Norrington

Chapter 4

Elizabeth stood there fuming as she watched Rose saunter off with James, hanging onto him possessively. And that smug look Rose shot her as she walked away was infuriating her even more. "I hate that woman!" she spat out.

"I though you told me you and Rose had grown up together, at least until you left England to come here." Will said a bit confused.

"And she hasn't changed a bit, still self centered and out to break every heart she can just because she is so damned attractive and alluring." Elizabeth answered angrily.

"So you think that's what she's up to with the Commodore?" Will said with concern, although he was wondering if there wasn't a bit of jealously of the woman involved also. He would hate for the Commodore to be misused by the woman. Even though they had gone though that difficulty over Elizabeth he did consider the Commodore a friend. They had agreed for Elizabeth's sake to put that behind them, and he still held the Commodore in high esteem and felt he was as close to him as anyone could be seeing as the Commodore was just that, the Commodore. William had very rarely seen him be anything but that. There were the handful of times when the Commodore had actually accepted Elizabeth's multitude of invitations to have dinner at their house. He was still a bit reserved but not nearly as stuffy as when he was 'on duty' and they had actually had some very interesting conversations on several of those occasions. And although he nor the Commodore were in the habit of frequenting the taverns, on a few scattered occasions he had seen the Commodore sitting with his two lieutenants, Gillette and Groves, having a few drinks. And had actually seen the man smile at something one or the other had said to him. Not the smirking half smile the man had perfected so well nor the smile Will had named the Commodore's 'nonsmile'smile that was usually reserved for someone who had displeased him and whom he was about to rip from stem to stern. No this had been an outright wide-open very happily displayed across his face smile accompanied by a deep melodious laugh. William would even swear the Commodore's eyes, usually so stern, were twinkling. It had been such an unexpected event William would probably always remember it and perhaps feel a little sorry for the man for not allowing himself to indulge in that sort of behavior a bit more often. William realized then Elizabeth had said something to him, "I'm sorry Elizabeth, what did you say?"

"Oh honestly Will are you standing here daydreaming about her too?" Elizabeth said with irritation as she slapped him on the arm.

"Actually I was daydreaming about the Commodore." Will answered.

"What?" Elizabeth looked at him nonplused.

"I mean I was thinking about the Commodore not getting his heart broken again………sorry," he said sheepishly as he realized what he had said and saw the dagger filled glare Elizabeth shot him, "I'm just as concerned about the Commodore as you are Elizabeth. But he is his own man, it's not like we can order him to his room or anything."

"Perhaps we can't order him to his room but I will come up with something we can do!" Elizabeth said with determination.

William knew he was in trouble. Any time Elizabeth set her mind to anything this determinedly it almost always boded ill for him as she insisted on dragging him into her plans.

"What are you planning Elizabeth?" He asked, not at all sure he really wanted to know.

"That's not for you to worry about at the moment Will, what you need to do right now is follow them. If she tries anything you find a reason to interrupt."

"Elizabeth they are going to the Fort, what business would I have at the Fort at this time of night. How would I explain my presence there without looking like a fool?" Will said this fully expecting Elizabeth to argue with him and insist he do it anyway.

"You're right Will." Elizabeth said, which at first eased Will's mind but then he caught the look on her face and his mind was no longer at ease. As she went on he knew he had not judged the look wrong. "We shall go to the Fort together. After all if a tour of Fort Charles is good enough for Rose Davenport it is good enough for Elizabeth Swann Turner!"

"Elizabeth you don't need a tour of the Fort, you've been in the Fort hundreds and hundreds of times. You probably know the Fort better than most of the men that serve there."

"That's not the point here William Turner! Now are you going to come along or not?" Elizabeth snapped at him.

"I have a feeling if I don't want your ire directed at me for the next week or two I will be coming along." Will said beaten.

"Good choice. Now let's be on about it." Elizabeth said as she grabbed Will by the hand and drug him off towards the door.

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"What a lovely little town you have here Commodore." Rose said leaning against James as they walked along the street towards Fort Charles, her arm entwined with his. "And to think this is all yours."

"In fact the town is not mine Rose. My duty here is to protect and serve the others that live here." James said, not really understanding why the woman would think he owned the town.

"But I'm sure there are some….benefits to that are there not?" Rose said as she leaned in a bit more against him.

"I have the benefit of knowing I am giving the citizens here some safety from the pirates and scalawags that roam these waters. And in the doing of such make it possible to carry on with their lives in a peaceful manner." James said, still not sure he was perhaps missing the point the lady seemed to be trying to make.

"Oh Commodore, you are so rigid aren't you?" Rose laughed.

"I have in fact been told that by a few people at various times, however I do have my duty to perform regardless of the way it is looked upon by others, and strive to do my best to perform it in the best way I am capable of." James finished a bit defensively.

Rose just smiled an inscrutable smile and then, "Oh look Commodore, I believe that is your Fort Charles right there."

It took James a moment to stop trying to figure out what that conversation had been about and focus on the gates of Fort Charles standing a few yards away.

"So Commodore I would suppose at this time of night your Fort must be pretty much deserted." Rose said conversationally.

"There are a half a dozen or so men on guard duty both inside and outside the Fort, there is also the Lieutenant in charge of those men on duty. Then there are the men whose quarters are here in the Fort." James replied. "I would say at this time of night there are probably a good thirty men or more present in one capacity or another."

"Sounds like quite a crowd." Rose said with a hint of disappointment in her voice, and then as a thought crossed her mind she said, "So Commodore, who do you share your office with?"

"I have my own office, as do Lieutenant Gillette and Lieutenant Groves, although theirs adjoin mine on either side." James answered. "It works out less distracting for us that way. We did at one time try sharing an office and feel this arrangement works out in a much more efficient way."

"Well I'm glad to hear it." Rose said the smile once again on her face. "I would love to see this office of yours James. Perhaps we could stop there after the tour?"

"I would judge that to be acceptable." James said not sure why after saying that he had a feeling at the edge of his thoughts that he had just agreed to something that he shouldn't have.

To Be Continued

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