londoners do not believe in rape, Commodore. Especially if the woman who cried for justice is to have her attacker's child." She leaned back again. "My father did not wish for all of London to know that his daughter, his only child, was ruined at the hands of one of the most famous and powerful magistrate. Not when the man who harmed his daughter could crush his family and destroy his daughter's future." She sighed. "He sent me away to marry in hopes that you, and Port Royal, would be kinder than the Ton."
